Posted on 07/12/2012 8:40:00 PM PDT by goldstategop
"We looked for high quality research that had compared groups of people using fans with groups who didn't use them during a heatwave [sic]. However, we didn't find any research that met our requirements," the researchers wrote. "Some suggested that fans might reduce health problems, while others suggested that the fans might make things worse."
The team of researchers concluded that a fan that is not directly aimed at a person in temperatures lower than 95 degrees Fahrenheit may help one cool down. However, they said that a fan propped against a window pumping in outside air above 95 degrees could be dangerous, and might actually cause a person's body temperature to increase, putting them at risk.
"This is particularly important for people who are considered more vulnerable to the effects of heat, such as older adults who are less able to cool down through sweating or increasing the flow of blood to their skin," Gupta said in a press release.
While cool air on sweat may feel refreshing, excess sweating can still lead to dehydration and other dangers such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
"I would advise caution in using fans for elderly patients during a heat wave with a history of coronary artery disease or hypertension who are on multiple medications which have the ability to impair effective sweating or cooling," added Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, in an email to HealthPop. Glatter was not involved in the new research.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Apparently,It’s Rocket Science.
No doubt that will require more studies to determine how best to proceed.
I never had AC in Ca.
When we would get those 105 deg Santa Ana’s I would put a 20 lb block of ice in a pan in front of the fan.
I just hope they don’t look at South Korea. For there it is believed that an electric fan, left running overnight and in a closed room, can cause the death of those sleeping inside that room.
Sitting in a tub with the shower running and a lasko fan in the door helps too, but bath tub sex will mess up your back and there us the chance you could wake up all “pruney” later.
Back when I was a kid in IL, we had an attic fan that was 36” in diameter that sucked air our of the house. It created a gentle breeze coming in all the windows...worked pretty well.
On the really hot nights I would pull my mattress out on to the porch roof and sleep there. Others would take their blankets to the park and sleep on the ground. I especially remember that happening in St. Louis, Mo when I visited in the summer.
Back when I was a kid in IL, we had an attic fan that was 36” in diameter that sucked air our of the house. It created a gentle breeze coming in all the windows...worked pretty well.
On the really hot nights I would pull my mattress out on to the porch roof and sleep there. Others would take their blankets to the park and sleep on the ground. I especially remember that happening in St. Louis, Mo when I visited in the summer.
“I would advise caution in using fans for elderly patients during a heat wave with a history of coronary artery disease or hypertension who are on multiple medications which have the ability to impair effective sweating or cooling,”
Yeah, you think?
Sheesh, if you’re not in that group a fan and a wet cloth are wonderful- and cheap.
Water evaporates at a lower temp than sweat. I’ve worked hours in 110+ temps with a damp rag on my neck and not been overly stressed.
While cool air on sweat may feel refreshing, excess sweating can still lead to dehydration and other dangers such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
If only science could come up with a way to rehydrate people who have lost water through sweating. Maybe a ten million dollar research grant will get them to discover the secret of drinking water.
Sleeping on the porch roof only works if you have a breeze.
I feel bad for folks suffering this heat wave without AC.
Growing up we had a huge fan in the attic (my dad built the house). It was at the end of the hallway where the bedrooms were. There was a switch on the wall and a louvered panel in the ceiling would open up and the fan would turn on - drawing the air up into the ceiling. I’m guessing it was about 3’ x 5’ in size.
During the day it would help bring the cool air up from downstairs, and at night exhaust the hot air with the windows open.
We don’t have a/c (Seattle) but when it gets hot I’ll put the vornado at the bottom of the stairs shooting the cool air up into the living area. And at night usually just use fans to create a cross breeze with the windows open.
Maybe I need to put a box fan at the attic door as an exhaust during the day?
I was just talking about the old days with my 94 year old mom. She reminded me that all they had were iceboxes and that was for the food (and milk) - so they never had any nice cold drinks with ice cubes or anything. Although she said when the ice man came around the kids would crowd around, and he always seemed to miss-judge the size of the ice block so he had to chip away lots more pieces for the kids to suck on!
I put a “whole house fan” in our single story ranch about 25 years ago. It is wonderful on cool evenings — changes all the air in the house in a few minutes. Of course the normal nighttime lows here on the SF Peninsula are usually in the high 50s.
North facing covered porches and big shade trees works wonders, especially if there is a fan mounted to the ceiling of the porch along with wet rags, and lots of fluids.
Lay down in front of a carpet dryer on a hot day and you will freeze your ass off unless the humidity is really excessive.
Nobody even designs homes with breezeways any more.
or maybe they’re just looking for a way to give nursing home staffs the “headsup” that a heatwave is the perfect time to shut off all the fans?
“Sleeping on the porch roof only works if you have a breeze.”
My kids think I’m nuts when we go out on the deck for dinner, and I pull out the big fan and set it on the deck. But agreed, those hot, muggy midwest nights it was pretty hard to get away from the heat without A/C - even with a fan.
people have gotten to be real wuzzies...
I’ve been mulling over this sentence....over and over.
“”We looked for high quality research that had compared groups of people using fans with groups who didn’t use them during a heatwave [sic]. However, we didn’t find any research that met our requirements,” the researchers wrote”
It makes me laugh
They already have this program it is part of the HEAP program and YOU pay for it with a special tax on your electric bill and gas bill. In some areas you pay a special tax on your electric bill that goes to supplement electrification in other areas of the country. You get NO benefit from it at all.
It could get pretty muggy.
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