Thermal comfort enhancement by using a ceiling fan

A parametric analysis on the effect of using a ceiling fan in an air-conditioned room is performed by two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulation of steady state airflow and heat transfer. Thermal comfort analysis is done for a person standing in a room with an inlet and an outlet for air conditioning and a ceiling fan. Representative three-dimensional (3D) simulation is also performed for the comparison of results obtained by using 2D and 3D models. Distributions of velocity, temperature, and relative humidity are presented. Different cases in which the ceilings fan may be not in use or in use with different air speed normal to the plane of fan blades due to different rotational speeds are considered. Predicted mean vote is computed and used to assess the thermal comfort characteristics. It is found that as the normal air speed from the fan increases, thermal comfort significantly shifts toward the cooler scale to allow higher supply air temperature or higher heat load in the room while maintaining the same comfort level.