DESIGN NOTES ceiling fans
Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans are the greenest active cooling method for the home,
but with so many ceiling fan models on the market it can be hard
to sort the “hot air” from the cool.
Words Fiona Negrin
Mechanical cooling isn’t a substitute for good
passive design, but when you’ve exhausted
your design palette a cooling fan can make
the difference between loving summers and
loathing them. Ceiling fans should be the
first choice, over evaporative coolers and air
conditioners, for reasons of energy efficiency
and cost savings.
The basic principle behind ceiling fans is
that they push air around. In summer, a “chill
factor” is created as air moves past our skin
and evaporates the perspiration on its surface.
According to the Your Home Technical Manual
(www.yourhome.gov.au ), air movement is the
most important element of passive cooling.
But it’s worth bearing in mind that as the water
content of air approaches 100 per cent, no
more water – including the sweat on your skin –
can evaporate into it, so fans lose their efficacy
in extreme humidity. In most Australian
climate zones, however, this sort of humidity is
rare.
WHERE TO START
With so much choice on the market, it can be
hard to know where to start when selecting a
ceiling fan for your home. According to David
Blackshaw of G Warehouse, “The basis of
selection should be on energy consumption
and the ability of a fan to move air around
in summer, and in winter to move warm air
through the building”.
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Michael Rohanna, Sales Manager at Hunter
Pacific International, says performance,
power consumption and design are the top
considerations. “Think about where you’re
going to use the fan: kids’ bedroom? Dining
room? Patio? Is the room well ventilated or
not?”
Consumers keen to conserve energy
need to weigh the airflow against the wattage
generated to keep those blades circulating.
The material that blades are made from –
typically timber, moulded plastic or a metal
such as stainless steel – affects both airflow and
wattage, as does the angle and design of the
blade.
A good rule of thumb is to remember that
ornate and overly decorative blades move less
air and generally will be less efficient.
MATERIALS
Decisions about which blade material to
choose will depend on where you plan to
put the fan. Powder-coated steel in a coastal
location will corrode, whether indoors or
outdoors – use timber, ABS plastic, marine
grade stainless steel or aluminium instead.
In general, metal blades produce a higher
airflow than timber blades, because they have
a steep 22 degree pitch (compared to timber
blades which usually have a 12 degree pitch).
But metal fans use more power than timber,
because the steeper the pitch, the more energy
DESIGN NOTES ceiling fans
David Blackshaw at
G Warehouse recommends
the new G Warehouse ceiling
fan with ABS plastic blades
which he says is 65 per cent
more efficient than a standard
ceiling fan, thanks to its use
of a patented motor that
converts 240 volt AC current
to the more efficient DC.
“A standard ceiling fan draws
a lot of energy for each
revolution of the blades,”
he says. According to David,
the G Warehouse fan can run
at 80RPM drawing 4W. Both
fans pictured on this page
are from G Warehouse.
it takes to move air. They can also make an
audible “whirring” sound, though this is The more you move air, the more heat it
unlikely in quality models. However, overall, loses. Better practice in winter is to force
metal blades are more efficient than wooden
heat down slowly when it rises.
blades due to their thinner profile, smoother
surface and more airfoil-like shape.
Metal blades are slim (approx 1mm thick,
compared to a 4 to 5mm timber blade) which
means they can cut skin if it comes into contact
with a moving fan, so you may want to avoid
putting them into children’s rooms.
There are now a range of moulded plastic
blades with that same 22 degree pitch.
According to Michael Rohanna, these “supply
95 per cent of the airflow of metal blades, and
are safer and quieter”.
USING FANS IN WINTER
John Sakalauskas teaches Renewable Energy at
NMIT TAFE in Melbourne, and says “the great
thing about fans is that you can exploit the
basic principle that heat rises by reversing fans
in winter and using them to push warm air back
down”. He says he’s been using the reverse
mode in fans for 20 years. “I’ve always found
it a good way to disperse heat. A regular cycle
pushes air directly past you, which creates
evaporative cooling that takes heat away from
your body. You don’t want to do that in winter.”
Michael Rohanna backs this up. “Reverse
mode draws air from the middle of the room
and circulates it back down the walls and across
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 DESIGN NOTES ceiling fans
the floor, warming you up from the feet, instead
of dumping air directly back down onto you as a
regular cycle does. All of our multi-bladed fans
have a reversing switch on them.”
However David Blackshaw disagrees.
“Reverse function fans don’t do anything, it’s
a marketing myth. By the time air has travelled
all the way from the floor to the ceiling, down
the walls and back to the floor, it’s cold again.
The more you move air, the more heat it loses.
Better practice in winter is to force heat down
slowly when it rises. You do this at a very low
speed to stop the chilling-off effect.”
John Sakalauskas says that in a passive
solar house in winter, “you’d put a reverse
mode fan in a room with north-facing windows
where the sun’s coming in to push warm air
down and circulate it to the spaces that need it
most. It’s most efficient in an open space with
high ceilings – the higher the ceiling, the more
effective reverse function is. If you’re sitting
against a wall in a small room, you will feel a
draught even from a reverse function fan – so
it’s not worth it in a small room. But in a large
space, there’s no doubt as to its effectiveness!”
BEST PRACTICE INSTALLATION TIPS
Because fans are for cooling occupants in
summer, the Your Home Technical Manual
recommends locating them centrally in each
space. An extended space (eg, dining/living
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L
The Sycamore Ceiling Fan has
a dynamically balanced single
blade which operates at a low
speed (80 to 160RPM) with
minimal wind noise. RRP$650
www.sycamorefan.com
room) may need two fans. In bedrooms, the
fan should be installed on the ceiling near the
centre of the bed.
The Australian Standard requires a
minimum of 2.1m between the fan’s blades
and the floor. Michael at Hunter Pacific says
that for ceilings higher than the average 2.4
to 2.7m, it may be necessary to lower the fan
using longer down rods (sold separately) to
get maximum efficiency. “Obviously the sweep
of the fan must be clear of doors, including
wardrobes and cupboards, and especially bunk
beds. A lot of damage can be done to the fan, its
wiring, the ceiling and any object that comes
into contact with a running fan.”
David Blackshaw says installation depends
on the fan’s purpose. “If it’s indoors and it’s
a dual function light/fan, you’d locate it to
maximise the effectiveness of both. Outdoors
you might place a fan directly over the dining
table for cool summer eating. You also need to
consider the climate. In summer you’d want
a fan over the dining area and above beds,
whereas in winter you want a fan to move air
around the living spaces.”