page_title: Fan (machine)
section_title: Electrical
hierarchical_section_title: Fan (machine) / History / Electrical
caption_attribution_description: English: Two box fans of an older design. The fan on the left is a "Superelectric".
context_page_description: A fan is a powered machine used to create flow within a fluid, typically a gas, such as air.
  A fan consists of a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades, which act on the air. The rotating assembly of blades and hub is known as an impeller, rotor, or runner. Usually, it is contained within some form of housing, or case. This may direct the airflow, or increase safety by preventing objects from contacting the fan blades. Most fans are powered by electric motors, but other sources of power may be used, including hydraulic motors, handcranks, and internal combustion engines.
  Mechanically, a fan can be any revolving vane, or vanes used for producing currents of air. Fans produce air flows with high volume and low pressure, as opposed to compressors which produce high pressures at a comparatively low volume. A fan blade will often rotate when exposed to an air-fluid stream, and devices that take advantage of this, such as anemometers and wind turbines, often have designs similar to that of a fan.
context_section_description: Between 1882 and 1886 Schuyler Wheeler invented a fan powered by electricity. It was commercially marketed by the American firm Crocker & Curtis electric motor company. In 1882, Philip Diehl developed the world's first electric ceiling fan.  During this intense period of innovation, fans powered by alcohol, oil, or kerosene were common around the turn of the 20th century.
  In 1909, KDK of Japan pioneered the invention of mass-produced electric fans for home use. In the 1920s, industrial advances allowed steel fans to be mass-produced in different shapes, bringing fan prices down and allowing more homeowners to afford them. In the 1930s, the first art deco fan (the "Silver Swan") was designed by Emerson.By the 1940s, Crompton Greaves of India became the world's largest manufacturer of electric ceiling fans mainly for sale in India, Asia, and the Middle East. By the 1950s, table and stand fans were manufactured in bright colors and eye-catching.
  Window and central air conditioning in the 1960s caused many companies to discontinue production of fans. But in the mid-1970s, with an increasing awareness of the cost of electricity and the amount of energy used to heat and cool homes, turn-of-the-century styled ceiling fans became immensely popular again as both decorative and energy-efficient units.
  In 1998 William Fairbank and Walter K. Boyd invented the high-volume low-speed (HVLS) ceiling fan, designed to reduce energy consumption by using long fan blades rotating at low speed to move a relatively large volume of air.
caption: Two c. 1980 box fans
exif: {"Image Make": "HTC", "Image Model": "ADR6300", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "122", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "145", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:04:06 15:49:41", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:04:06 15:49:41", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FocalLength": "123/25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1952", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "308"}