which way should the ceiling fan spin?

What Backwoods says for all the reasons he listed. Also a fan on the floor as far from the stove as possible blowing cool air towards the stove helps with the convection. I have one two rooms away from my stove near my stairway that will raise the temperature upstairs by at least 2 degrees.

 

Now what would you guys recommend to push air to the bedrooms. They are above the stove but no air comes up. I mean the main part of the house is 70 couple usually with the bedrooms in the upper 60's which is fine for sleeping. Just wonderin.

 

depends on the layout of the house and current heating/cooling systems available? Don't go cutting vents from the stove room - big no-no on codes
Insulation above the rooms in the attic(if accessible would be the first thing to explore)

 

Yea I heard about the vents being a no no luckily as the thought had crossed my mind. The heat is electric baseboard so that is no help. The ac unit and all duct work is in the attic. Eventually I would like to add more insulation up there but can't do the blow in type because of the ac and all. The house is a typical split foyer. Stove at one end with bedrooms above. Walk into a small landing to go up or down, open area to the living dining room and kitchen opposite the stove. Basement is half open floor plan, bed room, bathroom and laundry room. I know if the house was tightened up it would help, but if a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his arse either. I plan on doing new windows, doors, sheathing and siding when $$$ allows. Figure when I pull the sheathing off I can insulate as needed.

 

Jet I resided my entire house myself - it is a big project, but if taken in stride is rewarding. Took me 1-1/2 yrs and was less cash flow but more motivation by the end

If the AC unit is in an area of the attic that(should be) is accessible from a panel adding insulation over the duct work could allow you to use the fan for some recirculation - really depends on where the main return is located

 

Return is in the hallway ceiling. The duct work is metal main with the bubble wrap stuff and the flexible lines off that. Did you resheath the house as well? Mine is that cellotex fiber type stuff. Did not realize this until after I bought the place unfortunately. Worst part is I don't know if I want to put out that kind of money on a house I don't plan on living in the rest of my life, but hey it might help someone else too.

 

Yes I resheathed with OSB as the substrate on my house was Jimmy Carter Board - foil backed Styrofoam. Only the corners of my Cape had 4x8 sheets of plywood - they had to come off during demo as the termite damage was extensive in a couple sides.
It gave me the chance to fill in all the holidays - or rather the random acts of insulation from original construction in 80-81.

If you don't plan on living in the place for a while it's probably not worth the time unless the existing siding is in terrible need of it.
In my place 6-8ft tall by 15-20ft wide swath had been devoured by termites where all that was left was the paint and a thin bit of clapboard. I went back with Hardiboard - 50yr siding and was able to treat the exterior studs to prevent any future pests

 

I'd get a couple Muffin fans (stove shops). They use next to no elec and you can try them in different locations and directions for best results. Same thing with your ceiling fan direction, with all heating sources set the same way... just try one direction for a week and take note on it's effect. Then, try the other direction. One should feel better than the other. You could try dif speeds too.

 

wife says the fan makes it feel cooler to her either way. Right now I got one regular fan in the basement going towards the stove from across the room, ceiling fan off. I had one in the hallway upstairs pushing cold air out but it was a noisy bugger. I think the one in the basement makes it feel warmer. The boys wanted me to camp out with them in the living room so that may be why too, not used to being out here.

 

I'm thinking the height of the fan compared to actual room/ceiling height may be a factor too.

 

House is actually still plenty warm enough. We have baseboard heat in all the rooms and don't use it. It was cold the other day and I was sitting there watching the fan spin from the heat rising up the stairwell. That's where all this came from

 

All things considered WW, I doubt if your honey has ever even thought of the term "cranky wife", much less said it...

 

Question about that... How do you find the offending fan blade? I have a wobbly ceiling fan...

 

Sometimes, it's easy to figure out why those fans can get out of balance...

 

Mine came with a balancing kit. I think most any hardware store should sell them.

 

The slip on clips work easy so you can move them around.
a piece of tape with pennies works as well, just glue them down after you've found the right balance

 

Hmm, that's odd all my ceiling fans blow up when they are turning clockwise, looking up at them,
I don't think it has anything to do with the wiring it has to do with the way the blades are tilted:)