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Ceiling fans are cost efficient ways to cool your home, but they are not all made equal. How well they can actually do their job will depend on their size, power, blade sweep, speed, and the room you're looking to service. Weirdly, there is a lot that goes in to picking the right ceiling fan.
We'll go through the main aspects you need to consider, as well as compare some key ceiling fan brands you can find at Bunnings, and online.
Ceiling fan size can impact noise levels, airflow capacity, and the overall performance of the fan in the room. How large (or small) of a fan you need is entirely dependent on the room's size, and height.
We'll delve deeper into how to find the right size fan further down in this article, but the TLDR is that the bigger a fan, the more air it can circulate. This doesn't neccessarily mean that bigger is better, in fact it can be dangerous in some instances, but generally you'll want to look for the largest fan applicable to your room size to get the most out of it.
In order to operate properly, a ceiling fan needs to sit parallel to the ground. On flat ceilings this isn't a problem, but not every ceiling is built the same. When looking for a fan you'll need to consider the degree of slope and look for fans, adaptors, or downrods that allow the fan itself to sit level.
Airflow is generally measure in CFM which is cubic feet per minute. You may also see it represented as cubic metres per hour, or per minute as well, but for the sake of consistency we're going to stick with CFM. I know, the imperial system makes no sense, but I swear we did the math for you on this.
CFM indicates how much air the fan can circulate per minute - the higher the number, the more efficient it is. Like size, you don't want to overdo it though. Too much air circulating can cause uncomfortable breezes and can actually increase the humidity in warmer environments. Ideally you want to look at the volume of your room in cubic feet, and compare that to the CFM. If you've got a 1,000 square foot space, then a 1,000CFM fan will circulate all the air in the room every minute.
Coupled in with airflow is speed, and the faster a fan can rotate, the more efficiently it cools. While pedestal and floor fans can get upward of 2000RPM, ceiling fans are much more reasonable sitting at around 200RPM for 'High Speed' options. Since ceiling fans are quite large, they don't need to rotate as quickly in order to circulate the air just as efficiently. It also makes them much quieter to operate. While high speed floor fans can get up to 75 decibels, ceiling fans are normally below 35 decibels.
Fan | Size | AC/DC | Airflow | Light | Speed | Price | Rating | Retailers |
| 152cm | DC | 7,673CFM |
 | 200RPM |
$1495
| 
| Find it at Big Ass Fans | |
| 132cm | DC | 5,204CFM |
| 200RPM |
$865
| 
| Find it at Big Ass Fans | |
| 122cm | AC | 5,049CFM |
| 213RPM |
$99.95
| 
| Find it at Beacon Lighting | |
| 132cm | DC | 6,447CFM |
| 254RPM |
$359
|
| Find it at Beacon Lighting | |
| 130cm | DC | Unknown |
| 220RPM |
$259
| 
| Find it at Bunnings | |
| 142cm | DC | Unknown |
 | Unknown |
$369
|
| Find it at Bunnings |
Ceiling fans come in either an AC or DC variant, and there are of course benefits to both. AC fans are more Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, while DC tends to Shoot to Thrill. AC fans are cheaper to purchase outright, but use more energy than their DC equivelants. DC fans on the other hand are faster, more energy efficient, and quieter, but they can generally only be controlled by a remote rather then directly at the wall switch.
For most people, DC fans are going to be the better option long term. As long as you're happy to use a remote control, rather than a wall switch for them.
Similar to standing fans, ceiling fans are ridiculously cheap to keep. Even the most energy-intensive fans only use around 240 watts to power them, and their lights at full blast. This is about 10% of the energy required for a portable heater or three times that of a 60 watt light bulb.
According to the latest data, the average price per kilowatt of power in Australia is $0.14, meaning that even the most high-powered ceiling fan should only cost around $0.03 per hour to run. Even if you pumped that for 24 hours a day through all of Summer, you'd only be looking at an extra $72.58 on your electricity bill on average.
When it comes to picking the right ceiling fan you need to look at both the physical size, and the airflow capacity. For the airflow capacity (measured in CFM), you'll want to find the cubic footage of your room. That number, divided by the CFM will tell you how many times per minute that fan will be able to circulate all the air within that room.
The higher the resulting number is the more efficient the cooling will be. However, you don't want to go overboard. If your fan is cranking too high for the room you're in you'll end up with an uncomfortable breeze, and could even make the room feel more humid than when you began.
Below we've done the math for you on some basic room sizes, accounting for a 2.4m tall ceiling. The minimum CFM numbers would have the air circulating once per hour.
The other aspect to be wary of is the size of the fan itself. As a general rule of thumb you want a 50cm gap between the tip of the fan blade and the wall, in all directions. You'll also need to account for the hang of the fan. As these device draw are from above themselves, forcing it downward to create the airflow, there needs to be a good amount of space between the roof and the fan blades. 30cm is the minimum height requirement for a 2.4m ceiling, but if you have higher, or sloped ceilings you may need a downrod in order to bring the fan to a point where it has a 50cm wingspan gap, and enough space above it to effectively pull the air down.
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