Ceiling Fans: one of the most underrated piece of home tech

If you are here there is a good chance that you love and are passionate about, or at the very least interested in, ceiling fans.

Though in reality ceiling fans are one of those things most people don’t really think about until they move into a house without one and immediately feel the difference, especially if you have been used to having fans.

They’ve been around forever (literally centuries) but modern ceiling fans are doing way more than just pushing air around. Between DC motors, smart controls, and unique decorative designs they’re quietly one of the most cost effective comfort upgrades you can make in a home both in terms of airflow/cooling and in some cases aesthetics.

While most of us fans of ceiling fans may know this, here are some cool ceiling fan fun facts. For a complete ceiling fan history Wikipedia offers some good reads.

Ceiling fans don't directly cool air

Fans create what some call a wind chill effect where the air helps sweat evaporate faster which can have a cooling effect even though the room temperature may not change.

Ceiling fans are very energy efficient

Especially when compared to other cooling methods. Many modern ceiling fans with a DC motor use no more than 50 W with some even in the single digits on their lower speeds which translates to operating costs as low as several cents. This is a huge differences to air conditioning that can run in the 1,000s W range. Though it is worth remembering that these are very different cooling systems that are not equally compared. The real benefit comes from utilising both, using a ceiling fan to do the heavy lifting when it comes to pushing the air around and running an air conditioning at a higher temperature than normally needed can have very similar if not better results than just setting the thermostat all the way down.

Summer and winter modes

Despite some viral TikTok videos, Instagram Reels and countless YouTube videos circulating around (pun intended) about the summer and winter modes for ceiling fans, most people still do not know about this feature or how to use it. Nearly every fan has a summer and winter mode, where simply put, in summer the fan blows the air down to cool you underneath it, while in winter it pushes the air back up when you use it in conjunction with a heater to help warm up the room. Like with most unique specialty features there is more to it but this is the general idea.

Ceiling fans have come a long way

To this day a lot of people still think of old bulk rattly ceiling fans that wobble more than they spin. To some this is looks like a scene that could be from a Final Destination movie. However newer fans, even fans from over 15 years ago are much slimmer, quiter, smarter, and more efficient. Not to mention offer many more style and colour options that can fit with many room decors and in some cases help tie a room together.

Whether you are into ceiling fans because of their cooling comfort, air flow, spreading warm air in winter or just for their unique style, most of us can agree that they are often underrated, so lets all appreciate them a little more.