If you are looking to add some additional lighting or maybe a cool, new decorative touch to a particular room, or maybe even attempt to help a room maintain a cooler temperature, you're probably looking for a new ceiling fan. Ceiling fans are excellent home appliances to add to any room in any home. The problem comes in picking the right ceiling fan (or fans) for your home. Hopefully, this quick little ceiling fan buying guide will help you not only understand how and why a ceiling fan works on those hot summer days and cold winter nights, but will also walk you along some of the more important features and styles available that may just suit your taste a little better.
Why do I need a ceiling fan?
Everyone has there own reasons for needing a ceiling fan so I'd hope you would already have one by this point or else why would you even be here? But, the main reason that anyone needs a ceiling fan is to improve the air circulation throughout there home which, in turn, helps with the ventilation aspect as well. Not having good air circulation in your home can prove to be costly as it makes your heating/cooling systems work that much harder, using more energy, and costing you more money in the long run. Having ceiling fans throughout your house helps improve the effectiveness of these systems providing for better air circulation during both the summer and winter months.
How do they work and can ceiling fans lower my utility bill??
A ceiling fan can work to either cool your home when it's hot outside or to warm it up a bit when it's chillly. First, let's take it from a "cooling" perspective since that ones a bit easier to explain. To cool your home all you have to do is simply turn it on when you are running your air conditioner. The fan will spin and push the air down to you creating a "cooler" sensation as the cold air is moving closer to you. Because it's circulating the cold air it will make it feel like a nice cool breeze is blowing through your home. People will often times be able to turn their thermostats up a little more using a ceiling fan to circulate the air more thoroughly throughout their home and even save a few dollars on their electric bill
Now, to the harder one that takes into account a little physics and science. You can use your ceiling fan when it's cold outside to actually help heat your home. Most ceiling fans have a switch on them that when flipped one way, the fan spins clockwise and when turned the other the fan will spin counter-clockwise. The science of it is that warm air is less dense than cold air. The physics portion comes into play in that one substance that is less dense than the other will "float" above the more dense one. Thus, warm air rises above the cold air. With the fan switch turned to where the air will be pulled instead of pushed, will cause the warm air to bounce off the ceiling and be forced down the outside of the walls back down to ground level. There, it will mix with the colder air and make it feel warmer around you. See, you can still use your ceiling fan in the winter when it's blistering cold outside and snow's all over the ground.
What kind of ceiling fans are available?
When you start looking at ceiling fans, you need to keep in mind that you are not stuck with just one certain model, actually there are three different types you could choose from. These are as follows: the traditional hanging, directional, or rotational ceiling fan. Let's get into these a little bit further.
Traditional Propeller Ceiling Fans
These are exactly what most people picture as a ceiling fan and think that's all there is on the market. Not entirely true but we'll get into that in just a bit. These fans hang directly down from your ceiling and the blades are parallel to the floor. Now there are all kinds of these out there to be gobbled up. Some are shiny, some have an antique finish, some have 3 or 4 blades, others have 5 or 6. They've even started making some very retro, post-modern models that are quite exquisite even down to some rather neat rustic models and sleek aero-craft designs. Some hang high and very close to the ceiling to give you much more headroom while others can hang still comfortably from very tall, arched ceilings. Bottom line, the sky's the limit with this style of ceiling fan as there are just a multitude of fans to choose from. Here's just some of the bigger known manufacturers and some of the brands that I like. Casablanca
Directional Ceiling Fans
These can get quite fun and yet still very functional and stylish. Directional ceiling fans are kind of a mix of those old standard fans but are mounted from the ceiling just like a traditional ceiling fan. The good part about these fans are that you can actually control the direction of the breeze to better ventilate certain portions or corners of the room. I've actually seen a master bedroom setup before with two of the directional fans near the front corners of the room pointing back towards the center of the room at the front of the bed. This type of setup can definitely get some air flowing towards anywhere you want it.
These are awesome smaller ceiling fans when you need to add some extra breeze to a room where maybe no additional lighting is needed as most all of these do not come with light fixtures. Matthews
Rotational Ceiling Fans
Rotational ceiling fans
This is really cool in that each set of propellers have their own motors. Thus really giving you two complete fans instead of one. The fans are connected and then attached to a traditional support rod that actually rotates. So as the saying goes, when the propellers turn, the rod turns allowing it to move like a traditional ceiling fan, just slower. What's really cool is that you can actually adjust the individual fans to either increase or decrease the angle of air flow to particular areas of the room.
Because of their ability to move air better and more effectively than a traditional fan, people have claimed that they are seeing an increased saving on their heating and cooling costs. Although I don't really know if that is true or not, it is what some are saying. One of the big downfalls of this ceiling fan model is that they are definitely more expensive than either of the other 2 models.
What kind of features are available for my ceiling fan?
Another thing to consider when looking for a new ceiling fan is what kind of features are available. Let's break this down a little further.
Feature 1: Lighting
Most all ceiling fans either come with lights or have a light kit that can be purchased and mounted to the fan. The only kind that really doesn't are directional ceiling fans. You can simply choose what kind and how many lights are on the unit. The single light units tend to use bigger lights that can light an entire room while the multi-light units offer a bit more form, functionality and class and can be used to direct light to certain area's of a room much more like a spotlight.
The more brand name ceiling fan manufacturers also offer a more contemporary option in lighting in that most of their ceiling fans are made to be able to match and coordinate with all the other light fixtures in your home. A good example of this type of lighting comes from the makers of Casablanca fans.
Feature 2: Controls
Controls are an important feature on any ceiling fan. Most standard models come with pull chains that can work (separately) both the speed of the fan and act as an on/off switch for the lights. Plus, most of these can be switched out to use a more standard wall mount fixture that allows you to control both the speed of the fan and set the light on a push button on/off dimmer switch. These make the lighting controls of the fans a bit more functional as you can dim the lights when you get ready to sit down and watch some TV or a movie.
A newer trend in the industry are remote controls. Now these can really spoil a guy, not only do you have a remote for the TV, but also one for the fan. Just imagine laying down in the bed and being able to grab the remote, turn the fan on, turn on the lights, and never get out of bed. Now that's comfort. Also, some models will allow for the remote to actually attach to a wall mount so it can be easily stored and operated from a wall like switch and removed when you just want to take it to the couch and relax.
Feature 3: Decorative
Baseball bats and fancy blades, attractive lighting and decorative base plates. These days, ceiling fans are becoming more and more specialized and the ability to either purchase a certain decorative style or upgrade certain pieces of it are becoming more and more attractive.
You can find these decorative ceiling fans in many different styles like Victorian or Contemporary, Antique or metal finishes, sports or bamboo. You're sure to find one to match any situation or decorative theme for most any room.
One of the cooler decorative features that I think have come out on the market lately are these canvas backed fan blades. But I'm a big sailing fanatic and to have a ceiling fan with blades that resemble sails from a sail boat are top notch in my book.
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