How to Improve a Ceiling Fan

A ceiling fan adds extra comfort to your home and helps lower your energy bill. In the summer, a fan cools your home, and, in the winter, it helps push the heat down and back into the room. If your ceiling fan isn't working as well as it used to, there are few things you can do to improve the fan's function.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Check the direction of your ceiling fan and change it if it's wrong for the season. Every manufacturer makes their fan differently, so you have to turn your fan on and stand under it to feel how it's working. In the summer, you should feel the breeze; in the winter, you shouldn't.

2. Clean your ceiling fan. Moving air stirs up dust, so even a fan that's rarely turned off is going to accumulate dirt on the blades. Find a gentle cleaner that's safe for your fan's finish. Clean all the parts, including the light covers, fan blades and the stem that holds everything together.

3. Look for warped blades or bent mounts. If the blades are warped, loose from the mounts or the mounts are bent, your fan can't work efficiently. You can easily replace fan blades on most ceiling fans.

4. Replace some of the fan's hardware. The down rod in a room with vaulted ceilings should be very long. If it's too short, replace it.

5. Add longer or shorter blades because they may be the wrong size for your room. For large rooms up to 400 square feet, use a 52-inch fan. For a 225 square foot room, use a 44-inch fan. And for rooms that are 225 square feet, use a 42-inch fan. Rooms over 18 feet long should have two fans, medium in size.

Tips & Warnings

• Fans in the kitchen can have grease buildup on them. Find a finish-safe cleaner to remove the grease. Regular soapy dishwater can warp wood or particleboard fans.
• Once your ceiling fan is thoroughly clean, dust it with a dry cloth or feather duster every other week to help prevent the dirt from building up again.