Ceiling Fans And When They Beat Air Conditioning

A ceiling fan and an air conditioner do different jobs, and confusing them is why people install the wrong one.

An air conditioner removes heat from a room. A fan moves air across skin, which makes a person feel several degrees cooler without changing the room temperature at all.

For a lot of apartments, that is enough.

Where a fan is the better answer

Bedrooms. Most of the discomfort at night is still air. A fan running quietly costs a fraction of an air conditioner to run and it does not need a condenser on the balcony.

Strata buildings where a split system is difficult. Installing an outdoor unit is common property work needing approval, and in some buildings it is not permitted at all. A fan is inside the apartment and generally does not need it.

Rooms with cross ventilation. A fan working with an open window moves outside air through, which an air conditioner cannot do with the window open.

Running alongside air conditioning. A fan lets the thermostat sit two or three degrees higher for the same comfort, which reduces the running cost of the air conditioner substantially.

Where it is not

A fan does nothing about humidity, and on a humid Sydney night that is often the real complaint.

It does nothing in a room that is genuinely hot, because it is not removing heat. A west-facing apartment at the end of a summer day needs cooling, not air movement.

And it does nothing for anyone not directly in the airflow, which is why fan placement matters more than fan size.

What decides whether it can be installed

Ceiling height. There is a minimum clearance from the blade to the floor, and low ceilings in older apartments sometimes rule out a standard fan. Low-profile fans exist for exactly this.

The fixing. A fan is a rotating load and it cannot be fixed to a plasterboard ceiling with the fitting that held the light. It needs a proper fixing into a joist or a batten, and in a concrete ceiling it needs an appropriate anchor.

This is the step most often skipped, and a fan that wobbles is a fan that was not fixed correctly.

The wiring. Replacing a light with a fan and light means the switching changes. Where separate control of the fan and the light is wanted, additional wiring or a remote is needed.

Concrete ceilings. Common in apartments and it changes the install completely. Surface conduit or a cavity route has to be found, and it is worth deciding the position before committing.

What makes one better than another

Blade size and pitch determine how much air it moves. A larger fan turning slowly moves more air with less noise than a small one turning fast.

DC motors are quieter, use significantly less power and offer more speed steps. In a bedroom the noise difference is the argument.

Reverse mode runs the fan the other way in winter, pushing warm air down from the ceiling. Useful in rooms with high ceilings, marginal elsewhere.

Remote or wall control. A wall control is more reliable in a rental, because remotes disappear between tenancies.

Balcony and outdoor fans

An outdoor-rated fan on a covered balcony extends the usable season considerably and costs very little to run.

It has to be rated for the location, and the fixing has to account for wind. A standard indoor fan installed outside corrodes and fails.

The value case for a property

Cost per unit is low, running cost is very low, no outdoor unit, no approval fight in most buildings, and tenants notice it.

In a property where the air conditioning question keeps coming up and the building makes it difficult, fans in the bedrooms and living area usually settle it.

We handle the fixing, the wiring and the ceiling make-good as one job across electrical and building. Tell us the ceilings and we will tell you what fits.