About Lighting Blog

Most ceiling lights with fans can be used in two different ways; that is, most fans have a mechanism, commonly an electrical switch, for reversing the direction in which the blades rotate.

In summer, when the fan’s direction of rotation is set so that air is blown downward (typically counter-clockwise, when standing under the fan and looking upwards), the breeze created by a ceiling fan speeds the evaporation of sweat on human skin, which is experienced as a cooling effect. In winter, buildings in colder climates are usually heated. Air naturally stratifies — that is, warmer air rises to the ceiling while cooler air sinks to the floor. A ceiling fan, with its direction of rotation set so that air is drawn upward (typically clockwise), takes cool air from lower levels in the room and pushes it upward towards the ceiling. The warm air, which had naturally risen to the ceiling, is forced out of the way of the incoming cool air; it travels along the ceiling and down the walls, to lower levels where people in the room can feel it; this reverse rotation has the added advantages of not creating the wind-chill effect of the summer operation scheme, and of heating the air slightly by forcing it along the entire surface area of the ceiling which is typically hot due to risen hot air trapped on the other side in the attic.

Even though most ceiling fans can be mounted to all types of ceilings, not all can be mounted to angled or cathedral ceiling without an added bracket or down-rod

Information from wikipedia

In the mid 19th century, the first ceiling fans were produced.  The first fans had only two blades and were run by a system of belts that were turned by a stream of running water used in conjunction with a small turbine motor.  by 1882 Philip Diehl invented an electric ceiling fan. He had engineered the electric motor used in the first machine for sewingand adapted it for ceiling-mounted fans.  Popularity of the ceiling fan has been affected by energy costs. For example, during the energy crisis of the 1970’s they were must more energy efficient than air conditioning.   Adding lights to the fans made them more functional, versatile and aesthetic.