How to Choose a Ceiling Fan: Size, Height and Style

Find the right ceiling fan size for your room, check your ceiling height and choose blades and finishes that suit your home. Shop the new range online.

Ceiling fans tend to get bought in a rush, usually the first sticky week of summer when nobody can sleep. That's a shame, because a fan is one of the few things in a room you look at every single day. Even our most compact model spans 106cm, about the length of a coffee table, and it hangs right in the middle of your ceiling.

Our new range of ceiling fans is designed to be looked at as much as felt. You'll find solid timber and timber-look blades, black, white and satin nickel finishes, and quiet DC motors throughout. Because the range lives online, this guide covers what you'd normally work out standing in a showroom: size, ceiling height, finish, lighting and where the fan will actually go.

Start with the room, not the fan

Fan size is measured by blade span, which is the full width of the circle the blades sweep. The bigger the room, the bigger the span you need to keep air moving all the way to the corners.

Measure the length and width of your room and multiply them to get the floor area. Then use this as a starting point:

Under 10m², such as a small bedroom or study: around 106cm to 120cm
10 to 16m², which covers most bedrooms: around 127cm to 132cm
16 to 25m², such as main bedrooms and lounges: around 132cm to 142cm
Over 25m², such as open-plan living and large rooms: 162cm and up, or two fans

If you're torn between two sizes, go up. A larger fan on a low setting usually moves air more gently and quietly than a small one working flat out.

In our range, that ladder runs from the compact Cove at 106cm, through Tide at 127cm and Harbour and Breeze at 132cm, to Coastline at 142cm. At the top are Harbour at 162cm and the Seabrook at 182cm, which is built for big open spaces.

Long, open-plan rooms are the one place where bigger isn't automatically better. Picture a kitchen, dining and lounge area in one long run. Two fans, one over the dining table and one over the sofa, will usually do a better job than one giant fan in the middle that never quite reaches either end.

Check your ceiling height before you fall for a fan

For safety, fan blades need to sit at least 2.1m above the floor. With a standard 2.4m ceiling, that doesn't leave much room to play with.

Every product page lists an overall drop, which is how far the fan hangs below the ceiling. Take that away from your ceiling height. If you're comfortably clear of 2.1m, a standard fan will work. If it's tight, look at a hugger fan instead. Huggers mount close to the ceiling, which makes them a good match for villas and bungalows with low bedroom ceilings, as well as apartments and townhouses. The Cove Hugger is only about 28cm deep.

High studs bring the opposite problem. A fan mounted flush to a 3m ceiling spends its energy stirring air nobody's sitting in. A drop rod brings the fan down to where you'll actually feel it. Some fans include more than one rod length in the box (the Breeze comes with 12cm and 30cm rods), so check the product details for what's included.

Got a raked or sloping ceiling? Look for the ceiling pitch listed on the product page, and talk it through with your electrician before you order.

DC motors, and why your fan earns its keep in winter

Every fan in our new range uses a DC motor. That has become the standard for good fans, and you'll notice why in the first week.

They're quiet, which matters most in a bedroom, where a humming fan can be the thing keeping you awake on a muggy February night. They also give you more control. Most of the range offers six speeds, from a barely-there drift for sleeping to a proper breeze when the house has soaked up heat all day. And they're efficient to run, which counts when the fan is on all night for weeks at a time.

Each fan comes with a remote and a reverse mode, and reverse is where a fan earns its place year-round. Warm air from your heat pump or fire rises and sits up near the ceiling, especially in rooms with a high stud. Run the fan slowly in reverse and it gently pushes that warmth back down to where you're sitting, without creating a draught.

Choose your blades and finish like you'd choose furniture

This is where a fan stops being an appliance and becomes part of the room.

Start with the blades. Solid timber blades, like those on the Breeze in dark walnut or natural, bring real grain and warmth. They sit beautifully in a room that already has timber floors or furniture. Timber-look ABS blades on Harbour, Tide, Cove and Coastline give you a similar warmth with a lighter, low-maintenance finish. The Seabrook's black aluminium blades read cleaner and more architectural, the kind of fan that suits polished concrete and black joinery.

Then look at the body. A white fan on a white ceiling all but disappears, which is exactly what you want in a small bedroom or a room with plenty going on already. A black body does the opposite and becomes a feature. That works best when it echoes something else in the room, such as black tapware, a dark-framed mirror or metal-legged dining chairs. Satin nickel sits somewhere in between: softer than black, warmer than chrome.

One simple rule tends to work. Match the blades to your biggest timber surface (floors, dining table or bed frame) and the body to your hardware. Native timber floors and black door handles? A black fan with natural blades, like the Harbour, will look like it was always meant to be there.

Do you need a fan with a light?

In a bedroom, often yes. A ceiling fan usually goes exactly where the main light would, so a fan with a built-in light saves you choosing between them.

Cove, Cove Hugger, Harbour and Solace all have an integrated LED light. On models like the Cove Hugger and Harbour, the light switches between warm, neutral and cool white. You can keep it soft and warm in the bedroom and brighter in a study or kitchen.

The Breeze and Seabrook come without a light but accept an optional light kit, sold separately in fan accessories. You can add one now or leave it for later.

In lounges lit by downlights, you might prefer to skip the fan light altogether. Just watch the placement. Blades spinning directly beneath a downlight can create a flickering, strobe-like effect, so position the fan where its blades clear the nearest downlights. Your electrician can help with spacing.

Choosing an outdoor ceiling fan

On a still summer evening, a fan can be the difference between a deck you live on and one you only walk past.

Outdoor ceiling fans are made for covered spaces: verandahs, covered decks and pergolas with a solid roof. They aren't designed to sit out in the rain. The detail to look for is the IP rating, which tells you how well a fan is protected against dust and moisture. The Solace is rated IP44 for covered outdoor use and has an integrated light, in white, black or satin nickel. Indoor-only fans, like the Breeze, should stay inside.

Size an outdoor fan the same way as an indoor one, by the area you want to keep cool. Then hang it over where people actually sit, above the outdoor lounge or dining setting rather than the middle of the deck. Most of the country is never far from the sea, and salt air is hard on any fitting, so give the fan a regular wipe down with a damp cloth.

Buying a fan online: what to check before you order

You'll find our fans online rather than on the shop floor. Before you add one to your cart, run through these details on the product page:

Blade span, checked against your room size
Overall drop, checked against your ceiling height
Lighting: integrated, light kit compatible, or none
IP rating, if the fan is going anywhere near outdoors
What's in the box, such as the remote and drop rods

Every ceiling fan needs to be installed by a registered electrician. It's worth booking one when you order, ideally before the first hot spell, when everyone else has the same idea. If you're swapping out an old fan or light fitting, ask them to check the mounting point while they're up there. Delivery timing for your area is listed on our delivery page.

After that, it's simply a matter of choosing the one you'll be happy to look up at every day.

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