Fan with automatic thermal comfort control

1. An apparatus for circulating air in a space, comprising:

a fan;

a sensor for sensing an ambient condition;

a user input for inputting a desired condition; and

a controller configured for controlling the fan to operate substantially at a first fan speed for the desired condition, based on the desired condition, calculating a second fan speed for the sensed ambient condition, wherein the second fan speed is calculated by the equation:

S actual =S scaled *( S max −S min )+ S min

wherein S actual is the second fan speed,

S scaled is a value between 0 and 1 comprising a desired scaled output fan speed, said value being a function of a difference between the ambient condition and the desired condition,

S max is a maximum allowed fan speed, and

S min is a minimum allowed fan speed; and

operating the fan at the second fan speed at the sensed ambient condition.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including a wall controller for controlling the fan, the wall controller including the sensor.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the fan includes the sensor.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including a mobile computer for providing the user input.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the fan includes the controller.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the ambient condition comprises temperature or humidity.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the inputted condition includes a desired temperature, and the controller is operative to adapt the desired temperature to a new temperature based on a user-inputted fan speed at a sensed temperature.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the inputted condition includes a desired temperature, and the controller is adapted to receive a maximum fan speed and a minimum fan speed, and to determine a scaled control value for determining a fan operating speed based on the difference between an effective temperature and a desired temperature.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, based on a user-inputted fan speed as the desired condition, the controller is operative to adjust a temperature range over which the fan goes from a lower fan speed to a higher fan speed.

10. A method of operating a fan, comprising:

determining an operating speed for the fan based on a user-defined ideal temperature, maximum speed, and minimum speed, wherein the determining step comprises

calculating a scaled control value for determining the operating speed based on the difference between an effective temperature and the user-defined ideal temperature, and

calculating the operating speed based on a function of the scaled control value multiplied by a difference between the maximum speed and the minimum speed;

controlling the fan to operate at the operating speed; and

adjusting the user-defined maximum speed or the user-defined minimum speed.