Really Cool Bling for your Ceiling! or A Good Way to Keep Your Cool?

RickFanCeiling fans have been very popular over the years.  Rick’s American Grill has some.  Good solid, turning slow. Where is that?  Remember the line: “Play it again, Sam”.  Yes, the movie Casablanca!


They went out of style after the war. Now they are back.  I seem to remember installing my first one in the late 1980’s.  In the kitchen. They come with or without lights; mounted close to the ceiling, or on long poles hanging way down.  Different kinds of blades.


EE FanOne of the better inventions for ceiling fans was the box of dusting clothes that act like a dust magnet.  If you leave your fan turning for a while, it will collect a layer of dust on the leading edge of each blade and on the top.  I remember cleaning the one in the bedroom once. After that a certain lady in my life, made me cover the bed with an old sheet. These new dust clothes do a good job.  Just remember two things! (No three!)  First, turn off the fan before you dust it.  Second, watch your head and your hands. Third, Don’t ask me how I know the First and Second Rules.

So you find a fan that will be really cool bling on your ceiling. Here is one!  Now I have to convince a certain lady in my life that this Bling would be great for the next ceiling fan to replace. That is a Corsair F4U! BTW!

myfanThe question that came to me via Twitter a week ago, was ….  Should you turn them off when you leave the room?  Then all those questions that go along with the first one! Do they work? Do they save you money?  Do they keep you cooler? Quick Answer —  It Depends!  Better Answer, That’s why I’m writing this Blog Post –  Read On!

OscFanA fan moves air. It can be the fan in your furnace, or an oscillating fan, a box fan, a personal fan, or a ceiling fan.  Just like a breeze on a nice warm day.  Usually the breeze feels good and you feel a little better about things. If it is a real hot day, the breeze is a hot wind!  If it is a cold day, that wind is cold and all the weather folk on TV are spouting ‘Be careful! The windchill is ____ !’


So, the quick answer is ‘Yes, a ceiling fan will cool you down.’ Just like an oscillating fan! It is handier, out of the way, and usually has a switch on the wall. That switch on the wall will also turn out the lights that might be attached!  And there is the answer to the first question asked!  Should you turn out the fan when you leave the room?  Just like my mother told me about turning out the lights when you leave the room, the same advice goes for the ceiling fan.

doubleIf you are not in the room, leaving the lights on doesn’t do much for anybody!  If you are not in the room, leaving the ceiling fan on doesn’t do much for anybody!

Now, what about all those other questions that come along with the first one.  Like, Can a ceiling fan save you money?

The answer is Yes! If the use of the fan allows you to raise the room temperature for your air conditioning unit.  The ceiling fan uses some electricity, so you have to save some, or you have ceiling Bling that has an operating cost.

The answer is also Yes! If the use of the fan keeps you from lowering the room temperature for your air conditioning unit.  It saves the money you would have spent when you lowered the thermostat setting.

modWhy the double answer?  People want to be comfortable! When they are not comfortable, they do things that use energy to get comfortable.  Looking though pictures taken at summer events around 1900, I have seen many ladies, with a hand held fan. Sometimes it is a piece of paper folded once.  That fan uses muscle energy. Our mechanical fans use electricity.

If you avoid turning the ac temperature down or you can actually turn it up because you use a fan, then you will save money. If you add the fan turning and turn the thermostat lower, you may be opting for bling on the ceiling.  That’s OK!  It is your ceiling.

ES_PartnerWhen you are buying a new Ceiling Fan, look for the Energy Star Label.  Fans are rated by the cubic feet of air they move per watt of power. That means the fan is in the best 20% of that class of fans for being energy efficient.

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