What to look for when buying a home ceiling fan for the bedroom?

[pg600rr]

Looking to add a ceiling fan to my 2 bedrooms... I have never bought one before but dont really want to drop alot of $$$ on them. Was thinking like $125-$175 each? However not really sure what features/specs to look for. I have seen crappy ones at friends houses that make horrible noise and wobble, etc.

 

[Ataturk]

Online reviews would be my suggestion. Don't know anything about ceiling fans, but FWIW it's just a fact of life that they don't last forever. If they're properly balanced and they still wobble or make noise, it's time to replace them.

Also make sure they're hanged far enough from the ceiling to circulate air properly. And get one that's big enough that you don't need to run it fast to push air in that room. You also need to be sure to get up in the attic and properly mount a box rated for ceiling fans.

 

[Ataturk]

I should also point out that for the extra money, you may very well be paying for pretty (faux) wood paneling or fancy light fixtures, rather than better durability or mechanicals.

 

[pg600rr]



Online reviews would be my suggestion. Don't know anything about ceiling fans, but FWIW it's just a fact of life that they don't last forever. If they're properly balanced and they still wobble or make noise, it's time to replace them.
Also make sure they're hanged far enough from the ceiling to circulate air properly. And get one that's big enough that you don't need to run it fast to push air in that room. You also need to be sure to get up in the attic and properly mount a box rated for ceiling fans.

Thanks for the advice, didnt even think about how far it should hang or what size to get... the ceilings are 9 ft. in each bedroom and the rooms are prob. 16x19 ft. or something like that...

no attic above these rooms, just another floor... I was hoping to do the install myself... each has a current light fixture where I want to install the fan, so not sure if the current box in place will work.. I would think the builder might have put the correct box in just in case. Its a fairly new house with very high end fixtures and materials so hopefully I wont have to get the electrician out.

 

[Ataturk]

16x19 is a big bedroom, you'll need a big fan to match it. There's charts online that can give you guidelines.

For the ceiling height you need to buy a separate pipe/hanger/thing for the fan, unless it comes with one--probably a 1' hanger is what you want. It makes a huge difference with the fan's performance.

As far as the boxes go...don't count on it. Builders are notorious for cutting corners whereever they can. You should be able to figure out whether it can handle a ceiling fan once your old fixture is off--make damn sure it can and that it's firmly attached to a joist. You don't want that fan to fall on you...

 

[hatidua]

Also make sure they're hanged far enough from the ceiling to circulate air properly.

I'm not sure this can be overemphasized. The ones tucked up neatly next to the ceiling do nothing in terms of what fans are designed to accomplish.

 

[Michigan Planner]



no attic above these rooms, just another floor... I was hoping to do the install myself... each has a current light fixture where I want to install the fan, so not sure if the current box in place will work.. I would think the builder might have put the correct box in just in case. Its a fairly new house with very high end fixtures and materials so hopefully I wont have to get the electrician out.

I am not a mechanically inclined or particularly handy person but was able to install two ceiling fans in about 90 minutes in two of our bedrooms that didn't have them previously. The rooms did not previously have ceiling fans but the light fixtures and boxes that were already in place were mounted correctly to support them. The wiring was also fairly simple.

I installed another fan in a third room that didn't have the correct type of box mounted in the correct place. That one took a bit longer, but installing a new box and a new bracket was fairly straightforward, even without going into the attic.

 

[SUPER K]

I went with the upper end Hunter fans. and added the remote, as I don't like look of chains hanging down. The receiver tucks up into the bell shaped housing where the pole meets the ceiling.

 

[KurtS90]

With out reading into the thread... Buy one with a remote! You could be all relaxed find its to cold and at the push of button adjust the fan. As we know, its to much work to get up and adjust fan speed and light settings.

 

[Joffrey]

Remotes are awesome for fans. Never thought I'd feel that way until we installed them at my parents place

 

[HRoi]

they are, but when they inevitably stop working and you can't do anything except turn the fan on and off at its last setting

 

[yerfdog]

I just installed 3 ceiling fans, 2 in bedrooms and 1 in a living/dining room. The living room has a vaulted, angled ceiling and it's somewhat large, so I got a 70" fan. With the longer downrod I used, the fan ended up being just about at normal height above the floor (like 7 feet). This fan looks enormous at that height, and I would go smaller in the future for fans that aren't higher up.
It was about $200, came with a built-in remote - the construction is fairly cheap and has a bit of a wobble than I'm still trying to work out. This is actually the second of these fans I installed, I had to take back the first one and replace it because the remote on the first one didn't work right, but the first one had less wobble. This one was purchased mainly because it was the wife's favorite that was on the shelf at Lowe's (pick your battles imo).

I used 54" fans for the bedrooms (both smaller than yours and with 8 ft ceilings) and they are mounted closer to the ceiling than I would like (can't go any lower with the 8 ft ceilings), but they look about the right size because they are white so they are less noticeable. Those ones were $80 and seem to be basically the same quality as the $200 fan in the living room. Sure, they didn't have remotes and they are smaller, but I'd still go for the cheaper ones if you can find one that looks good in the room.