Here’s What You Need to Know When Choosing a Ceiling Fan

Did you know that it costs only 6.5 cents to run a ceiling fan for 24 hours? Ceiling fans can save you a lot of money on heating and cooling costs while still keeping your home comfortable. But when it comes to choosing the right fan for your home, there’s a lot to know.

The most important part of choosing a new fan is probably getting the right size fixture. You also need to consider what features you need in a new fan, such as a light fixture, smart connectivity, or wall controls. You need to make sure you get a fan that’s powerful enough to create the airflow you’re looking for. And, of course, you need to choose a fan that will go with your home’s decor.

Fan Size Matters 

Fans come in all different sizes, and you need to make sure you’re buying the right size fixture for your space. Before you ever go fan shopping, you need to measure the room or rooms where you’ll be installing ceiling fans, to determine their square footage. Simply take a measuring tape and measure the width and length of the room where you will hang the fan. Multiply these numbers together to arrive at the square footage of the room.

The smaller the room, the smaller fan needs to be. A small fan of 29 to 32 inches will be suitable for a room under 75 square feet. A 32- to 38-inch fan will be ideal for a room 74 to 144 square feet. Grab a 42- to 46-inch fan for a room 145 to 224 square feet. Get a 46- to 54-inch fan for rooms 225 to 400 square feet.

For rooms above 400 square feet, shop for fans in the largest size category, 56 inches or more. Fans come in sizes of 80 inches or more, but if your room is very large, it might be better to install multiple ceiling fans. Two or three ceiling fans spaced out over a large room look better than a single ceiling fan hanging in the middle of the room, and they can probably create more desirable airflow as well.

Features Equal Functionality

All fans have some features, but the most basic ones only have a pull chain and two or three speed settings. You’ll probably want a fan with a light fixture, and there are plenty of fan-light combos to choose from, whether you want something strictly utilitarian or want to go all the way to the other side of the spectrum and buy a chandelier ceiling fan.

Other features you might want in a fan include wall controls, especially if you’re hanging the fan in a room with a high ceiling. It’s not always convenient to grab for a pull chain, and you can buy fans with wireless wall controls so you don’t need to rewire your light switch when you install the fan. You can also buy fans with smart connectivity, so you can control them from your phone or smart home device.

A Fan Should Go with Your Decor

These days, you don’t have to hang up an old-fashioned, rattan-blade fan like grandmother used to have. There are dozens of fan designs available to match every decorating aesthetic. You can choose a modern, minimalistic fan design with smooth, swooping lines and only two or three blades. You could go for a steampunk design with eight or nine blades. You could choose a tropical leaf blade fan for your beach house, or a traditional style for your summer cottage in the woods.

When choosing a fan design, think about how you’ve decorated the rest of the house. Get something that will either blend in with the rest of your decorating elements, or strongly contrast with them if you’re aiming for a more diverse decorating style. Not sure what wood or metal finish to choose for your new fan? Take a look at the hardware or wood colors in your room, and buy a fan with matching finishes. Carefully matching your new fan to the dominant wood and metal finishes in the room will tie everything together, and make it look like your fan was always meant to be there.

A ceiling fan is one of the most important choices you’ll make when it comes to your home’s decor and climate control. A quality fan will hang in your home for years and years, so take care when choosing the fixture that will help keep your family comfortable.