If "pretty is as pretty does", then pretty is a ceiling fan in the summertime saving energy while cooling the house. In the South, ceiling fans are about as essential as sweet iced tea. We don't like to suffer the heat or ugly fans, if we can help it.
Ceiling fans have a reputation for being unattractive or unsophisticated, even if they are highly practical and energy efficient. Maybe ceiling fans are just misunderstood? If that's the case, then it's time to set the record straight on these whirling wonders.
Why do I need a ceiling fan?
Ceiling fans help maintain a constant temperature in the room to prevent the AC (or heater) from working too hard, thereby saving energy. With windows open, fans circulate the fresh air so "canned" air doesn't even have to be used. Operating a ceiling fan requires no more electricity than a 100 watt bulb but can shave up to 40% off your energy bill when used consistently. That's green for the planet and for your wallet!
What sized fan do I need?
For rooms that are smaller (11 x11 or so), a 42" or 36" fan is appropriate. For larger rooms, fans can be closer to 52" in diameter. There are even tiny ceiling fans that are about 30" wide for small spaces like pantries, bathrooms, offices or apartment size kitchens. Basically, choose the fan that fits the scale of the room. Any size fan can move around air, but if you are concerned just check the CFM (cubic feet of air per minute) rating.
Which direction is my fan supposed to turn?
In the summer, rotate the blades counter-clockwise to cool a room. In the winter, flip the switch on the fan's motor to rotate the blades clock-wise to push the warm air down into the room.
Why is my fan noisy?
Start with a fan from a reputable company and be willing to pay a little more. A quality fan will be worth a few more bucks and should not be noisy due to finer machined parts. However, any fan can get out of balance or have a loose light kit. Tighten the screws or use a balance kit to take the wobble out of your fan before giving up on it.
What are the best ceiling fan brands for quality and beauty?
Yes, fans can be just as lovely as designer light fixtures. Vintage ceiling fans have gorgeous, weathered wood blades and hand-tooled metal casings. Newer fans are being developed with more ingenuity and variety in design to coordinate with modern or classic interiors. For example, Casablanca has a stately chandelier ceiling fan and a grand 84" wide fan with silk blades. Novel, no? Fanimation, Minka-Aire, and Hunter are also quality fan companies with stand-out designs. Be aware that the lines (like the lower grade Hunter) carried at large hardware stores are not necessarily the best of the brand as those stores commission fans for their purpose.
Now that you've had a little fan-ucation, go out and buy one before the summer sets in. You can sip your iced tea and feel smug about doing your part to save energy while keeping your cool.
Pictured above: Casablanca Verrazano, Fanimation Cumulos, and Minka-Aire Cirque.
Images by Misty Adair and photographed at Texas Ceiling Fans, which will be debuting on Marketplace this week.
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This may be a dumb question, but I honestly don't know the answer: do you need special electrical connection to install a ceiling fan, or can you replace light fixtures with fans directly? Anyone know the process?
Ceiling fans on high in the south, mid summer during sleeping hours are soooooo awesome. But pleeeeeeeze, no light fixture/ceiling fan combinations.....They are simply visually awful!
kellylc: Ceiling fans have standard electrical connections, so it is almost as easy as swapping out any other fixture. The thing you have to watch is how the junction box is secured. If it is nailed to a rafter you're in good shape and can continue with no problem. If it is not secure, or is floating on top of the ceiling drywall you need a ceiling fan hanger kit. The kit replaces the old box with an expandable unit that secures to two rafters. This keeps 30-40 pounds of spinning joy from falling on your head at inconvenient times. Definitely a reasonably easy DIY, but if it worries you call a pro.
Where is the fan from the top picture from (brand, etc.)
Thank you.
@kellylc: I was wondering the exact same thing. Thanks for asking.
If I can get a ceiling fan for a reasonable price, it might be worth considering since I pay separate utilities on my rental.
"Be aware that the lines (like the lower grade Hunter) carried at large hardware stores are not necessarily the best of the brand as those stores commission fans for their purpose."
This warning isn't quite fair -- not all Hunter fans at Home Depot and Lowe's, etc, are lower grade. I picked up two fans for my home several years ago that were about $250 ea, and they were completely silent and handsome. I'd been looking for the right fans for a couple of years because I felt they were either too modern, too kitschy (palm fronds, anyone?), or too dowdy and cheap. In fact the fans were so nice that when I sold my home I was going to take the fans with me, but the buyer negotiated to keep them. Unfortunately, I now have two very ugly fans in our new home...
I posted a while back about a simple little face-lift I did for our bedroom fan- the boring box-store white ones. It doesn't compare to buying a pricey new fancy one, but it made enough of an improvement to make me happy!
http://www.cozylittlecave.com/2010/03/ceiling-fan-face-lift.html
Also, it's probably worth noting that running a fan in an empty room does nothing to cool the room. We feel cooler in a room with a ceiling fan running because the circulating air cools our bodies. If you're not in the room, it's ok to turn the fan off. (I read this in an energy-saving brochure.)
I have the Cirque pictured above in my bedroom, and I love it - beautiful and extremely good as a fan. People have strong reactions to it pro or con, I've found.
As nice as that fan may be there is no way in hell I'm paying $1500 bucks for something that looks like five fishing poles and a little silk.
I have a four-storey townhouse with a staircase in the same place throughout the house (against one of the walls).
I often wonder if getting a ceiling fan would help -- more for heating than cooling (i'm in New England). I keep the radiators on the top floor turned off (and only use those rooms for guests), but it's quite warm up there anyway, and the stairwell acts as a chimney, whooshing the warm air up up and away.
If I put one ceiling fan at the very top of the house and put it on the winter setting, would it be strong enough to send the warm air back down to the other, occupied, levels? If anyone knows, I'd love your input!
We bought our house last year (in LA), it doesn't have air-conditioning and every window is inside opening casement style we couldn't put in window units (which is a blessing in disguise, because those things are hideous). And, even though I love unique light fixtures and would love to hang little chandeliers or pendant lights in every room, we opted for ceiling fans in the bedrooms. I'm glad, because they make it so comfortable... but sad because with such a small house, my desire to hang fun light fixtures is now seriously limited!
www.mydesigndreams.com
seanswim7: The fan in first photo is a vintage Hunter, I believe. I will be featuring Texas Ceiling fans as a store post on Thursday and they are the ones that restore antique fans. In person, these old fan are totally beautiful. Hunter makes reproductions.
kimg924: Yes, you are right. Not all the fans at Home Depot or Lowes that are from Hunter are of lesser quality, but some are. You get what you pay for so just be aware that not all Hunters will be the same.
Thanks JeepyJayhawk!
I have two ceiling fans in my row house in the two stuffy windowless inner bedrooms (it is the railroad layout). They are fine but only cool you if you stand directly under them.
For cooling I recommend a 17" Air King wall-mounted oscillating fan http://www.airkinglimited.com/pages/industrial/oscwall1.html -- such as sold for greenhouse use. These really do the job and are very quiet. I have several of these and am thinking of adding two additional ones to the rooms with the ceiling fans for even greater sleeping comfort.
We also have an ancient, noisy 20" box-type window fan in the kitchen for cross ventilation at night, and, in the dining area, one small, window-mounted air conditioner, which we use sparingly when it gets really hot -- so we can sit down in comfort to a pleasant meal, especially one with we have guests.
I actually completely disagree! I think ceiling fans are an eye sore most of the time here in Los Angeles. I will be removing my "home depot" ceiling fan in my 1920's apartment to replace it with a most amazing light fixture that catches my eye, when I find it! (I just moved recently and I am completely starting over from scratch)
I think that a beautiful light is much more glamourous than any ceiling fan. I will bring out my fans during the summer and I put them away for the other10 months out of the year.
I am a bit of a lighting snob, so I am absolutley planning on replacing my fan with a light instead!
@cozylittlecave I don't see a difference in your fan, please help me out on that one.
In that second pic is that a ceiling fan with candles?
Well, kjansson, you are very lucky not to have to cope with extreme weather in LA.
I live in the south and just took down the ceiling fan that came with my bedroom last night. I tried for SO LONG to use the "it's more energy-efficient than the A/C" excuse, but it's just too. darn. ugly. And this was a REALLY nice fan.
Down went the ceiling fan, up went a modern light fixture that FINALLY tied the room together. That being said, hey, if you love them, more power to you. If you want a really nice one, go to the Charlotte ReStore, because this fan is gettin' DUMPED.
OK now I feel bad, because I forgot to mention where we southerners LOVE ceiling fans. On the porch. Despite my hatred of them aesthetically on the interior, the two ceiling fans on my front porch are one of the little quirks that made me buy my house.
Um, mh11180, AC can work more efficiently when you also are running a ceiling fan. But I'm guessing too late for that tidbit. :(
Hmmm, any tips on what to do with ugly ceiling fans in a rental?
yes, I agree - would run more efficiently, and I considered this. I opt for the greener and more efficient option 99% of the time, and I delayed this for a long time hoping I'd just grow to love the fan. Never did. Hated walking in my master bedroom because of it. I DID, however, attempt to offset it. I bought a thermostat with a timer (the AC is now all but off when I leave for work), I donated the fan and all its parts for re-use, I installed energy-efficient curtains on the windows (this helps more than ANYthing), and I told my roommate that if she wants to install a fan, I'll pay for it (the one I removed is too large for her room). Given the light fixture I replaced it with runs one CFL bulb vs the four that were needed in the ceiling fan, I'm at peace with the decision to remove it.
@CozyLittleCave...Nice changes you've done to your fan. The mediallon really does anchor the look of the fan to the ceiling. I'm looking at the fan in my bedroom and that looks like something I'd like to do. That's the only place I have a fan....couldn't sleep without it on, even in the winter.
Has anyone ever thought of the old fashioned ATTIC fans? They used to be more common than they are now.
Essentially a louvered grill is mounted to the hall ceiling, the fan is mounted above it, between 2 ceiling studs, vented outside via duct work and you simply open the windows a little and the fan will pull in that outside air, creating a breeze and exhausts it back outside, the only thing is, gotta keep the bedroom doors open for them to gain any benefits but if it remains hot at night and you must have the door closed either use a table top fan or go with a small AC unit to keep the bedroom cooler.
Speaking of fans, I may have to replace my 8" osculating fan as the switches I think are wearing out, the low speed does not always work, the middle speed sparked once when I turned it on last night in the dark and the plastic is deteriorating too, due to UV exposure over the years but runs OK otherwise.
Nothing worse than being hot on a hot summer's night and trying to sleep...
Looking for a clean modern ceiling fan for outdoor patio. Needs to be able to handle WET area. Any suggestions?
Attic fans....oh yes. The last house I lived in had an attic fan and I miss it terribly. It kept out house cool enough that we only ran the window AC in August-the dog days of summer.
Our current home had ceiling fans everywhere but the refinished attic and although they are hideous, they will be replaced. I need to purchase some tiny ones for the bedrooms in the attic but you have to be careful because of the wall angles.
Has anyone seen the brand called "big ass fans" they are great for loft spaces, and so fun. Beware they are like 8' diameter, but they are so beautifully designed. www.bigassfans.com I also love the casablanca one pictured above with the white fabric blades!
Jeannine, Mannigan Design, Inc.
has anyone experienced a buzzing, extremely annoying, humming sound coming from a ceiling fan? the people who live in the apartment below me are using a really cheap ceiling fan and according to some, when they get older (which happens quickly...) they start being noisy. it is driving me CRAZY and the REFUSE to do anything about it - even though i have offered to split the cost with them. any advice or input would be so appreciated! thank you!!
This is a great resource for ceiling fans. Ceiling fans are a great way to not only save money on your electricity bill, but also a good way to keep cool in the warm summer months.
http://www.littmanbros.com/
Does anyone have recommendations for a wall mounted fan? There is no ceiling connection in our toddler's room, and not a safe place to put a desk fan (kids can access, or earthquake can knock over).