When your central air conditioner is running, you need the furnace fan to be on to distribute the cold air throughout your home.
Simple answer is that the fan only has to run while AC is running. Having fan running whatever minutes per hour helps with equalizing temperature throughout the house and you can set it to whatever you feel comfortable with.
Your furnace and your air conditioning system are two central components of your HVAC system, connected and controlled for greater efficiency. During warmer weather, you'll need to turn off your furnace and use your air conditioner instead. Your central air conditioning system is independent of your furnace.
The fan only turns on when cooling or heating is required. If you are generally as comfortable in one room of your home as the next, you'll want to use the AUTO setting. The AC fan kicks in when needed and stops running when the job is done.
Does the furnace need to be on for the AC to work? No! Your air conditioner should run on its own, even when the furnace is off. The reverse is also true.
The most important and most obvious step in switching from your furnace to your A/C is to turn off your furnace. Most modern heating systems can be turned off straight from the thermostat, but if you have an older model you may have to turn off the gas supply.
Comfort Systems Rely On Each Other for Best Performance
Your air conditioner and furnace are dependent on each other in various ways, such as: Both AC and furnace use the same thermostat to activate and shut down. The AC and the furnace use the same blower to spread cool and warm air throughout your home.
If there's not enough air circulating, your AC will be ineffective at cooling your home. It can also overwork itself and reduce energy efficiency. Since the system can't cool things off, the outside fan may run constantly.
Running the Fan Continuously
This offers benefits for your home such as: Improved air circulation throughout your living spaces. Enhanced indoor air quality by filtering air continuously. Reduced motor stress by minimizing frequent starts and stops.
The primary benefit of running your HVAC fan consistently: Air circulation improvements. Running the fan more often means air in your home circulates faster, leading to everything from more even temperature distribution to faster heating or cooling.
Your fan limit switch will have a small white button on the lower left corner. That button tells the switch whether to operate manually (run the fan all the time) or automatically (run the fan only during heating cycles).
The outdoor condenser and compressor, indoor fans, and evaporator coils cycle refrigerant and draw hot air inside while releasing heat, then draw cooled air back through your vents. In other words, your central air conditioning system is independent of your furnace.
The air conditioner will sit outside the home cooling while the furnace works inside the home to heat with fans and coils. Both systems use your home's ductwork and vents to transport warm and cool air. Alternatively, a heat pump and an air handler might be paired together to form a complete system.
On the one hand, running your heating and cooling fan even when the AC isn't in operation helps to circulate the cool air throughout your home. Doing so distributes it evenly, ensuring consistent comfort. It's also worth noting that constantly turning the fan on and off can put your system through wear and tear.
"ON" keeps the fan running continuously, which can help with air circulation and filtration but may consume more energy. Choose "AUTO" for energy savings and "ON" if you want constant air circulation or improved air filtration. Temperatures can soar or plummet depending on the time of year.
The short answer: Definitely not. (Unless you have manually engaged your outside fan to run constantly, but it shouldn't be running for hours on it's own.) If your HVAC is functioning correctly, it should keep your house cool by cycling on for 15-20 minutes at a time—with distinct pauses in between each cycle.
The difference between fan settings:
If you turn the fan to “on”, the blower will continue to run after the system is turned off, but if you set it to “auto”, it will allow the blower to run off and on intermittently in time with the heating or cooling system.
In most cases, your HVAC system does not pull air from outside when it is heating or cooling your home. Instead, it recirculates the air inside your home.
Pros of Keeping Your Fan On
First, running fans contribute to even temperature distribution. This reduces the hot spots in your house. Hot spots occur when an area doesn't receive the same temperature-controlled air as other rooms. You'll also enjoy improved air quality in your home.
Allowing the fan to run uninterrupted, there is a more even distribution of warm or cool air circulating through your home. This will help reduce hot or cold spots within your home. There could be reduced stress on the fan from less frequent starts and stops, which could potentially help extend its lifespan.
Running a fan throughout the day is inexpensive—much lower than the cost of running an AC unit alone—and using both in conjunction with each other means that you won't have to keep your air conditioning running all day.
Without the motion of the fans, the air will not be moved properly, and thus the until will not cool your home. The best way to keep your AC fan motor running properly is to ensure it gets regular maintenance and air conditioning repairs by a professional.
Common causes include electrical problems, a malfunctioning blower motor, or thermostat-related issues. Electrical problems may include blown fuses within the furnace circuit or tripped circuit breakers in your electrical panel. If the blower motor is worn out or has failed, it can cease to function altogether.
During the summer, you turn your AC off and turn your furnace on. Fortunately, you use the same thermostat for the furnace as you do the AC. The furnace turns on when you switch the thermostat to 'heat. ' The furnace uses an element to produce heat and distributes it through the vents in each room in your house.
Furnace fans circulate air heated by a furnace through a home's duct system into the living space. For homes with central air conditioning, the furnace fan also serves to circulate conditioned air during the cooling season.