Electric fans may provide comfort, but when temperatures are in the high 90s, FANS WILL NOT PREVENT HEAT-RELATED ILLNESES. In order for a fan to be effective, the skin surface must be moist. When the skin surface is moist, moving air removes heat from the skin as the moisture evaporates. Unfortunately, when a person begins to develop heat stroke, they stop sweating. In addition, elderly persons may not sweat due to poor heat regulation messages sent out by their brain centers. If a fan is to be effective, the skin must be moist either with sweat or with dampened clothing, or with moisture added by rubbing wet cloths over the skin surface.

Although fans are less expensive to operate, they may be harmful when temperatures are high. As the air temperature rises, air flow is increasingly ineffective in cooling the body. Increasing air movement actually increases heat stress. More specifically, when the temperature of the air rises, the fan may be delivering overheated air to the skin at a rate that exceeds the capacity of the body to get rid of this heat, even with sweating, and the net effect is to add heat rather than to cool the body. The widespread distribution of fans, often practiced in the past as a heat-relief measure, thus appears unlikely to be particularly effective in preventing major heat-related health effects when temperatures are very high. The better alternative by far when the temperature soars is to use an air conditioner. If your home does not have air conditioning, go to the shopping mall or public library, and call the American Red Cross (573) 335-9471 to see if there are any heat-relief shelters in your area.