Hampton Bay Gossamer Fans

The fans installed in the MHLab are a new breed of energy efficient ceiling fans. The main areas where these fans improve energy efficency are:

Blade Design - The straight paddles on conventional ceiling fans don't move air very efficiently. The Hampton Bay Gossamer fans were developed using a uniform flow across the blades, achieved by steadily adjusting the pitch or degree of twist of the blade along the blade's length. The Gossamer Wind blades are not only twisted instead of flat, but the twist goes from 26° at the center to 5° at blade tip. These ceiling fans showed about a 100% increase in airflow performance (cfm/Watt) in comparison to a conventional flat-bladed fan with the same motor. The aerodynamically engineered blades are much quieter and also less prone to wobble.

Ceiling Fan Lights - The fans also have an electronically ballasted, dimming (100% down to 20%), fluorescent lamp. At 36 watts, the fluorescent fixture not only cuts lighting energy use to about a third that of most conventional fan/light units but also generates a lot less heat.

Use - Ceiling fans can reduce air-conditioning use. The air movement they create maintains comfort at a higher air temperature. The airflow makes us feel cooler, in part because of enhanced evaporation off of our skin. But if fans are left on when spaces are not occupied, ceiling fans actually increase total energy consumption. These fans are equipped with a remote control that includes both a timer and a temperature-actuated variable control that matches fan operation (on/off) as well as fan speed to room temperature. Proper use of the remote control (which operates both the fan and light) can much more closely match fan and light use to room occupancy.