Ceiling fans have kept people cool for hundreds of years, long before the power of the electro-mechanical air conditioner came along. We recommend ceiling fans if you have rooms with ceilings 8 to 9 feet high: they can make a tremendous difference in cooling (as well as heating) in your house and reduce your reliance on your HVAC system, saving you money.
You have several options for ceiling fans, and we’ll guide you through what you’re looking for. You can call us for ceiling fan service in Rochester, NY and we’ll see that you have the right fan for your home and your comfort needs.
Indoor vs. Outdoor
If you’ve looked at indoor and outdoor ceiling fans, you may not have noticed much difference. Unfortunately, this can lead people to pick the wrong type of fan—and that’s a problem! An indoor fan isn’t designed to handle the weather conditions outdoors and will rapidly rust and wear down. An outdoor fan installed indoors will waste power and cost too much, to begin with. You’ll want a dry-rated fan indoors, which isn’t meant to be exposed to excess moisture. Damp-rated and wet-rated fans are for outdoor use.
Fan Design and Materials
You have an enormous range of choices here. We can confidently say there’s an indoor fan that matches your decor needs, from ultra-modern to rustic. Most of these dry-rated indoor fans are made from wood, plastic, various metals, and medium-density fiberboard.
Ceiling Fan Installation Process
This isn’t a plug-n-play job! You want professionals to handle the service. The standard way we install ceiling fans is to replace a current ceiling light fixture with a fan. We remove the existing light fixture and its electrical box in the ceiling, then cut a hole for the fan. We next attach a new electrical box and ceiling plate to secure the fan, make wiring connections to the fan, and then put the fan in place. This takes electrical knowledge and if done wrong can result in a fan that’s loose and wobbly (damaging the ceiling) or even the danger of an electrical fire.
When Should I Turn on My Ceiling Fan?
The first rule of ceiling fans is you only turn them on when there are people in the room. A ceiling fan doesn’t actually cool down the air in a room, it helps people cool down. The movement of the air helps remove heat from around a person so their skin can release even more heat. Keeping a ceiling fan running in a room if no one’s there is simply wasting electricity.
We recommend you turn on a ceiling fan in a room whenever you feel hot. You can often set your thermostat 8° higher thanks to the cooling effect of the ceiling fan, giving your AC a break and lowering your bills.
During the winter, you can also use the ceiling fan for comfort: flip the switch at the base of the fan to make it rotate its blades clockwise. This will push air from the top of the room downward, which helps to spread heat through the space faster.
We are an official New York State Clean Heat Contractor and you can be eligible for up to $4,900 in rebates from NY state!