Ceiling Fans - Are you a Fan?

Summary: You might have seen them in restaurants and hotels: those large fans, fixed to the ceiling, that rotate and keep the whole room cool

You might have seen them in restaurants and hotels: those large fans, fixed to the ceiling, that rotate and keep the whole room cool. But have you ever considered getting one for your home? Maybe you thought that a ceiling fan would be too expensive, or too difficult to install, but that's a common misconception. Really, ceiling fans are competitively priced with the best freestanding fans, and installing one is about as difficult as putting in a new light fitting. Additionally, you might not have realised that ceiling fans are also useful in winter: as warm air rises, they can blow it down again, thus saving on heating bills. The average home ceiling fan rotates about three times per second on the highest speed setting, for safety reasons. To rotate faster, as industrial fans do, the fan would need to have sharper blades, which poses an obvious health hazard. Still, three complete rotations per minute isn't that slow, and larger fans especially can really make their presence felt. One thing to consider, if you're thinking of getting a ceiling fan, is getting one with a light integrated. As the fan will be taking up a space on your ceiling where there used to be a light fitting, it can be good to have a light as part of the fan, so the room doesn't end up dark. Don't worry about having to leave the fan on just to use the light, as they can be turned on and off separately. Another common fear with ceiling fans is that they might fall down and injure someone. However, if you think about it, have you ever seen a lamp fall down from the ceiling? It's very unlikely that you have, because things that are fixed to ceilings have to be fixed up to certain safety standards, with failsafe mechanisms to keep them from falling down even if one of the connections breaks.