We always ran the fan to push hot air out of the house at the highest/hottest point, and suck in the cool air from the basement.

Worked perfectly.

Tom

More airflow on your skin = faster evaporation of sweat. Dogs only sweat from tongue and paws, so a fan will mostly annoy them in my experience as it makes the fur move and it's also not nice in the eyes.

At night or very early morning once the air outside is cooler than inside. I put the fan in front of the window on the coolest side of the building to suck in the cold air.
In the evening, I just have it point at me.

Sure. However doing so will also increase relative humidity. That's probably a non-issue at 40% but if it's already at 70% or higher, the effect of repeatedly vaporising water may actually worsen the situation in a closed room. Of course room size is another key factor.

This is an interesting topic esp with the hot summers now. I remember all the standing fans I had back in CH. We have ceiling fans in Asia. Ceiling fans are so much more efficient (plus they don't take up floor space) I hope i can install them when I am back in CH. Are ceiling fans popular back in CH? Because i don't recall seeing them much back 10 yrs ago...


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Behind the counter of my cheese shop it hits 29 degrees in the summer. I find a fan on the floor pointing to wear I usually stand helps a lot. Even warm air blowing over my ankles (of course you need to wear shorts for this to be effective) does a lot to make me feel cooler. At least until it's time for a cold beer.

grumpy -hasn't the viaduct got a/c? i always found it cool there but maybe i never went during the heat wave...

No. Though that may change.
The only one I remember seeing was in a local restaurant.

It has an "eco-friendly" air cooling system which does make a big difference during a heat wave. You really notice it when you walk in from the hot street. But behind my counter there's a lot of hot air coming out of my monster cheese fridge!

There seem to be more options now than ca 15 years ago when we tried (and failed, thanks to an obstinate Elektriker) to install ceiling fans while remodeling. (A fan? On the ceiling? OMG, moving air means certain death! ) Back then we were looking to import the fans from outside Switzerland, as we could not find anything suitable here.

Nowadays you can find a fair assortment at a variety of price ranges - although sadly not the quality of the beautiful '20s retro fans I loved back home. Design tends towards the industrial, as this seems to be the look most favored here. Not quite my style...

Caveat: Zürichsee area.

Perhaps one might find better design/quality fans down Tessin way...

industrial or not when it's another heatwave at least it's good to
know there are some available. 👍🏻 (or i bring some fans back with me when we move back)

The evaporative cooling concept is valid, but the mentioned implementation is rather primitive. With the right conditions, there are some interesting things you can do architecturally and with mechanics and venting which can make it quite effective and energy efficient.

It might be an interesting business area to watch for Switzerland. I know there are some interesting things being done with evaporative cooling and textiles at ETH.

For general fan use, I find the 1950s and 60s models with strong, quiet motors, metal blades, and wide open safety guards that maximize airflow are the most effective. They can usually overcome any deficiencies in placement. Ceiling fans are also very helpful in my experience.

We installed a ceiling fan in our bedroom when we remodeled our house 4 years ago. Our project manager and the electrician thought it was quirky (“You’re no longer in Mumbai” - never been to Mumbai ). We love the flow of the air and the white noise. Though sadly it is not loud enough to drown out the crowing of our neighbor’s new rooster! (Are they actually allowed to keep roosters in a regular neighborhood?)

I live in a new build apartment that has some kind of eco friendly geo thermal air cooling system in summer

Only problem is it sounds like being on a plane when it's set to high, but it's a lot better than melting. Our last place was near a red light zone so we couldn't open the windows at night for the racket and had to buy a portable aircon unit to keep the bedroom cool.

Saw this on FB today, made me laugh and think of this thread

Yes you can find them in shops and it's definitely not a problem installing them as long as you put them instead of the light fixture (they have their own light fixture).

According some Korean beliefs running a fan in a closed room while sleeping can be deadly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

I once stayed in a hotel in Malta where a ceiling fan sheared off in one of the rooms and nearly killed the occupant

Search for Deckenventilator. Lot of offers, from "cheapish" (Swiss cheap, not US cheap) to pricey.

Agreed, but under the right circumstances, with proper ventilation, it works to cool the air. Personally i can't stand stale air and usually keep my windows at least partially open all the time in the Summer.