Archive for the ‘Lighting’ Category

Ceiling fans. Designers HATE them.

If I had a quarter for every time I’ve heard a designer poo-poo ceiling fans, I would be rich.  Watch any design makeover show on TV, and take a drink every time you see the designer say, “That ceiling fan has got to go!”  Take another drink when he doesn’t replace it with a fan but some type of funky lighting fixture.  You’ll be three sheets to the wind in no time.

That’s all well and good, but I live in this place called Reality.  Here in Reality, located in the South, it’s bitch-ass hot in the summer.  Add in the vaulted ceilings in my bedroom on the third floor and in the living room on the second floor, and I’m downright miserable in summer without ceiling fans.  Right now it is 94° F with a heat index of 100° F.  If I didn’t have ceiling fans throughout my home, my poor old HVAC system would be working overtime to cool this joint. They also happen to help with heating the house in the winter.  Heat rises into those high ceilings, and I need a way to keep it circulating on those few cold days we have in the winter months.   Otherwise, the first floor is an ice box.  Thus, I’ve got ceiling fans all over this bitch!

I don’t think they look too terrible.  This is the fan in my workout/guest room:

Ceiling Fan for Low Ceiling

I only have 8-feet ceilings in some areas of the house, and I have to use fans which accomodate those spaces. I feel the house benefits from having air circulation even in rooms with lower ceilings.  In particular, I don’t use my AC until it gets really hot, and that’s on days like today when it’s 100° F.  I’m fortunate in the fact that my lot has lots of trees and shade, which keeps the house cooler than most.  Thus, I’ll open my doors and windows for a cross breeze, turn on the ceiling fans, and chill.

Over time, I’ve replaced all but one of the ceiling fans in my house, and its time has come.  The ceiling fan in the living room is making an odd noise.  Style wise, it’s also horribly dated, and the living room could do with a fresh look.  However, I hear that little designer devil in my shoulder saying, “Ceiling fans are so hideous; use a nice chandelier!”  The practical angel on my other shoulder says, “Don’t listen to him.  You need a ceiling fan in that room with vaulted ceilings unless you want to pay $200 a month in heating/cooling bills! Besides, ceiling fan styles have come a long way!”

Right now, practical angel is winning.  I’m thinking of this fan for my living room:

Ceiling Fan with Chandelier Light Kit

Ah, yes – the ceiling fan with a chandelier light, or the dreaded “fandelier”, as some horrified designers like to call it.  I happen to think it’s a good compromise between a chandelier fixture (decorative) and a ceiling fan (functional).

So, what do YOU think about ceiling fans?