Cooling Fan Check?

Sine having my oil cosumption problem I've started getting quite paranoid
about things with my Focus....

I'm sure my cooling fans used to come on quite often, and now I never hear
them come on......I know its getting to winter now so they won't need to
work as much because of the ambient temperature but is there anyway of
bridging owt to see if they kick into life?

I've just read below that one of the fans is for air-conditioning?? And
air-con auto turns on when the blower is on and switched to windscreen mode?
Have I read that correctly? And if thats true should one of the fans come on
instantly when the air-con is on or when windscreen blower is selected?

My temp gauge reads just below half way when engine has been running for a
while.....I'm sure before my needle used to read just above half
way.......again anything to check/watch out for?

Cheers,
Chris

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