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Ceiling Fan Buyers' Guide
Introduction
Adding a ceiling fan to your Home or premises can be a welcome addition to your cooling and heating system and with Westinghouse’s selection of superb designer ceiling fans and an excellent price range there is no excuse for being too hot this summer. We have written this guide to hopefully answer all your questions about purchasing and fitting a ceiling fan.
A ceiling fan keeps you cool creating a wind chill effect, this can make a room feel up to about 8 degrees cooler. It does not actually lower the temperature of a room but instead makes you feel cooler by accelerating the evaporation on your skin. This can make our ever increasing summer temperatures much more bearable. We are finding more and more customers are fitting ceiling fans in bedrooms and nurseries so that they can aid a decent nights sleep, most of our fans all run fairly quietly, so shouldn’t keep you awake.
The winter setting (Clock wise running) will re distribute the warm air from your heating that has risen to the ceiling making rooms feel warmer in the winter. Using a ceiling fan in conjunction with an air conditioning unit can help the unit run more efficiently.
Summer and winter settings for fans with reversing facility.
The Summer setting,
running your fan in an anti-clockwise direction, will generate a nice cooling breeze, cooling the same way as a wind chill factor works. it can make a room feel upto 8 degrees cooler. Fitting a fan in a bedroom can help with the muggy summer nights we often have in the UK.
The Winter setting,
Because hot air rises, warm air ends up trapped higher up on the ceiling, running a ceiling fan in the reverse (clockwise) direction with send this air back down to where it is needed at your level It can make heating a room easier and more efficient.
Drop Rods / height requirements
The optimum working height for a fan is to have the blades at 8ft (2.4m) – 9ft (2.7m), you need to measure down from the fixing point to where the blades would be and then see if this is within this height range. We stock 3 sizes of drop rod to help you obtain the optimum height, these are 12” 18” and 24” and are stocked in the same finish as your fan, remember, once again that this is only an optimum height and shouldn't put you off having a ceiling fan if you can’t get it into this range just look in some warehouses and shops/pubs where they are 15ft or higher!
Electrical Requirements / Details
Our ceiling fans only need LN&Earth connection and because of the low wattage of the motors, the biggest in our collection is only 95watts with the average being between 50 – 60watts on full speed, so you can quite happily replace an existing light fitting on your lighting circuit. Most fans will have 2 independent pull cords on them, which control the motor speeds and the light (if fitted). The pull switch for the motor will pull 4 times so that you can select the 3 motor speeds or off, the light pull switch (if fitted) will turn the Light on or off independently from the motor. They also have a forward / reverse switch on the motor for summer / winter settings, except for Industrial or Taylor fans which are not reversible
We recommend that a qualified electrician fits your ceiling fan...
If In doubt, get an electrician out! It could save your life.
Remote Controls
No extra wiring is needed to wire into the remote control unit it simply plugs into the mains side of the ceiling fan and then plugs into the fan with 2 simple plug connections. If you have a Westinghouse or Encon fan, you could turn it into a remote control fan within minutes.
The handset will zap you all 3 speeds and off /on for the motor, and control for your lights independently, the bonus with the remote controls is that both the models have a built in dimmer control function for the lights. They are ideal in situations where it is not possible to use a wall switch or for a high installation where pulling the cords is impractical. Once fitted you can cut off the pull cords (leaving a small amount appx 1cm of cord) after firstly making sure that the fan is on full speed and that the light is on.
It is not possible to use both a wall controller and a remote control as the remote unit requires the fan to be set at full speed and the lights on so that it can take over the control of your fan.
Fan Mounting Diagrams
Standard Ceilings
Ceiling fans need a solid ceiling to fit to, they must be
attached to a joist or a "noggin" fitted if they are to go in between
Joists concrete ceilings are fine but suspended ceilings aren't.
Low Ceilings
"Hugger" Fans fit close up to the ceiling. If the fan is supplied with a
small drop rod, you don't always have to use it and can adapt the fan to
fit close to the ceiling if it has this option.
High Ceilings
Ceiling fans that have this option can replace the small drop rod that is
supplied with longer drop rods
Sloped Ceilings
The mount for a ceiling fan can cope with sloped ceilings up to 40
degrees.
Room Size Guide
76cm/30" blade size for rooms up to 10sq mtrs
105cm/42" blade size for rooms up to 15 sq mtrs
132cm/52" blade size for rooms up to 25 sq mtrs
Remember this is only a guide. A large fan in a small room can look really good,
and if you have a large room you can use more than one fan.
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