In the last 10 years, Americans have bought 60 million ceiling fans. When we think of ceiling fans today, we usually think of classic films such as Casablanca . There is a romance to them, but there's also a practical reason for purchasing one. Ceiling fans are often used instead of air conditioning, but it's not necessarily one or the other. Fans produce air currents that carry heat away from the skin so even air-conditioned rooms feel cooler when one is running.
Many ceiling fans save energy in winter as well as summer because their motors run in reverse.
This pushes down warm air trapped near the ceiling. Some rooms can be 15 degrees warmer at the ceiling than at the floor. A well-placed ceiling fan can reduce this difference to only three degrees. Buy a fan that's reversible and has more than one speed. Check to ensure the blades are angled at least 10 degrees.