Are ceiling fans really the ‘kiss of death’ for design? | Canada Voices

It’s been a hot summer – so sweltering that even the snobbiest of decor enthusiasts might be longing for a ceiling fan, an appliance deemed so ugly it’s been called the kiss of death for design.

The relentless heat may explain why North American sales of the fixtures are expected to grow by more than 6 per cent a year through to 2032.

But are ceiling fans really a smart way to cool down, or are they just a whirling waste of space? Experts weigh in.

What did you say about the kiss of death for design?

The stigma around ceiling fans can be traced to early aughts home design shows such as Trading Spaces. Designers would walk into a room, spot the fixtures – often the old-fashioned kind with dark wood blades and brass embellishments – and cry that they were unsightly and unnecessary.

Historically, though, ceiling fans were considered a luxury. In preindustrial India, ceiling panels called punkah were hand-cranked using a dangling chord. Because of the labour involved, they were often reserved for overheated aristocrats.

In the 1880s, after engineer Philip Diehl attached fan blades to a motor from a Singer sewing machine and mounted the contraption on a ceiling, the appliance became more accessible – and affordable.

Affordable is good.

Yes. Ceiling fans still tend to be relatively low cost compared to the alternatives. Vancouver designer Lindsay Eby, owner of Lindsay Eby Interiors, recently looked into replacing the fans in her condo with a conventional air conditioner. It would have cost her around $10,000, she said.

In comparison, some modern ceiling fans start at around $800 (plus a few hundred dollars for professional installation). They’re also relatively inexpensive to run. According to one analysis, ceiling fans use less than 10 per cent of the electricity of a conventional AC. Which helps explain why only 15 per cent of the global population living in a warm climate has an AC, whereas fans are much more common.

Do ceiling fans and ACs do the same thing?

No. Ceiling fans, strictly speaking, do not cool a room.

“The motors actually tend to produce a small amount of heat,” said Tom Cates, an instructor with the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada.

This doesn’t sound promising.

Cates is a fan of fans, but he says it’s important to understand what the fixtures can and can’t do. He explained that three things influence comfort in a room: temperature, moisture and the movement of air. “Ceiling fans are the third part,” he said.

When air is moving rapidly around a room, it has the ability to pick up the warmth radiating from our bodies and distribute it elsewhere. “The temperature in the room isn’t really changing, but the fan can make us feel cooler and more comfortable,” Cates said.

He also mentioned that ceiling fans can be used year-round. “In the summer, when the blades run counter-clockwise, they pull the warm air up and away from us. In the winter, when the blades run the other way, they help force the warm air back down into the room where it’s needed.”

That sounds practical.

The issue is that if a room is relentlessly hot, the fan’s effect will eventually wear out (the World Health Organization puts the upper threshold at 40 C).

“It’s like a towel,” Cates said. “When the towel is dry, it can wick water away. When the towel gets saturated, it does nothing. For a longer lasting comfort, in a sweltering climate, someone might need an air conditioner.”

That said, one way to make an air conditioner run more efficiently is to pair it with a ceiling fan. According to both industry experts and several studies, running the two in tandem helps spread the cool air more evenly and reduces energy bills compared with using AC alone.

Are ceiling fans always unfortunate looking?

Designer Christopher Spraggett, owner of the Summerhouse Group in Muskoka, Ont., often specifies ceiling fans for homes and cottages.

“Fans have come a long way,” he said. “Some models are very sleek. Others have sophisticated technology – turning on automatically when a room reaches a certain temperature, for example.”

Both Spraggett and Eby favour the brand Big Ass Fans (yes, that’s the name of the company). Eby flagged a single-blade option made of balsa wood that comes in white, black or natural finishes. “And it’s not like AC units are always beautiful,” she added. “They can have awkward ducting or unsightly compressor boxes.”

What about placement?

Both Eby and Spraggett caution against locating a fan too close to a pot light. “If the blade crosses the light, it creates a strobe effect when the fan is on,” Eby said, “which is basically terrible.”

Putting a fan on a low ceiling, too close to head height, can also feel menacing. For Mathieu Fortin, owner of Ottawa Electric, the optimal fan height is around 2.5 metres above the floor. The same holds for double-height spaces.

“The goal is to position the fan where it can effectively move air in the occupied portion of the room,” he said. “In many cases, a fan installed at the peak of a two-storey ceiling can be too high to provide noticeable airflow at floor level. That’s why manufacturers often offer downrods that allow the fan to be suspended lower into the space.”

Downrods, however, are not always perfect. According to Spraggett, a longer downrod increases the risk of one of the biggest drawbacks of ceiling fans: wobbling.

Wobbling?

Wobbling is a common annoyance. Vibration can make a ceiling fan’s motor run less efficiently and increase energy use. And it can be noisy.

Ugh.

According to Fortin, common causes of wobble include “an improperly secured electrical box, loose mounting hardware, bent blade brackets or slight differences in blade weight or pitch.”

Proper installation can make all the difference. Spraggett and his wife have a ceiling fan in their bedroom. “It’s perfectly quiet, it doesn’t disturb us at all. On a warm summer night, it’s just like having a nice breeze in the room,” he said.

Final verdict?

Do it if you want an efficient way to feel cooler on a hot day.

Don’t if proximity to pot lights would leave you with an unfortunate choice between disco or inferno.