AIBU to buy a ceiling fan with light instead of a normal light fitting?

[Dreamqueen]

We're decorating and only now need to buy a light fitting for our sitting room. AIBU to buy a ceiling fan with a light fitting to help cool the room down? DH says it's totally old fashioned and unstylish whereas I'm sweating and hot & will do anything to cool down Thinking that next year will also have this extreme heat so it'll keep me cool but not in the cool sense.

I had one in a rental - it was rubbish, don’t bother.

They’re very common in houses here in Australia and I wouldn’t live in a house without them, they’re brilliant in hot weather and save us from having to turn the air con on for much of the year.

@madeof so I watched an episode of neighbours today after many years, in preparation for the grand finale, and I was struck by how exteriors are designed to withstand heat - outside blinds on windows and overhanging roofs to shield from high sun angles.

We ought to be adopting these practices in the UK now.

I’ve just bought this one from Amazon and it’s brilliant LATATA Enclosed Ceiling Fan with... www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098DMZP1R?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

We have one above our bed (rented house) Has been an absolute godsend during the heatwave.
A friend of mine had a blade-less fan installed. Looks like a large circular flat light. Bloody brilliant.
If we should ever have the opportunity to buy our own house, I'm having a fan installed above the bed.

I bought one last year with a light, to have over my bed. It was utterly fabulous in the hot months and enabled me to sleep really well. I don't give a shit about what it looks like because it is so comfortable. I would definitely have one or two in the lounge, especially over the sofa where you sit.. Make sure you get an excellent quality, dimmable and quiet one, with remote control. Fantasia fans are excellent quality. You can always have a table lamp or tall lamp as well, in the room. With climate change, they're becoming much more common in the UK and they certainly do help!

I'm in Australia and have one of these in the family room at the back of the house. The fan sits where one of a row of three lights sat. Excellent.

Be sure you buy a fan that has winter/summer settings. These are standard in Australia.

I have one above my bed and one above my desk in the office. They are the best things I have ever bought. I use them a lot especially in the summer and they are just wonderful I would never be without them now

I have mine over 18 months now and in summer it’s the best gift ever. It beats aircon (too noisy, too drying, too expensive) and as I’ve got the Philips one, the blades disappear when not actually on so it looks like a normal light.

Living in Australia it's so funny to me people in the uk think ceiling fans are old fashioned and unfashionable. We have ducted air conditioning but also have installed fans in every room because they help so much to boost the cooling effect of the air con or to keep comfortable and save energy by not using the air con when it's not super hot. They work brilliantly.

Do you have to get extra electrics of some sort, or do you just put them in a normal light socket? I'd be interested to try these, but I already like the light I have and don't really want to change it! But maybe I'll have to. I have a tower fan already though. I wonder if you could adapt a light fitting to get a fan above it or something?

But it was so hard to find an electrician to do tiny jobs like fitting lights in the first place when I just wanted them changed to screw fittings for my current lights, so if they require different electrics for a fan, I'm not sure it's worth the hassle! My Dyson fan works OK, but my flat is extremely hot as it's mostly glass, so anything better is worth investigating. (Ground floor, so hard to put air con hose out the window, so no portable air con at night)

Good question.

I'd quite like ceiling fans that I can choose to have up or not - remove during the cooler months when they're not needed.

You can get retractable ones but they're ugly and I don't know how good they are.

No you generally don't but depends on the model and how much control you want over it.

If the fan has built in controls (little strings hanging down) then as long as the wiring isn't really old it'll be easy.

If you want one that controls from the wall then you need to run another wire

Thanks. I think I'd want a remote controlled one but that might need more electrical work.

One that you could replace with the seasons would be excellent! If there isn't a market yet for that, there will be, as it would be great for the hot month or two, and the rest of the year, we could go back to the matching light fixtures that are in the rest of the flat.

https://www.lighting.philips.co.uk/consumer/p/led-ceiling-fan-light-ceiling-light/8719514408494

This is the one I have and it's great because it's a normal light with retractable arms. Mine is a non-brushed silver looking one so looks style. (The link above is to a white version of the same). There is a remote control for both the light and the fan. In winter you can use it in reverse to push hot air down again.

It is a normal light so there is no change to the electrical supply.

That looks nice and has some really good reviews!

Mine is a new build flat, unfortunately, which means the ceilings aren't super high - and the reviews say that they need to be 3m high for this, and I think mine are only 2.4 or something like that. I wonder how much it really matters? The fan would be over the bed as that's where the light fitting in the bedroom is. So i'm unlikely to bump it or get anything caught.

Ooo interesting point I hadn’t considered. My ceiling is 320cm!
Because the blades open and retract when the fan is turned on/off, I don’t think it’s an issue really unless you jump out of bed over the bed while the fan is running.
When you turn the light on/off using the light switch or remote control, the blades aren’t out so it just functions as a normal light.