Buying guide for best modern ceiling fans
Ceiling fans have been around for a long time. The first ceiling fans date from the Victorian era. Belt-driven rotary ceiling fans became popular later in the nineteenth century in the American South. The first electric ceiling fan was invented in 1882. By the start of the twentieth century, ceiling fans from The Hunter Fan Company and Westinghouse, among many others, graced homes in the US and other parts of the world.
The advent of home air conditioning led to the decline of traditional ceiling fans until the late 1970s when people began to rediscover this more energy-efficient way to cool their homes.
Modern ceiling fans differ from traditional ceiling fans in having simpler, cleaner designs than other models. More recently, advances such as LED lighting technology and smart home compatibility have made modern ceiling fans smarter and more energy-efficient than ever.
If you’re looking into getting a ceiling fan but think ceiling fans are old-fashioned or out of date, a modern ceiling fan may be just your speed.
How to buy the best modern ceiling fan
Room size and CFM
The most important consideration when picking any ceiling fan is how much air it can move in the space it’s in. This is measured in a fan’s CFM rating, or cubic feet per minute. A fan’s CFM should be measured against the square footage of the room it occupies, with higher CFM fans better suited to larger rooms.
Ceiling height and mount
The height of a room’s ceiling determines how a ceiling fan is mounted. A low ceiling under eight feet generally requires a low-profile mount, commonly called a hugger or flush mount. Standard and high ceilings of eight feet or more fit standard mounts of 13 inches or so, or extended down rods up to 72 inches for a 14-foot ceiling. It’s recommended a ceiling fan’s blades be about seven to eight feet above the floor, or higher with metal blades. Don’t forget to consider your ceiling’s pitch as well. A ball-and-socket mount can handle both flat and pitched ceilings.
Motor
Motors for ceiling fans are measured with horsepower or wattage. Most ceiling fan motors offer from 1/60 to 1/3 horsepower, while a common wattage is 33W. Look for fans with sealed bearings that never need oiling.
Indoor vs. outdoor
Ceiling fans can be installed indoors or outdoors depending on their ETL or UL rating. Indoor fans can only be installed indoors free from wetness and humidity. Damp-rated fans can go in sheltered outdoor or indoor/outdoor spaces where humidity and damp conditions can encroach, while wet-rated fans can withstand actual wetting by rain. The weather rating should be mentioned as part of a ceiling fan’s basic specs.
Design
The design of modern ceiling fans sets them apart from traditional ceiling fans. Modern ceiling fans look sleeker and simpler than traditional fans, often with metal construction and finishes like brushed metal or polished steel. Modern ceiling fans can be made of die-cast aluminum or have blades or paddles made of injection-molded ABS plastic.
Instead of candelabra-style or chandelier-style lights, they feature domes, globes, or built-in lights in simple geometric shapes. Modern ceiling fans with wood blades are also common, but their shapes, contours, and finishes stand in contrast to the decorative work on traditional ceiling fans.
DID YOU KNOW?
Ceiling fans are well-known for being more energy-efficient than air conditioners. In fact, the inventor of the modern ceiling fan was a charter member of the Energy Star alliance, which helps set standards for energy efficiency.
STAFF
BestReviews
Features of modern ceiling fans
Rotor
A key element of modern ceiling fan design is the use of a rotor. While traditional ceiling fans have individual blades attached to a motor via a flywheel and blade mounts, rotor-based modern ceiling fans have blades shaped in a single revolving piece. This cuts down greatly on wobble and gives rotor-based modern ceiling fans a cutting-edge, updated look.
Number of blades
Whether modern ceiling fans have a rotor or not, the number of actual blades has a direct influence on how much and how efficiently they move air. Ceiling fans can have anywhere from two to 10 blades. Fewer blades spin faster, while more blades spin more quietly.
Blade size and pitch
The pitch of a fan’s blades measures the angle of their cant. A higher pitch angle allows a blade to move more air. Blade size also affects the quality of the airflow — short, wide blades move air more directly than long, thin blades. Modern ceiling fans, especially those with rotors, frequently feature highly-pitched blades with innovative contouring to efficiently move air.
Lights
Many people like ceiling fans that double as light fixtures. Modern ceiling fans offer light fixtures that fit the smooth, simple aesthetic of their fans and housing, foregoing tulip- or bell-shaped glass in favor of cylinders, simple bowls, and spheres or even embedded lighting in the housing itself. LED lighting has replaced incandescent or fluorescent socket bulbs in many modern ceiling fans, reducing energy use and cutting down on replacement.
Speeds
Modern ceiling fans should have more than one rotation speed to suit different cooling needs. Most modern ceiling fans have a minimum of three speed settings, but some go as high as five or six. The ability to reverse the direction of rotation is also welcome and helps a fan work in hot and cold weather.
Controls
Modern ceiling fans can be controlled via wall switches or remote controls, though many models still offer the tried-and-true pull chain system. Some models allow all three control modes at once, while models that connect to a wireless home network for control via smart home apps or smart assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are becoming more common.
A method of measuring the efficiency of a ceiling fan is CFM per watt, which measures how much air a fan can move per watt of electricity it uses. The higher the CFM/watt, the more efficient the fan.
STAFF
BestReviews
Modern ceiling fan accessories
Lighting kits
If your modern ceiling fan doesn’t come with lighting, you may be able to add lighting with a ceiling fan lighting kit. Not all designs of modern ceiling fans are compatible with lighting kits, however.
Remote controls
A third-party ceiling fan remote control can be installed on pull-chain ceiling fans that don’t come with remotes themselves. This is particularly helpful if your ceiling fan is placed beyond easy reach of a pull chain, or if the wall switch controls aren’t as comprehensive as a remote.
How much do modern ceiling fans cost?
Inexpensive
Inexpensive modern ceiling fans cost around $75 to $120. Ceiling fans in this price range may boast attractive modern shapes and finishes including contoured rotor blades but cut some corners in construction, materials, or assembly. A few offer only pull-chain controls, but others feature remote controls.
Mid-range
Mid-range modern ceiling fans cost $120 to $300. These include ceiling fans from well-known brands like Hunter, Westinghouse, and Honeywell and offer a variety of materials and finishes (rotor-based and not) with traditional or LED lighting, remote controls, and sometimes smart home integration.
Expensive
The high-end of modern ceiling fans cost from around $300 to almost $1,000. These ceiling fans have impressive, pedigreed design with premium materials and finishes, large sizes and number of blades, and smart home integration.
DID YOU KNOW?
Aside from saving more energy than an air conditioner, a ceiling fan, whether traditional or modern, is typically more attractive than a window air conditioner and fits more design styles.
STAFF
BestReviews
Tips
- Remember to clean the blades. If you’re concerned about getting dust or dirt on your rug or furniture when you clean a ceiling fan, try using a pillowcase to wrap and wipe each blade. This way, the dust goes in the pillowcase, which you can wash.
- Place ceiling fans in the center of a room. This maximizes their effects on the room’s airflow.
- Turn off the ceiling fan if the room is empty. Ceiling fans make people feel cool with air movement. If no one is in a room, a ceiling fan only makes sure the temperature is even.
- Ceiling fans are best installed onto a ceiling joist. If you can’t connect a ceiling fan to a joist, use a brace bar.
FAQ
Q. Are ceiling fans out of style?
A. Ceiling fans went out of style in the later part of the twentieth century as home air conditioning became popular, but the category is back and growing as more people look into less energy-intensive, more eco-friendly ways to keep their homes cool. Modern ceiling fans with innovative, chic, and on-trend designs are becoming a standard part of a home’s climate control.
Q. How do you make a ceiling fan look modern?
A. If you have a traditional ceiling fan, you can try to make it look more modern by removing ornamentation and painting or refinishing it in a simpler style. Painting a traditional ceiling fan all white or black, swapping in simpler blades, and changing chandelier or candelabra light kits for globe or bowl lights are some ways to update a traditional ceiling fan.
Q. Should modern ceiling fans match?
A. If you have more than one ceiling fan in your home, you may want them to match each other. It’s more important, however, that they fit the dimensions and harmonize with the decor of whichever rooms they’re in. Modern ceiling fans with their simpler lines can match more easily without having to be identical.
