You may have been using your ceiling fans wrong, dear Pandas. A lot of people were stunned to realize that plenty of ceiling fans actually have dual-purpose switches after Anthony Bertoncin shared this useful little insight on TikTok.
"I finally realized that my ceiling fan has been making my room a sauna for six years," the 20-year-old influencer from Kansas City, Missouri, said in his viral video. He told his audience of 1.5 million people how he always has his fan on because it’s hot. After a FaceTime call with a friend, he learned about the existence of the fan switch and realized that he had been making his room unbearably hot by himself. He flipped the switch and voilà—his room was noticeably cooler.
Anthony told Bored Panda that the majority of the people who didn't know about the dual-purpose switches on ceiling fans happened to be on the younger side of Millennials and Generation Z. "My dad claims this was common knowledge 20 years ago but he didn't show me this little trick, did he?! Apparently, this trick is explained in every owner's manual when you buy a ceiling fan but personally, I can't tell you a single time one of my friends has bought a ceiling fan. Maybe they can add this as a lesson when they reform the education system!" Scroll down for the rest of our interview with him.
Influencer Anthony shared this surprising detail about ceiling fans having dual-purpose switches with his 1.5 million followers
Anthony said that he's surprised that his video has bounced back in popularity once again. "When I initially posted the video in late 2019, it got a good amount of traction (a few hundred thousand views) but then halted. During that time, over 3,500 people saved and used my sound in their videos, showing them discovering the little trick. Recently one of those videos blew up and got over 14.5 million views! Because of that video going viral with my sound, it drove a bunch of traffic back to my video which resulted in another spike of virality!"
We also wanted to know what other 'obvious' things Anthony realized since posting his ceiling fan video. "Around the same time, I also found out New Zealand wasn't in Europe. After 15 years of schooling, I just made that realization."
Anthony’s video from October 2019 got more than 547.7k likes on TikTok and was viewed by more than 2.2 million people. Though the video might be old, it’s still popular as Summer’s upon us and people really need to cool down. Some TikTokers are thanking the influencer for sharing this cool information. While others were surprised that so many people weren’t aware of the switch in the first place.
Here's how the ceiling fan switches work
So the way that the switch works is that it toggles the direction in which the ceiling fan rotates. As it spins counterclockwise, it cools the air; while it warms the air by spinning clockwise if you’re feeling a bit chilly.
The logic is simple: when the fan blades move in a counterclockwise direction, they push the air down and this creates a breeze. The faster the fan spins, the cooler you’ll feel.
“This cooling effect doesn’t change the temperature of the air, it only makes you feel cooler. That is why you should turn the fan off when the room is empty. Otherwise, heat from the motor will actually increase the temperature in the room,” Today’s Homeowner explains how ceiling fans work.
However, when the fan rotates clockwise, it pushes the hot air upward. If it’s Winter, you’ll want to keep the fan rotating slowly, otherwise, it’ll create a strong draft and cool you down just like in Summer.
Did you know about fans having dual-purpose switches, dear Pandas? Or have you been using your ceiling fans wrong? Let us know in the comments below!
Some people already knew about the switch...
Image credits: 3BelowZero
...while others were shocked to learn about it
Image credits: GameswithGrayce
Image credits: gabbsterxoxo
Here's how some other internet users reacted to the info
