It’s almost that time of year again! Spring is slowly bringing back verdant green foliage, milder weather, and (hopefully) more time to spend on outdoor activities. Soon, we’ll be welcoming the first days of summer with open arms. With the summer, of course, comes warmer weather. And the last thing anyone wants is a hot and stuffy home. Adding a new, modern-style ceiling fan to your home has plenty of benefits and is the perfect easy home improvement project to quickly spruce up any living space. Here are a few benefits and tips for upgrading your place with a brand new ceiling fan.
Why Add Or Upgrade A Ceiling Fan To Your Home?
Before deciding to install a brand new ceiling fan, you may endeavor to understand why add one at all—especially if you’re happy with the room the way it is (or a pre-existing ceiling fan). But there are plenty of good reasons to add a new ceiling fan to your home. Maybe an older ceiling fan is malfunctioning or just looks bad. Or perhaps you need better circulation in your home. Ceiling fans are like the middle ground of home ventilation and air circulation.They can save you money by preventing you from leaving the air conditioner on constantly and vastly improve in-home air circulation.
The fans themselves don’t actually cool the room; they move the air around and create a wind chill effect that results in the cooling factor associated with fans. A combination of pitched-angle blades and solid engineering creates downdrafts that increase the effect. Using a process called destratification—where different layers of air get mixed to create a uniform temperature and airflow—to blend the air together and create a form of evaporative cooling. The fan blades generate the necessary air to create that amazing cooling sensation associated with ceiling fans. Finally, adding new or modern-style ceiling fans can potentially increase your home’s value down the line.
Choose A Room Room For Your Ceiling Fan
Believe it or not, there is actually quite a variety of different types of ceiling fans to fit an equally diverse variety of rooms inside or outside the home. Determine what purpose the fan will serve. Is it going to improve airflow or help cool things down? Is it intended to improve the look/feel of the room? Do you plan to use it predominantly for lighting? Whatever the case may be, you’ll want to get an idea of the fan’s energy efficiency and it’s cubic feet of airflow (CFM) to ensure it’ll work efficiently for the room you selected. Going into the project with this knowledge ahead of time will simplify the installation when the time comes.
Decide What Kind Of Features You Want On Your Fan
In addition to their ability to improve airflow and keep you cool, ceiling fans can come with a decent variety of features. Various fans offer unique and useful features like:
- Lights (including standard lighting, chandelier lighting, and other styles)
- Light shades
- Remote control capabilities
- Quiet running motors
- Wobble-free design/engineering
- Multiple speeds
Some ceiling fans even feature a combination of Wi-Fi and smart technology connectivity to control the fan’s speed and lights from your smart device. This is by no means a comprehensive list of accessories and features you can get with your ceiling fan. It’s always wise to check the website or with the vendor to see if there are additional things you may want to add before purchasing your fan.
Pick An Amazing Fan Style
There are a remarkable abundance of ceiling fan styles available today. Some of the more common styles are the traditional fan (which appears more formal and fit traditional architectural design aesthetics), modern fans (characterized by clean lines in a minimal approach to the design), contemporary ( similar to the modern design but with more rounded/beveled edges and lighter colors/materials), and transitional fans (a healthy mix of modern and contemporary designs).
Other styles like rustic or Victorian ceiling fans can provide an even more unique look for your home. While a plethora of styles abound in the world of ceiling fans, good-looking modern ceiling fans are a popular choice largely due to their elegant design and ability to type pretty much any room together. They’re also highly functional with plenty of opportunity for accessorizing. They’ll fit in with more modern decor in your home while also taking advantage of smart technology to enhance their function. Moreover, modern fans offer sleek, streamlined designs typically in matte black, nickel, bronze, or matte silver finishes to really make them look amazing. So be sure to keep that in mind as you seek out the perfect ceiling fan for your home.
Choose The Proper Fan Size
The last (and possibly most important) part of the ceiling fan equation is getting a fan that fits your room. Since rooms come in all different shapes and sizes, you’ll need to determine the size of ceiling fan needed by measuring the room. Square footage should determine how big the ceiling fan should be. The wrong size fan won’t properly circulate the air. Here’s a quick guide to ceiling fan sizes based on room/square footage. Fan sizes are based on the diameter of the blade sweep.
If the room is less than 50 sq. ft. (like a hallway or laundry room), go with a fan that’s 29” or less. Bedrooms and kitchens are usually 100 sq. ft. and can benefit from a 42” fan. Likewise, larger rooms (225 – 400 sq. ft.) require larger (52” or 56”) ceiling fans to properly circulate the air. Choosing the right size fan for the room will not only help with airflow, but it’ll provide years of solid performance and beauty for years to come.