We’re building a house on a lake and we’ll move in in September. The covered deck on the lake side is a 15-foot diameter octagon in the center of which our lighting guys have installed a 54" ceiling fan. The power was turned on today and I found that you can feel no breeze from the fan unless you’re sitting directly under it. This is a deck with a view; users won’t be sitting in the middle - they’ll be sitting at the railing on the periphery of the octagon.
I’m going to move the inadequate fan to a smaller room inside our current house which we’ll be selling, and I want to replace it with a fan that can provide a breeze 6-7 feet away from its location. I’m thinking of getting a 72’ fan but then there are factors such as blade pitch, blade speed, and cubic feet of air moved per minute. Does anyone know what specs I should be looking for and how I might get an effective fan without having to take out a second mortgage?
We recently replaced the fans on our outdoor deck in Hilton Head. I don’t recall the exact specs but what the supplier needed to know was the height of our ceiling, the clearance to the side of the house, as well as the square footage of the deck. I don’t know what your budget is but we bought a Big A$$ Fan, yes, that’s the brand name. Great quality, great looking, very quiet and very effective in creating optimal air movement. You can also do a totally customized order, too, if the space requires that. If you live in an area that has a good lighting/ceiling fan store, their staff should be trained to know what specs are necessary for your space.
Picking out a ceiling fan is when a knowledgeable store clerk can really help you pick best fan for your needs. We bought a low end 52" fan without asking for help in store thinking it would be ok for a 12*12 room…the fan is horrible and barely moves any air at all…get advice from fan store clerk.
I would check the direction of the fan, as others pointed out. Ceiling fans have two functions, in summer the downdraft to cool the room, the reverse is an updraft in winter to help with the flow of heated air. There should be a slide switch on the fan for the direction.
The other thing is you may be able to replace the blades with longer ones, home depot and others, or on Amazon. The blades attach to the blade mount via screws, so you could put on larger arms. A 54" fan should generate a pretty nice breeze, as long as the motor is spinning it fast enough. I would check the fan switch first, and see what you find. Replacing a ceiling fan is not a big deal (as long as you have someone else doing it!) and if you are moving the fan, it won’t be wasted, but you may not have to go through the bother.
I’ve checked the fan switch and yes, it was in the cooling / downward flow position when I found it insufficient. It appears that Big Ass fans are indeed the industry gold standard. They’re apparently 80% more efficient than competitor fans, have ten different settings, and run soundlessly. The 60" Haiku model is what their Customer Service rep recommended for our space - it’s $895 + tax with free shipping. Pretty pricey, but here in Georgia an effective outdoor ceiling fan could be the difference between enjoying the outdoors in the summer or staying inside. May be worth biting the bullet and paying for quality.
Can you delete anything in your decorating budget to make up for the fan? You won’t enjoy any piece of artwork or curtains as much as you will that BA Fan !
If you need fan for backyard deck by lake…just back your airboat up and crank her up. Airboats are good for checking if the shingles on your roof and your hurricane straps for your roof trusses are in good repair for hurricane season.
Powercropper, the house we’re building is kind of rustic board-and-batten; the kind that usually have those wooden bracket thingies as decorations under the peak of the roof. The guy who was going to craft them for us wanted $3,000 for stationary wood deelyboppers that serve no function whatsoever. My wife and I said “no way,” so I’ll chalk this up as a reallocation of some of those funds. But now Lizard, you’ve got me wondering if I need a ceiling fan as much as I need an airboat. Whoa . . . that’d be awesome.
Great quality, great looking, very quiet and very effective in creating optimal air movement. You can also do a totally customized order, too, if the space requires that. If you live in an area that has a good lighting/ceiling fan store, their staff should be trained to know what specs are necessary for your space.