Installing ceiling fans or replacing outdated, inefficient or ineffective fans in your home can provide far more benefits than you may realize. Most modern ceiling fans are incredibly quiet and use little energy. A range of excellent options is available to fit seamlessly with the rest of your décor and enhance its beauty. We’ll explore the different benefits that ceiling fans can provide and discuss everything else you need to know as you consider installing them in your home.
Improved Comfort
One of the biggest benefits of ceiling fans is that they can help make your home feel much more comfortable all year long. Many older ceiling fans could only spin counterclockwise and were meant for use only during the warmer parts of the year. Almost all new ceiling fans have two settings, allowing them to spin counterclockwise in summer and clockwise in winter.
When a ceiling fan spins in the counterclockwise direction, it continually pushes or blows air down into the lower parts of the room. The result is that the fan creates a cool breeze — essentially a wind-chill effect. The fan doesn’t actually lower the temperature in the room, but the air it blows over your skin helps cool your body, so you don’t feel nearly as hot.
One of the main issues when trying to stay warm in winter is that all of the hot air your heating system puts out quickly rises and settles near the ceiling in each room. That’s why you’ll often notice that your house feels noticeably cooler not long after your heating system shuts off. Running ceiling fans clockwise helps a lot to reduce this effect. When a ceiling fan spins in this direction, it draws the cooler air in the lower part of the room upward. This creates what’s essentially a vortex near the ceiling that forces much of the hotter air downward, helping the main part of the room to stay warmer.
Lower Energy Bills
The fact that ceiling fans can make your house feel warmer in the winter and keep you cooler in the summer means that they can also help you lower your energy bills by reducing how much your HVAC system runs. Using ceiling fans to force hot air downward during the winter lessens the workload on your heating system while keeping you from feeling too cold.
Turning on the ceiling fans in whichever room you’re in during the summer can also allow you to keep your thermostat set to a slightly higher temperature without feeling too hot. On milder summer afternoons and evenings, your ceiling fans may even be able to keep you cool enough that you can shut your AC off to save even more energy.
While ceiling fans use electricity, the amount of energy they consume is nowhere near the amount an HVAC system uses. Even turning your thermostat up by a few degrees in the summer or down a few degrees in winter can add up to fairly significant savings over time. It also reduces the wear on your HVAC system, potentially lessening the chance of it needing repairs and helping it to last longer.
Better Circulation and Airflow
Many homes have issues with stale, stagnant air and reduced air quality simply due to a lack of proper air circulation. This is another area where ceiling fans are beneficial. Not only do they continuously circulate the air in the room they’re in, but they also help to increase the airflow throughout the house. Improving airflow and circulation helps your HVAC system to more effectively filter the air within your house to improve its overall air quality.
Increased Home Value
One thing you may not realize about installing ceiling fans in places like your living room and bedrooms is that it’s an easy way to add to the value of your home, increasing its appeal if you decide to sell. Installing ceiling fans won’t add nearly as much value as remodeling your kitchen or bathroom, but it typically does have a higher return on investment (ROI). That means you’ll get back more on what you paid to install the fans than you would with many other home improvement projects.
Even if you don’t ever plan on selling your house, the ROI you get with ceiling fans will almost always be worth the initial cost. Ceiling fans themselves are quite cheap and don’t cost much to install. Considering the money they can save you on your energy bills, you can be almost certain that the fans will more than pay for themselves over time.
Can You Install a Ceiling Fan Yourself?
Ceiling fans use the same wiring as any other 120-volt electrical fixture. That means it’s fairly simple to remove most standard types of light fixtures and replace them with a ceiling fan. However, whether to attempt this job yourself depends on how handy you are and how much of a risk you’re willing to take.
The concern with trying to install a ceiling fan or any other electrical fixture yourself is that you may not end up wiring everything correctly. Improperly wiring a fixture can be a serious safety risk, as it can easily lead to issues like the wires sparking or overheating and potentially causing a fire. Another concern is that the wires could short-circuit and lead to a power surge that damages other things wired or plugged into that same circuit. These risks are why it’s always best to hire a licensed electrician when you want to install a ceiling fan or need any other type of electrical work done.
Installing a ceiling fan in a place where there’s no existing wiring is a much more complicated process. In this case, you’ll need to tie into a nearby junction box and splice the wiring for the fan onto the existing wiring for that circuit. Running additional wiring for a ceiling fan, lighting, outlets, switches, and so on almost always requires an electrical permit, which is something most homeowners can’t obtain for themselves. That’s another reason why it’s best to hire an electrician. They will know if a permit is required and be able to acquire it so that you don’t face hassles down the road.
You Can Rely on Us
Whether it’s installing a ceiling fan or performing any other electrical repair work, you can count on the team at Potts Electric to get the job done right for a fair price. We have years of experience providing top-notch electrical services to residential and commercial customers in Fenton and throughout the St. Louis metro area. No matter the size of the job, we’ll make sure our work meets all electrical code requirements and the highest safety standards.
To schedule a service call and learn why we’re the area’s most trusted electrical contractor, give Potts Electric a call, or fill out our online form.
