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thisishishouse

Ceiling fans?

thisishishouse
9 years ago

Had a walk-thru with our electrician the other day, to determine where we wanted lights, switches, type of fixtures we'd have, etc. All the stuff I just hadn't gotten to thinking about yet.

When it got to the bedroom, he asked about a ceiling fan. I didn't know which way to go on this. I've never had a ceiling fan. (Never had central AC either, for that matter) If a house has central AC, when/why would a ceiling fan get used?

What about kids bedrooms? Our master ceiling is 11 or 12', but the kids bedrooms have standard 8' ceilings. Is that too low for a ceiling fan?

When shopping for fans, what are the important features to consider? What's an expected price point for these things?

(BTW, we're in New England, where summer is a few weeks of 80 degree days, and "going to the beach" means driving to the ocean to look at the 50 degree water.)

Comments (14)

  • pixie_lou
    9 years ago

    Every room in my house came with a ceiling fan. We're in Boston MetroWest. I also have central air. I love the ceiling fans. I've had the majority of them running for the past few weeks. I use them a lot in spring and fall - keeps air circulating and makes the house feel a bit cooler on these slightly warm days. Also in summer when the AC is running, I find I can keep the temp on the AC set a degree or 2 higher by running the ceiling fan.

    Fans are typically rated by room size. Bigger fans for bigger rooms. You electrician should know best how low to suspend the fan on your 12' ceilings. All my ceilings are 8' so our fans are flush mounted to the ceiling. In the kids rooms, just don't mount the fan over the bed - you don't want them to be able to stand on the bed under the fan and get bonked by the fan blades.

    You can get inexpensive utilitarian ceiling fans at home depot starting at about $50. I'm sure pricing goes up into the thousands at a lighting design store. All depends on how fancy you want to get.

  • mushcreek
    9 years ago

    We couldn't live without ceiling fans, but we are in the south. In the summer, we keep the thermostat at 78, but I really need a fan at that temp, especially when sleeping. I'm sure it's cheaper to run a fan than crank the A/C down to 72. It might seem frivolous, but we like a remote control on the bedroom fans.

    There has been a lot of debate as to the aesthetics of ceiling fans. I like the look of them, and there are a lot of interesting choices available, depending upon your budget. Our new build will have them in all of the major rooms, and two on the porch. I would get one. You can always remove it and replace it with a light fixture if you find you don't like it. You need to plan ahead for fans, as they use a special heavy-duty ceiling box.

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    Are you in far north NE? In RI we didn't have central air, and the ceiling fans were essential. In new house in NW CT we do have air but keep it set no lower than 72, rarely use the ceiling fan in family room/kitchen area but do use the ones in the bedrooms. Whether it's just a warm spring or fall night and AC isn't running and want some air movement, or hot summer night and need a little more, it's nice to have. DS keeps his running much of the year, even when using a blanket, more for white noise I think than cooling.

    Place them more or less in center of room, at foot of bed is good. DD can stand on her bed and reach the chains (though we have switch for fan, sometimes she changes speed) and half the bulbs. One in our room is farther from end of bed since room is larger (and DS's bed is along the wall so he has more floor space). We have 8 ft ceilings, all fans are flush mount except short downrod in MBR one.

    They are also available with remote controls for those tall ceilings (our MBR has one we never installed b/c we didn't think we'd need it, I may rethink that since it would be nice to change fan speed in middle of the night w/o getting up and fumbling for the chain).

  • Jules
    9 years ago

    After you decide whether you want fans, you'll have to select fans, so here's a current discussion thread in the GW decorating forum that might be helpful:

    Here is a link that might be useful: ceiling fans

  • illinigirl
    9 years ago

    We put ceiling fans in every bedroom in the house. My husband and some of my kids can't sleep without one.

    For the master we chose a minka aire but for the other rooms we went with very basic white with light kit, something that would 'disappear'. Two of the rooms have 8 foot ceilings and one room has 9 foot ceilings and one has 7'10" ceilings. So we chose the style called 'hugger' with the least height. Then our master has 10ft ceilings so we chose a nicer somewhat taller style.

    My lighting designer told me the 'hugger' style ones would work very well, be quiet, and disappear (as much as a fan can). They were quite inexpensive around 60/each. I figured we could always upgrade later but I doubt I will ever want to. To me ceiling fans are an unfortunate part of life (I don't like the looks but like I said, husband/kids really 'need' them).

    My oldest son always has his on high even in the frigid winters.

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    We have ceiling fans in every major room. They're at their best in the bedroom: They provide wonderful moving air at night, and they don't take up floor space.

    You do have to dust them, and the best option is a dust-mop with a long handle that's made 'specially for ceiling fans.

    As to how to buy:

    - With your high ceilings, consider choosing a model with a "drop" -- as opposed to a "ceiling hugger".
    - Less expensive models tend to have simple, built-in light kits, but the nicer, more expensive fans come separate from their light kits. Personally, I like this so I can choose my fan . . . and have the light kit I prefer.
    - Avoid a model that has a school-house type light. Those have only one single bulb, and unless you have lots of other lights, you won't be happy with this in the long run.
    - Most light kits have four bulbs. My daughter's fan has a nice feature: You can burn only 2 bulbs for a soft light, or you can burn all four for a bright light.
    - Definitely have your wiring done so you have TWO switches on the wall -- one for the fan, one for the light, so you can operate them separately.
    - Most fans come with paddles that are plain on one side, patterned /caned on the other side. You can choose which one you want to display /which one you want to face the ceiling.
    - A good ceiling fan runs about $100-150. Beyond $200, you're paying for a fancy look.

  • ILoveRed
    9 years ago

    We like ceiling fans. I know they are not "in" but I plan to use them again. All bedrooms and the living rooms. This time I may even put one in my master bathroom as I have often regretted not doing so.

    My boys run theirs on high at night also.

    I doubt that I will use them on the porches since we have them in this house on the porches and rarely use them. Perhaps the screened porch.

    I just finished a gut remodel on an office space with shorter ceilings. My dh wanted fans. I wanted something that would disappear and not cost me an arm and a leg. I used these fans. Nice for the price. Certainly good enough for kids rooms.

  • kas4
    9 years ago

    @red_lover, I highly recommend putting a ceiling fan in your master bathroom. This is our second house with that feature and we love it. The air movement that it provides is invaluable especially since we don't have an operable window.

  • ILoveRed
    9 years ago

    Kas---I mentioned it to my electrician when we built this house and he just looked at me...didn't say a word. Lol. I could tell he didn't have to use a blow dryer.

    Seriously, I often have to take breaks getting ready to go somewhere because I get so hot. I'm glad you told me you love your fan. Thank you!

  • jennybc
    9 years ago

    We wired for them and will upgrade to fans from cheapie lights in the future.
    Just an expense to put off for now.

  • autumn.4
    9 years ago

    oic-we also live in a cooler climate but use ours frequently. In our build we have 5, 1 in each bedroom, 1 in the living room, 1 on the screened porch. We use the a/c on really hot days but only to the point of keeping the humidity down so we still use the fans. I don't like to walk into a freezing cold house nor do I want that bill. :)

    Typically we use them mostly at night just to keep the air moving. And - if you are even near the age of hot flashes, I find them heavenly and really a necessity at that point. I am not even that old - early 40's - just 'lucky' to start that early I guess.

    Our bedroom has 4 cans and then a fan with no light kit. 2 separate switches.

    The boys have a fan with a light kit. The other 2 do not have light kits either.

  • mushcreek
    9 years ago

    I just read an article about ceiling fans on the Fine Homebuilding website. It seems that the size recommendations do not yield the best energy efficiency. It uses less power to run a bigger fan on 'medium' than it does to run a small fan on 'high'. The lower speed also makes for a quieter fan as well. Now I need to re-think my fan choices.....

  • cfvh
    9 years ago

    You don't have to install fans now, or ever, but... you should really consider wiring for them. It takes very little extra money to do so. The electrician can run an extra switch line to the fan so you can control the fan and lights separately.

    Have fan-rated electrical boxes installed. You can hang regular light fixtures from them as well. If you don't install a fan, the aforementioned extra switch line can be capped at the switch box and the ceiling box for future use.

    We didn't install any ceiling fans but ran the extra wire in almost every room just in case.

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    Red Lover, I would never buy a 42" fan. The price difference is small, but the amount of air a larger fan displaces is significant. One of my daughters has a smaller fan like this in her room, and it is . . . just plain disappointing.

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