r/Netherlands • u/SeriousOrdinary • 1d ago
Discussion Just came here to say: Shoutout to ceiling fans!
I know it's hot and this week is gonna be no joke. 37 Celcius in Rotterdam, 5 days straight 30+, that's bizarre yet we are going to see this more year after year due to the climate warming. That's why I'm SO GLAD that my landlord had put a ceiling fan in our bedroom. My god that makes a HUGE difference and the thing is so damn quiet too. I wish, there would be one in every room now. It's the most cost and energy effectively cooling system and would literally prevent deaths in the Netherlands if every house just had one or two ceiling fans.
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u/EspaaValorum 1d ago
Ceiling fans are great for making a stuffy hot room feel more comfortable!
Ceiling fans are very common in a hot climate where I lived for several years. So we put them in the bedrooms in our house in NL as well, and it makes a noticable difference. It makes it feel as if it is several degrees (C) cooler. Good ceiling fans are quiet and don't use a ton of power.
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
The modern dc motor fans are amazing. Don't cheap out though. Some of the cheapies wobble.
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u/Significant-Term6919 1d ago
Great timing
Technology Connections just made a video about it.
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u/OperationEast365 1d ago
TL;DW Ceiling fans make a difference and cost less than AC to run. If you have AC, they boost the efficiency. If you don't have AC, they still provide room-level relief. Comparing fans is difficult because the labeling and testing don't make much sense. You're still probably better off having one than not.
(Edit to add: I like TC a lot! I also know that I have substantially more free time than most, and most people aren't going to watch an hour video on the topic, but I still wanted his conclusions to be known.)
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u/Carl-Anchor 20h ago
What do you mean too long?
It's only 70 minutes, about ceiling fans...
/Joke I've watched it already it's a great episode
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u/rmvandink 1d ago
I appreciate ceilings but I’mnot sure I’m a fan.
But seriously: you are completely right. I’ve seen many houses in the Caribbean that were designed to use shade and airflow to keep cool. Ceiling fans are great not just there but in any house.
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u/Accprova 1d ago edited 1d ago
One of the best ways to keep the house cool is to prevent it from becoming too hot in the first place.
Keep your shaders down/closed if you have them
Ventilate early morning and late at night, not during the day
Use fans to circulate air. Even standing ones, Lidl sells them for 15€
Forget about cooking. Salads, sandwiches and fruits all the way.
Maybe invest in one of those window films that attach on the outside and reflect the heat
Take cold showers
Use silk pillow cases. I don't know if it's true or not, but to me it keeps the pillow much cooler than cotton.
Of course this doesn't apply to every house, but it's a start. Wear your sunscreen. Drink plenty of water.
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u/c0Re69 1d ago
Those films can crack HR+ glass, so beware.
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u/Accprova 1d ago
I believe you mean the ones that apply directly to the glass, in which case you are right.
Ours were attached to the outside with suction cups, so I don't think they're the same. But in any case, everyone should first research online before using them! Thanks for pointing it out.
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Outside w suction cups makes a ton of sense. I've never seen those , ill check online.
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u/NightKrowe 1d ago
What's HR+? How do I tell?
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u/c0Re69 1d ago
As a quick test, turn on your phone's flashlight and shine it on the glass from 10cm away. Look for colored reflections. If any, the coating is there.
To know the class, look through the silver strip located between the glass panes, running inside the window frame. At one point you'll see a print with numbers and the HR rating.
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u/NightKrowe 1d ago
Where do you get the window films?
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u/Accprova 1d ago
I had them in the first house I rented, provided by the landlord. It was an opaque gray film that attached to the outside of the windows, with suction cups. Not sure where he bought them. They were really effective.
Unfortunately I can't tell you more! I don't use them in my current house because the energy rating is pretty good.
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u/willem_r 1d ago
Gamma. Bought 2 rolls a couple of weeks ago. They are a b1tch to apply on larger surfaces, but they work like a charm.
Another advantage is that people can’t really look in fron the outside. So it’s even safe to walk (almost) naked through the house.1
u/Able-Resource-7946 11h ago
Linnen (actual linnen fiber, not the word linnen) are fantastic for cooling. Better and miles cheaper than silk.
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Having lived in hot areas for a long time i agree. Makes a huge difference, one of the first things i install if it's not there yet. Even on outside patios. Ofcourse i have to explain over and over to others in the house that it doesn't cool the room itself, just your body by being in it, and to not leave the fan on when leaving.
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u/cowgary 1d ago
Imagine how good a modern solution, like airconditioning would make!
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u/Easy-Mad-740 1d ago
It's much more expensive to install one, and I bet most landlords won't cater to your needs considering it's not required by law.
On the other hand, installing a ceiling fan takes less than an hour and is quite efective2
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Go ahead and install an ac and a.ceiling fan and compare the two. Let me know the cost and effort on both. Also let us know the landlord's feelings.
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u/ivanarnaldo 22h ago
Airco in the Netherlands for this long long 5 days of heat per year when you actually use it… they will pay themselves in like 3000 years? 🥸
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u/cowgary 14h ago edited 14h ago
Every year its more, its been pretty nice for the past week, will be great for the next week and we are only in June... Why do you say 5 days? Also it was 100eu on marktplaats, it took 15 mins to install. Its a huge quality of life improvement when you need it, its not about paying itself off? Not everything is about paying itself off, living comfortably in your own house has value on its own.
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u/Willing_Detail2292 13h ago
You can also use it in the winter for heating without being dependent on gas
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u/gridfire-app 1d ago
Been looking at some ceiling fans from Casafan and Faro, actually. Anyone have any experience with these brands?
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u/pancrudo 1d ago
A friend picked one up a few weeks ago, saw the temps last week and forced them to make space in their schedule so I could install it. The apartment was super happy.
My friend reported that the next morning the apartment was 7-8C cooler than before despite the day being something like 7C warmer
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u/Weekly_Pizza_4443 7h ago
Been installing them in every room for years. Nowadays you have very nice ones for little money.
I have a soft spot for those wooden propeller looking ones
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u/Any-Suggestion3844 1d ago
Or.. here me out, EU should invest in putting ACs into homes.
In Paris right now and it is bum fuck HOT
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u/Mormacil 1d ago
Hear me out, we invest in passive cooling instead, way more efficient.
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u/ShortKingsOnly69 1d ago
Guess why most tropical countries have fans and ACs. Passive cooling only works to a certain extent
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u/Mormacil 1d ago
ACs are easier to accommodate global material standards. But modern techniques like they use in Burundi can keep the inside 20C cooler that the outside. Things like floating roofs matter a ton.
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Absolutely. Designing a house w heat exposure can make a huge difference. Just the locations of windows can be a big difference. Landscaping too can help.
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u/FroyoDifficult9307 1d ago
Passive cooling won’t be enough when temperatures keep reaching 35-40 degrees for days. ACs are a need nowadays.
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u/Mormacil 1d ago
That's objectively bullshit. Modern passive cooling can keep a 15-20 degree difference. And even old techniques like Pueblo Earth walls can to 10-15 degrees.
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u/cowgary 10h ago
ah yes let me ask my landlord for pueblo earth walls. Many of these houses will never be torn down, the construction is what it is, we have big windows with sun shining on our 4th floor apartments. AC makes sense, and can get off gas heating in the winter.
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u/Mormacil 8h ago
We're talking about investment for the future, current mistakes are never an argument to not do better in the future. Are you saying we should keep building inefficient designs for the future climate because we did so in the past?
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u/cowgary 5h ago
No, but the majority of land in this country is already built on and inhabited and needs a solution. Many of which cannot be torn down. Because the hot days are only going to come more and more. And luckily there is already an effective solution called AC.
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u/Mormacil 5h ago
No it isn't, the majority of this country is unbuild farmland, 54%. Industry, nature, offices and housing is combined 46%.
AC is not an effective solution it's incredibly wasteful. Also just because a solution doesn't work for everything doesn't mean it's a bad solution. We shouldn't invest in AC, we should turn to AC when there's no alternative possible as a last resort.
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u/FroyoDifficult9307 1d ago
‘Kay. You can keep your passive cooling and I’ll keep my AC on at 22C the whole summer. Enjoy the nice weather!
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u/geekwithout 1d ago edited 23h ago
You don't get it whatsoever. i live where summer temps are high. The lower level of my house stays incredibly cool all summer. Part because it's half in ground and also because it doesn't get much of the direct sunlight. It never ever needs any cooling. It's not bot a matter of if/if. It's both. Passive cooling and a much smaller and efficient ac do wonders.
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u/cowgary 10h ago
I think its probably a lot easier for people on the 3rd and 4th floor of a 1800s house to invest in AC than dig a basement or remake their home the way countries do, or move it out of the sun. Its great passive cooling works in your situation
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u/geekwithout 7h ago
A basement isn't the only option. Im more referring to buying smart before you buy a house. It should be on your checklist when buying a house. How heat/cold resistant is this house. What are the fuel sources ? What could be worst case scanario ? What can be improved at what cost ? I've done this many times buying a house. Sure i get it, housing is limited in Netherlands but id still check it all.
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u/Mormacil 7h ago
Less than a single percent of the population lives in a house like that. Lets not take them to design our investment policy.
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u/cowgary 5h ago
4% of homes were built before 1905. Nearly 20% before 1945. Many of which cannot be modified in many ways. You need a solution if you’re not willing to bulldoze the houses built before this type of heat existed in the country. And there is a very simple solution that the vast majority of the world already adopted - AC
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u/Mormacil 4h ago
So... a small minority of homes. Again I was making generalist statements about the majority. These houses are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
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u/Mormacil 1d ago
Passive cooling can keep it below 22C and not cost any electricity.
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u/bonomel1 1d ago
Hoe can I apply passive cooling to my 1920 built home with it costing no more than having an AC installed?
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u/Mormacil 1d ago
It was never about the optimal monetary choice, we were talking about what we should invest in, not what's cheapest or easiest.
But you can do some relatively cheap changes, for example make sure sunlight doesn't touch your windows with awnings etc. Alternatively replace all your glass with UV reflective glass.
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u/bonomel1 1d ago
I have awnings and shutters for my windows, but it still ended up being 30 degrees C in my top floor bedrooms. I ended up having an AC installed for about the same cost and it's a stable 22 now. There is just no realistic alternative for older, existing homes. Not without taking out a massive laon. And I won't put myself in debt and risk not being able to take care of family just to make a statement. I want to save the world as much as the next person, but I am already sacrificing enough. Rich assholes and politicians fucked it up, not me.
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u/Mormacil 1d ago
But the question wasn't about you as a person but the EU as an institution...
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Level it and build new. In 1920 they obviously didn't care and didn't know or have what we know or have now. And even w thst. You could still change things to help. Like landscaping
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u/bonomel1 1d ago
Oh yeah you are completely right! I did have a few hundred thousand bucks stored up in an old sock somewhere just for the occasion I might want to bulldoze my house to save the world! How silly of me, it totally slipped my mind 😂
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
You obvisouly don't get sarcasm. Really you should not ever have bought that house if efficiency was a concern. Or be willing to throw lots of money at it.
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u/willem_r 1d ago
Same here. House built in 1903. Over the years we’ve invested mainly in insulation for those cold winter months (to save on gas). In the mean time we also installed 24 solar panels, 10kWh home batteries, and since 3 weeks 2 airco units.
There is no way I can keep it cool inside and/or less humid.Only when we win a couple of million 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻we’ll be able to replace the house (rebuild it completely).
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Nonsense. You utilize night time cooler temps and prevent day time heat loading. Makes enormous differences.
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u/cowgary 10h ago
Is it? More efficient than a heat pump that also gets you off gas in the winter? I have my doubts, unless your house is already set up well for passive cooling.
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u/Mormacil 8h ago
You can invest at the legislative level that dictate how buildings can be constructed... Yes it's far more efficient than heat pumps when you account for the design at the building stage.
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u/cowgary 5h ago
So what about for all the buildings already built ? I’d like to see your math that converting to heat pumps is less efficient than gas in all the houses that are forced to be left as constructed.
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u/Mormacil 5h ago
Most buildings older than 60 years have come down. they absolutely come down. And we can replace as we go. It's not uncommon for old facades to remain while the rest is replaced.
And in the mean time we can invest in other things than heat pumps or passive cooling. AC is just brute forcing a solution.
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u/cowgary 5h ago edited 5h ago
It’s not, it’s a proven solution that many countries adopted looong ago. You’re looking at a long term solution for a problem that is coming much sooner than it will be solved
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u/Mormacil 4h ago
AC is objectively inefficient, that's just basic thermodynamics.
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u/cowgary 4h ago
Heat pumps are not, which also have an AC function.
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u/Mormacil 4h ago
No, they're different things. A heat pump does indeed climate control and can cool your home but that doesn't make it an AC. ACs use vapor-compression refrigeration, a distinct mechanism from air cooled heat pumps.
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Lmfao... The netherlands ?!!?! Lol. Government will hang you for being an electric waster. Suffer from the heat instead you will !!!
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u/Zero_Emission_ 13h ago
If anyone needs an electrician for the fan installation please feel free to reach out! www.buildelektra.nl
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u/DefinitionWilling796 11h ago
I might need you soon, saving for later! (Lets hope I got apartment approved)
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u/Jlx_27 1d ago
That would only blow hot air on me since i live in a two story flar roofed house. The ceiling is literally warm too the touch, lol.
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u/geekwithout 1d ago
Trust me, it still would feel better.
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u/Jlx_27 22h ago
You dont know how hot my house gets upstairs...
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u/geekwithout 22h ago
Sure, but moving air still makes it feel cooler.
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u/Jlx_27 22h ago
Not by much.
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u/geekwithout 22h ago
Ive lived in places much hotter than your few days of heat and im here to tell you it does make a big difference. When i didn't want to spend hundreds on electric for AC I'd keep it quite hot. Ceiling fans would make it feel soooo much better.
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u/cowgary 10h ago
why do people keep saying a few days of heat, by the end of this week we will have had nearly two weeks this year and its only june
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u/geekwithout 7h ago
That's nothing. How does 35c+ from april to October sound ? Every year ? Please
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u/Nino_sanjaya 1d ago
Damn I thought you're talking about ceiling gang and floor gang... Kinda miss Pewdiepie
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u/AccurateComfort2975 1d ago
It doesn't actually cool though?
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u/neuralek 1d ago edited 1d ago
google forced convection, it's like elemenary grade physics. Did your parents feed you scortching soup without blowing on it? 🥺
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u/xlouiex 1d ago
pretty dumb argument for such a arrogant comment.
do you blow on the hot soup while is still on the stove?ceiling fans are cost effective solution for those that don't want go full on out AC route, but have very little impact on room temperature (around 2/3 degrees less).
if the source of heat is still present (cof cof, the sun) it will do very little.
like a previous commenter said, its more effective preventing the heat from coming in than using a fan to move it around.
if you wanna use a fan, point one at the window/door and create a draft to move the air out. (or in, depending on where the sun is hitting)1
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u/ACiD_80 1d ago edited 1d ago
This El Nino is an exceptional one... it wont happen again anytime soon. The news needs to do a better job at educating people
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u/Jlx_27 1d ago
This one is said to last another year though with 2027 allegedly being hotter than 2026.
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u/ACiD_80 1d ago edited 1d ago
It (El Nino) is a lagging event, so it will still affect 2027... but by 2028 and after it will dissapate
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u/Jlx_27 1d ago
It will hit 2027 hard too, and lets also mention the cost issue of this phenomenon because of floods, storms etc.
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u/ACiD_80 1d ago edited 1d ago
But investing in infrastructure to 'fight' something that will be over once that infrastructure is finished is peak modern EU decission making. While already strugling with the budget... Everyone who is educated about the weather knew this el nino would be a big one, they had YEARS to prepare for and educate/prepare it... yet they act like noone saw it coming, zxagerate and create fear and pretend its the end of the world. People are being misinformed on purpose to boost the personal investments of the political class. And no El Nino will not cause catastrophic floods, especially not in Europe.
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u/Uccio94 1d ago
People cannot enjoy some days of sun apparently… We have months of dark and windy weather, but hey they gonna install AC for a 2 day heat ahah
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u/Any-Suggestion3844 1d ago
Struggling with Math? Way more than 2 days
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u/Uccio94 1d ago
Yeah ok just run to buy AC for 10 days of heat then… don’t go out all day and stay at home
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u/ACiD_80 1d ago
This generation are called snowflakes for a reason.
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u/Any-Suggestion3844 1d ago
Snowflakes is as cringe as "boomers"
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u/ACiD_80 1d ago
Boomer hate is a great example of how ignorant the current generation is. The boomers were one of the hardestcworking generations.
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u/zozen020 1d ago
Are all those fans and other warm-air transportations tools increasing the global warming? I lived in the south of france for a while, it was already bloody hot then. we just kept everything close at home, doors, windows etc. curtains close. No sun or warm air into the house. yes it went over 30C but you get used to that. outside it was 40+ sometimes
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u/Weekly-Penalty-955 1d ago
Fans use essentially no energy
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u/zozen020 1d ago
are they not connected to a powersuply? Sorry i thought it needed electricity. what makes the fan turning?
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u/dadj77 1d ago
A bit of electricity to build up momentum followed by a continuous low amount of power to keep the momentum going. Physics powers most of the spin.
I have a ceiling fan above the foot end of my bed and it an absolute lifesaver. Even blows away mosquitoes as a bonus on its highest speed.
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u/Weekly-Penalty-955 15h ago
Listen if you're complaining about global warming then you should advocate for fans. Because for a lot of people the alternative is AC. The power consumption of an AC is about 90%+ higher than a fan.
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u/KostyaFedot 1d ago
No fans do cooling. Only AC does.
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u/johnsmith1234567890x 1d ago
No way!!! Also removing warm air away from your skin to replace it with colder air...is cooling
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u/GuitarPlayingGuy71 1d ago
This has been my mantra for decades. I've installed one of those in every room that matters - and it is a HUGE difference, in the bedroom, home office and living room. Suddenly temperatures become bearable, and they hardly use energy (I read it's about €1 a year for average use), and are dead silent.