I am shopping for cailing fans, preferably energy efficient ones. Energy star rates the efficiency of a ceiling fans as a ratio of CFM/watts. I can understand the watts by comparing them to watts in light bulbs. However I do not know how to relate CFMs to every day life. What high CFM would make one feel comfortable on a hot and humid day, assuming no air conditioning? What continuous low CFM would create enough air movement to retard mildew growth in a basement? Thanks.
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I seem to post this alot, but: you might get some good answers by posting on the Breaktime forum.
You could figure out the volume of your room and then see how many total air changes there would be in an hour (i.e., how long will it take the fan to move the amount of air in the room). However, now that I think about it, that really only works with exhaust fans. In your case, the fan will turn over all the air by the turbulance and convection. I'd ask the Breaktime folks. They'll probably want to know things like how big the room is, how high are the ceilings, where the fan will be located (center or one end), whether the ceiling is flat or vaulted. Good luck--those guys do know their stuff. :-)