TherMOOfan

Giedt Hall Big Ass Fan

TherMOOfan

At the Energy Conservation Office, we are always looking for opportunities to improve energy efficiency and campus comfort. One way we can accomplish both goals is by incorporating ceiling fans in large classrooms. The most ideal ceiling fans for this project are high volume, low-speed (HVLS) fans that can circulate a high volume of air throughout a large space efficiently, which can reduce the need for heating and cooling. Comfort can also be improved by HVLS fans because classrooms can maintain a more consistent temperature without disrupting comfort. 

Pilot

Giedt Hall Room 1001 was chosen as our pilot classroom to install two fans selected from a company called  Big Ass Fans ©, which are guaranteed to operate silently. We installed the fans during the summer of 2017. Over the six months, we tested experimental conditions during the Fall and Winter Quarters to evaluate comfort improvement and energy savings. 

 

  • Baseline Period: fan off and no changes to existing classroom temperature setpoints (Summer 2017)
  • Experiment 1: run the fan at a single default speed, and adjust the classroom temperature setpoints to a more energy efficient setting (Fall 2018)
  • Experiment 2: fan controlled through TherMOOstat votes, and adjust the classroom temperature setpoints to a more energy efficient setting (Winter 2018)

 

Feedback Driven

In order to ensure the fans are serving the people in the room efficiently, we connected TherMOOstat feedback to the fan's operation to allow students and faculty to participate in their own thermal comfort. Their participation can provide quick adjustment to their comfort and provide trend data for future settings. 

your votes control the fans
Fans adjust according to the types of votes received. Hot and cold votes increase or decrease speed respectively.

 

Smart automation

Providing control of the fans to students and faculty helps us understand how people actually feel in their space and their comfort needs; however, we wanted to take a step further to make sure the fans are working at the top, optimal level. We added code to the fans to turn on or off based on expected occupancy in the room and set a default speed where we receive no votes. Outside air temperature is also taken into account so when you first enter the classroom, the fans will operate at the optimal speed.