Types of Fan

Choosing The Right Type Of Fan

 

Every home needs a fan for cooling purposes. Fans do not just circulate the air in the room, but they also help to maintain the humidity level. Today, there are numerous varieties of fans available in the market depending on your needs, whether it for large rooms or small rooms, whether it is bladeless or with blades, you have it all. The trick lies in choosing the right fan for a particular area or need.

 

What Are The Different Types Of Fan

 

Let us have a look at the different kinds of fans.

 

1. Table Fan

   Table fans are small and compact and are perfect for cooling small spaces. They are mobile and can be placed on desks, countertops, and other sturdy platforms.

2. Pedestal Fan

   Pedestal fans or ‘Stand Fans’, are tall and their height is adjustable. They come with oscillation feature for maximum air distribution. Pedestal fans are ideal for living rooms and bedrooms (high-performance models that are not noisy).

3. Window Fans

   Window Fans suck in the stale air and blow out fresh air. These fans are best for humid rooms where leaving a window open doesn’t suffice.

4. Wall Mount Fans

   Window mount fans are ideal for places with a limited area/floor space. Besides producing a powerful airflow, these fans are space savers. Window mount fans are found in warehouses, workshops, garages, factories, etc.

5. Floor Fans

   Floor fans are quite powerful. They provide ventilation at foot level and are great for rooms where mounting a fan on a wall or ceiling isn't feasible.

6. Tower Fans

   Tower fans are slim and vertical. Their design makes them a perfect fan for small and cramped spaces. These fans are powerful and quiet and hence can be used in bedrooms too.

7.  Ceiling Fans

   A widely used home appliance, ceiling fans come in varieties of styles, shapes, and colours to best match the decor of your room. They are great for air circulation around the entire room.

8. Box Fans

   Box fans are incredibly versatile, that is, they can be placed either on the floor or in an open window/wall. These fans keep circulating indoor air to provide fresh air.

9. Misting Fans

   Misting fans, as their name suggests, release a cool misty air which evaporates and creates a chilling breeze. They are best suited for outdoor areas such as backyards, patios, and athletic fields.

10. Industrial Fans

    Industrial fans are sturdy and durable as they are made of high-quality metal or steel. They are used for heat stratification, ventilation, and preventing air stagnation and are ideal for high-volume, high static pressure applications.

11. Bathroom Exhaust Fans

    Bathroom exhaust fans are used to remove excess moisture and unpleasant odours from the bathroom. Since bathroom tends to get moist mostly, there always remains a possibility of developing molds. These fans keep this problem at bay.

12. Whole house fans

    Whole house fans are installed in the ceiling, between a high point in your house and the attic. They are very efficient in cooling the attic by drawing air through open windows and blowing it out through the attic space. Another advantage of this fan is that when it is on if you open any window in your house, there will be air circulation in that room.

• Choosing A Bath Fan

  Bathrooms mostly remain moist owing to their usage. Humidity and moisture can wreak havoc in your bathroom by bringing in problems such as mold and mildew. Hence, it is very important to install a bathroom vent fan in every bathroom of the house.

 

There are certain considerations while choosing a bathroom fan.

 

Size

The size and energy star rating of bathroom exhaust fans depends upon their ability to move air in cubic feet per minute, or CFMs. While smaller fans generating less CFMs are ideal for smaller bathrooms, those with higher CFMs are great for larger bathrooms. As stated by the Home Ventilating Institute,

 

“Your fan should have one CFM for every square foot of floor space in your bathroom.

 

” If your bathroom is bigger than 100 square feet, you can calculate your CFM requirements by adding:

 

50 CFM for every toilet

 

50 CFM for each shower, bath and combo

 

100 CFM for each whirlpool

 

Noise Level

‘Sones’ is the measuring scale of the noise created by bathroom fans. A rating between 0.5 to 1.2 sones entails that the fan is very quiet; a rating of 1.5 to 2.0 sones is also good, and those with ratings more than 4.0 sones tend to be noisy. Now, you know which fans to steer clear of!

 

Energy Efficiency

Like other fans, many of today's bathroom ventilation fans come with energy efficient motors. They are quiet and consume less power. These fans earn EnergyStar label for efficient operation as certified by the Home Ventilating Institute or the Air Movement and Control Association.

 

Home Ventilation For Your Health

When a home is well ventilated with proper air circulation in all of its rooms, it is a healthy and comfortable home. To achieve this, you need to use the right fans according to the needs of the rooms (exhaust fans, ceiling fans, bath fans, etc). Not only does this maintain the air circulation within your home, but also keeps the indoor air quality from becoming too humid, dry, stale, dusty, or mildew ridden.

 

Although you can keep the humidity in check with a dehumidifier, but it needs to be accompanied by fans and other appliances such as heat exchangers that help in pumping out the old, stale air, and replenish it with new, clean, crisp air. Also, using tower fans with ionizers keeps the air in your home fresh and free of pollutants.

 

What Affects Fan Performance?

 

Certain factors affect the performance of fans such as not choosing the right fan according to space, ceiling height, and so on. Now, let us look at two critical factors that significantly affect the performance of fans.

 

Type of duct and its installation

 

If not appropriately chosen, duct types tend to create a resistance to the airflow.

Smaller Duct = Increase in airflow resistance

Bends and twists in the ducting = Increase in airflow resistance

Longer duct runs = Increasingly reduced airflow Usually, people tend to think that the diameter of the ductwork and piping is of no concern. Many people choose to use smaller ducts due to limited spacing. Little do they know that by reducing the diameter of the duct, they are ‘bottlenecking’ the fan, which naturally creates a resistance, thereby putting more strain on the motor. Also, try to keep the duct work as straight and direct as possible for maximum efficiency of the fan. Any kind of bending will reduce the airflow.

 

2. Old installation

If your installation system is old, you should check it for holes and leaks. If the duct installation is not in good shape, your fan will naturally lag in performance.

What Should You Know About Inspection And Maintenance Of Fans?

Fans too need to be adequately maintained to perform efficiently. There are certain simple things you can do to ensure the health of your fan. Depending upon the type of fan you are using, bladeless or with blades, table fans or ceiling fans, or tower fans, and you need to check it from time to time for any hardware issues (cracks, leaks, overheating heating, etc.). Also, you should make sure to clean the parts of your fan (air filters, blades, outer casing, etc.). The motor is an essential part of a fan and should be cleaned from time to time because dust accumulation can cause the motor to overheat.

 

Apart from these, here are a few tips to maintain the performance of your fan:

• The fan motor (if it does not come with a sealed bearing) should be lubricated from time to time to ensure smooth operation.
• In case your fan is making strange noises or vibrating unnaturally, you should get it checked by a professional. You can also improve the efficiency of the fan by changing the ball bearings in this case.
• It is advised not to interchange blades of the ceiling fans as the design is marketed only after the manufacturer has perfectly balanced the blades for a particular fan model. If you replace your fan blades, it may affect the performance of your fan.
• Always make sure that the electric controls for your ceiling fan are secure and properly functioning because if they are not, the fan may not just lag, but also consume more power.

 

What Should I Consider When Buying A Fan?

 

While buying a fan you have to consider some factors so that the fan can perform at the highest level of efficiency. These factors include the size of the room, ceiling height, type of motor you want to in a fan, energy efficiency, blades or bladeless, and so on.

 

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