What's Up with Ceiling Fans?

This post is a short gripe on real-world usability.

Late fall in the northern hemisphere requires a change in the home. It's time to turn on the heating system. And as of last spring, I've emphasized heating efficiency by switching each ceiling fan's rotation.

The process has made me think so much.

Thermodynamics states that heat rises and cold air sinks — if a ceiling fan is placed on high rotation pulling air up, it will make the room cooler. Pushing the air down on slow rotation makes the room warmer.

I have many fans in my house, all of the same brand. Some models have a switch, an affordance, positioned either left or right or up or down. Too much thinking wasted. The switch "up or down" highlighted my need. Air goes down, ☀️, switch down. Air goes up, ❄️, switch up. I didn't realize this due to the confusion of inconsistency.

To understand air direction, Googling pointed me to watch fan rotation. It took me fifteen minutes to understand my frustration.

I don't care if the fan is going counter or clockwise, as stated by many posts. It is hard to discern if this is true on all fans, depending on the "cut" of the blades.

Shame on you, Fan Manufacturing Company.

Be the switch that highlights the outcome — not the process of how.

In the future, these fans will have no switches. Environment variables will control them. And posts like these will change to:

There are no switches. How do I adjust the fan setting?

A seven-hour Google search blunder will ensue.