Of all the fans you could have, the most useful one is probably the ceiling fan. Being probably the biggest of fans out there, these are the ones which will have the greatest ambient impact on the room.

From style to colour to even height, a ceiling fan can have a great influence on the room you’re building.

As a permanently built in structure, the ceiling fan you choose is going to be stuck with you for years to come. Although its not often though of as such, the choice of the ceiling fan will impact your day to day living just as much as choosing the flooring of your home will.

With so many factors to consider, we’ve taken a look at some of the key considerations you would want to think about before you make this commitment.

Style

It goes without saying that the choice of ceiling fan should undoubtably fit the overall style and fashion of the room its placed in. Going for a warm, rustic appeal? Then choose a fan with wooden blades to match the rest of the furniture. It doesn’t hurt to have a rounded light on it too to add to the aesthetic.

How about an industrial look for your home? A matte finish on a full metal body would go great with this style.

If not, a glossy finish is also a great choice for those of you who are looking to design a more classically professional look.

Size of the Room

Next, size matters. How big and how tall the room is will be another huge factor in determining which fan is most suited for you.

First, the blade sweep, this measurement is the diameter of the fan’s sweep when in motion. While you may be tempted to think that the bigger the blade the better, this is not always true. With bigger fans you’ll need more power, and usually that means a noisier motor. Get too small a fan and your room may not be as ventilated as you’d have hoped.

For the size of the fan’s blade sweep, we recommend following the chart above. Keep in mind that this assumes the room is as close to a regular square as possible, and the fan is mounted in the centre of the room.

Beyond just the size of the fan sweep, you would also have to decide the length of the downrod. This would mean the distance between the ceiling and the blades of the fan.

With higher ceilings, you’ll have to use longer downrods to make sure the fan is able to ventilate sufficiently low. But also keep in mind that you’ll want to make sure those blades aren’t spinning too close for comfort. Keep a safe distance between yourself and the fan to avoid any accidents, you can refer to our chart at the bottom for recommended downrod lengths for different ceiling heights.

Yuragi function

This is quite a new function to many manufacturers. The 1/f Yuragi function is meant to imitate the varying feeling that comes with natural wind. By changing the speed and therefore the output of air to match the natural human body temperature fluctuation, fans with this feature supposedly give a more comfortable cooling effect as compared to regular single speed fans.

This can be a cool new feature you may want to consider, especially when buying a new fan. If not for the effectiveness, it can at least be a talking point when showing off your new home.

Energy Efficiency and Warranty

Just a few more points to bring up before we end off this piece. Energy efficiency of the fan isn’t such a major point, but still something worth considering. Since your main point of using the fan is to save energy (and the electricity bill), you’ll want to get as good of a trade off as possible. Check the energy consumption profile of the fan if this is something of a concern to you.

Finally, the warranty of the fan. Be sure to check how long the warranty is for, and what exactly it covers. As we mentioned earlier, a ceiling fan is likely a long-term commitment, so you want to be sure the warranty covers a decent amount of that time.

Secondly, you’ll also want to make sure the warranty covers enough, some warranties will only cover the motor of the fan, while some will include parts such as the blade and lights (if applicable). Getting a greater coverage on the warranty would give you better peace of mind on your purchase. That being said, it may not be that much of a deal breaker if the parts aren’t covered but the motor is.