Contemporary Design Fans

Comtemporary Fans can be defined as designs that matches the current era.
These designs matches the 'high tech' designs and electrical appliances we have in our current homes.

Here are some examples to tease your senses.
But sad to say, they are not available in Singapore...or at least not now.
















Important Note:
1) Readers are reminded that you cannot just buy and import ceiling fans from other countries as ceiling fans in Singapore needs to go through tests before attaining the Safety Mark.
2) All pictures are taken from the respective manufacturer websites.
3) All pictures are copyright of the respective manufactuer.

References
1) Monte Carol
2) Westinghouse
3) Craftmade
4) Minka Aire

Questions and Answer Session

1) I heard from my friends by using a ceiling fan especially in an air conditioned environment, the ceiling fan actually lowers the surroundding temperature.
If that is really the case, then why bother pay more than a thousand to get an air con. In actual fact, a ceiling fan creates a wind chill effect as air moves over your skin, enhancing evaporation off our skin. It is the same feeling when we are driving and opening the window. But bear in mind, ceiling fans are for us, not for our furniture, so please remember to switch off your ceiling fans when u leave the room. Your furniture cannot appreicate the wind chill effect.

Craftmade Warbirds Glamorous Glen Ceiling Fan
Model: CF-WB448GG
**not avaialbe in Singapore yet

2) Why at times when i on the ceiling fan i do feel the wind chill effect?
This kind of situation occurs when the surrounding temperature is higher than our body temperature. This applies to any fans. The fan will be blowing the 'hotter' air onto your skin. This is why people are still buying air conditioners and the air conditioners manufactuers are still surviving. Nevertheless, having a ceiling fan in an air conditioned environments helps.

3) Is it true that a ceiling fan will conserve energy?
Nope. A ceiling fan uses energy just like any other electrical appliances. But when used with in an air conditioned environment, it will lower your bills on the air conditioning portion. As the
ceiling fan creates a wind chill effect, you will feel colder. Thus you can set the temperature higher for your air con, saving energy.
And also at times, where u just need to enjoy the wind or u feel the air needs some circulation, operating a ceiling fan is more economical than an air con.
Lastly, if your living room is too big, having a ceiling fan will assist the cold air distribution or circulation. Thus you no longer to face the complains from your friends that your living room takes too long to cool or some areas feel warmer than another.

4) Will it look ugly if i will to install a ceiling fan in my home?
You should look at the ceiling fan as a decorative feature in your fan. U should first choose the design that suits your home the best. If needed, a suitable light kit to combine with the fan.
There are different kinds of fan designs in the market ranging from traditional to comtemporary to exlcusive designers.


MinkaAire Aero Ceiling
Model: #MF-F804-BN
** not available in Singapore yet.





5) How should i go about choosing my ceiling fans?
Firstly, u should choose the fan design that suits u and your home. It need not be the same model through out.

Secondly, determine which rooms have higher usage. Choose the better fan models to be in the rooms with higher usage. Bedrooms usually have longer hours of usage so you would need a more durable fan with quiet operation.

Thirdly, choose the colour that matches your surrounding.

Lastly, decide if u want to stick to the pull string, install a regulator or buy a remote control.

5) Which is better? pull string? regulator? remote control?

Pull string usually comes together with the ceiling fan while regulator and remote control are optional @ additonal cost. In terms on lasting issue, a regulator is recommended, but if u are having both fan and light, you will need 2 electrical powerpoint points. U can ask your electrican to do this. If u want to save trouble, then getting a remote control will solve the problem. But as remote control are easily dropped or damage, u might need to change it often. SO please do take care of your remote control.

In general, if u are renovating your home, choose the regulator and light switch on the wall.

If u are staying there or you have false ceiling concealing your electrical cables, then choose between pull string or remote control.

If u feel walking from your bed to the fan swtich or reaching up to pull the fan string will consume too much of your precious energy, then PLEASE! choose the remote control.

6) So just how much energy do a ceiling fan uses?

On average, a ceiling fan uses 10 watts to 100 watts. The motors used by the manufactuers are of higher quality and efficiency as compared to the past. Nevertheless, there are still different grades of motor available in the market.

7) Where are the motors made from?

These days, most motors are from Taiwan. The Taiwan manufactuers have a good reputation of producing high quality motors. There are still some prestige brands that still manufactuer their own motors instead of OEM.

Generally, some still viewed motors produce by General Electric, Casablanca and Emerson as one of the best in the market.

8) What are the available kind of motors in the market?

The motor is the main component of a ceiling fan. It can be identified by the diameter and height of the motor.

Perfomance Grade: High quality, durable and quiet motors. For continous use of long hours. This is also known as Stack Motor. These models of fans are very expensive and used by prestige manufactuers.

Medium Grade: Just differ slightly from the Performance Grade. This kind of motor is widely use by most reputable manufactuers. They are usually known as 188 motor or 188 Super Motor or 188mm.
U can know it by the shape of the motor (pancake). These fans are suitable for usage of 12hrs or less daily. Suitable for most users.

Lastly there are the Economy Grade. Known as 153mm, also having the pancake shaped design. Suitable for 8hrs daily use.

9) Does the bearings make a difference?
Yupz. Doubled Sealed and lubricated-for-life high grade bearings are better of than those bearings that rotate in oil baths. Those in oil baths requires regularly maintanance.

10) Does the number of capacitors make a difference?
Yes. Capacitors are used to control the speed of the fan. Better quality fans come with a capacitor for each of the speed. For example, a ceiling fan with Low, Medium and High speed should have 3 capacitors instead of just me.

11) In general, what should i be looking for when choosing a ceiling fan?

Design. Choose a fan and light kit to match your house decoration.
Good motor. Generally the better the motor, the more expensive is the ceiling fan.
Bearings. Choose double sealed bearings.
Capacitors. Go for multiple capacitors.
Brand. A reliable brand that prefably have the actual agent in Singapore or has a very reputable history in ceiling fan manufacturing.

Note:
1) All pictures are courtesy of the repectively manufactuers and owners.
2) If there are any copyright issues, do not hesistate to contact us at singaporeaircon@yahoo.com.sg I will take the necessary actions and removed the pictures as soon as possible.

Example of a HDB with Ceiling Fans and Light Kits

-This is an example of a HDB home with a 52" ceiling fan on both the living area and dining area.
-Notice the fan is using the 3" extended rod that comes together with the fan.
-The owner has chosen a 'slim' motor housing design and simple '4' light kit. In this way, the fan with the light kit do not 'drop' too low.
-The owner has positioned his fan excellently. It is very close to his sofa.

-Noticed the second fan for the dining room. It is positioned slight away from the dining table but still relatively close.
-Some owners do it this way because they do not like the fan to 'blow' their food cold. While others do it because of design.
-For both the fans, it has light kit attached. The '4' light kit provides the necessary brightness especially when using energy saving bulbs. The downlights in this case act as supporting lights.
-U can actually see the ceiling fans are one of the home accessories.

Note
1) Pictures courtesy of Revive Home. http://www.revivehome.com

Safety Mark

Ever wonder if the electrical applicances u just bought has attained the SAFETY MARK, or the SAFETY MARK pasted on the product is genunie or fake?

In 1991, the Ministry of Trade and Industry had appointed SPRING Singapore as the Safety Authority to take charge of the Consumer Protection Registration Scheme. Under this scheme, a number of products are classified under 'Controlled' goods and are required to attain a certain safety standards before they can be sold, advertised and displayed to the public.

The main aim of this scheme is to ''safeguard consumers' interest by ensuring home appliances and accessories meet specified safety standards requirements.''
** applies only to the controlled goods.

For more information, please visit www.safety.org.sg


EC 999
- 60''
- 5 wooden blades
- 3 speed control by pull string (low/med/high)
- remote control & light kit & regulator optional
- 3'' extended rod inclusive
- suitable for living/dining room


EC 888
- 60''
- 5 wooden blades
- 3 speed control by pull string (low/med/high)
- remote control & light kit & regulator optional
- 3'' extended rod inclusive
- suitable for living/dining room



EL03
- 52''
- 5 acrylic blades
- 3 speed control by pull string (low/med/high)
- remote control & light kit & regulator optional
- 3'' extended rod inclusive
- suitable for living/dining room & bedrooms




EL333
- 52''
- 5 wooden blades
- 3 speed control by pull string (low/med/high)
- remote control & light kit & regulator optional
- 3'' extended rod inclusive
- suitable for living/dining room & bedrooms




AC4054
- 54''
- 5 wooden blades
- 3 speed control (low/med/high)
- light kit and remote control inclusive
- regulator & light bulbs optional
- suitable for living/dining room & bedrooms

Note
1) All pictures are courtesy from ELMARK.

Choosing the RIGHT mounting system

Many HDB owners are unsure whether the ceiling fan will make their home look too low.
On average, HDB homes have a ceiling height of 9 feet.
( to be accurate, u can use a measuring tape to measure for your home )
while a private apartment or the highest floor in a HDB flat will have an average of 10 feet.
Due to the fact that there are different ceiling height for different homes, manufactuers introduced different mounting systems and optional extended rod.

Flush Mount:
The fan basically mounted to the ceiling without the use of any extended rod. Most fans can be installed in this manner. But manufactuers do have models that are catered specially for this kind of mounting. If your ceiling height is 8 feet or less, u might want to consider having FLUSH mount.

Standard Mount:
ELMARK provides a 3 inches rod together with their fans. This will drop the fan slightly down. This is suitable for ceiling height of 9 feet. (HDB averge height)

Extended Mount:
As the recommeded height from the floor to the base of the fan blade is 8 feet for efficient operation. Those homes with tall ceilings will have to purchase an extended rod (additional cost). U can easily calculate the length of the extended rod needed by using this formulae
Ceiling height - 8 - height of the motor (*all measurements in feet or inches)

Sloped Mount:
This kind of situation occurs more commonly for landed properties or private homes with attics where a sloped beam or angled ceiling exists.

Singapore second only to US in energy comsumption

This article is on Tuesday, 10 Jan 2006, Straits Times.

In a report from World Bank in 2003, it showed Singapore is second to United States in the amount of energy used per person.
A group in Singapore, focusing in environmental issues, feel that the main culprit is the air conditioning.

Personal Views
1) I guessed with this kind of weather ( i am not saying right now caused it has been raining daily for the past few days, i am saying the weather in general ) , it is only natural that Singaporeans would like to have at least an air conditioning system in their homes.
2) Try to recall the hot weather during the mid-year. The surroundding was so warm that without an air con, it is very diffcult to sleep comfortably.
3) But air con is ultimately still a luxury item. Look at our parents and the older generation, air con in the past was something far beyond the reach of most people. Just say 5 years back, a non inverter system 3 can cost $2500. Like my parents, they could only afford a small 9000btu window unit when they bought their first home. But if you look around, you will have noticed that air con has become very common.
4) Generally air con prices have been dropping. This is mainly due to manufactuers shifting their operations into areas where there will be less overhead.
5) So it is not great that prices have dropped!!!??? If only the electrical tariffs will to drop together, then it will be perfect. We have seen how the electrical tariffs have risen over the past 5 years. from 2000 of $0.1549 per kwh to 2006 $0.2102 per kwh. Though the Singapore Power has been great by looking at the situation and adjusting the electrical tariffs every 3 months.
6) I think it is really down to us to make sure our electrical bills are not high.

What u should do
1) Do buy energy saving products. This includes all appliances. Currently for air conditioning and fridge, you can refer to the Energy Label ticks given by Singapore Energy Labelling Scheme.
For US products, you can go online and check if that model is having Energy Stars.

2) If possible, try to change all your lights to Energy Saving bulbs. U may have to spend some money changing some componets as not all are suitable for use of Energy Saving bulbs. But an energy saving bulb from a reputable manufactuer can save you between 50% to 80% of electricity. That is actually quite a lot.

3) U can consider getting an inverter air con and fridge if your usage and budget allow. These are more energy efficient products.

4) Reduce the use of electrical heating appliance like instant water heater, electrical oven and electrical heat pot..etc. These are very high energy consuming products. U can see the technical specifications at the product and u will understand. I am not saying these products are no good..just that try reduce it. For example, if u want to warm up your food, you might want to consider using the gas cooking instead.

5) Use a fan. This especially help to save you energy when use together will air con. Firstly, if u are using an air con, a fan will first assist in circulating the air in the room thus bringing even cooling faster. Secondly, when the fan on, u will feel both the cold and the wind. The fan will actually make us feel colder due to the wind effect. Thus u can set a higher temp. An single room air con use on average 800 watts per hour while a fan use on average of 70 watts per hour.

6) Off your appliance when you are not around. But if u are just leaving for a while or so, it is better to leave it on or standby mode. There is a power surge everytime we on a appliance.

7) LASTLY, i urge Singaporeans to support the Singapore Energy Labelling Scheme by buying only products with energy label ticks. This pressure can caused the manufactueres to push themselves to produce more energy efficient products in order to meet the requirements.

8) I also hoped SEC / NEA can bring in more products into the Singapore Energy Labelling Scheme.

Which size should i choose? 36?48?52?60

Basically, the bigger the diameter (in inches), the bigger the cover area.

Therefore we can select the suitable fan size when we know the area we want to cover



Important Note
1)Based on optimal location, installation, product technical specifications. Some unreputable fans or cheaper models may not be able to cater for the above stated areas.
2)Readers are reminded to test the ceiling fans before making any sales confirmation.

Other Pointers
- At least 2.2m from floor to bottom of blade. Recommended at 2.4m.
- At least 0.45m from the surround wall.
- At the center of the room though not really necessary.

Types of Fans by Style

There are many kinds of fans in the market.

Currently in Singapore, the fans can be divided in 3 main groups based on style



Comtemporary
For example, ELMARK AC4054 (bottom) This 54 in' model comes with a light kit and remote control.




Industrial
For example, ELMARK ELM2000 (middle)
This 48 in' model also comes with light kit and remote control.



Transistional
For example, ELMARK ES803 (top)
This 52 in' model comes in various colour. It is currently one of ELMARK models with more than the usual colours of white, silver and AB.
This model also has 'double side blade'. In other words, the blades have a different colour on the reverse side. Up to you to choose.
The light kit and remote control are optional.

Surely there is always the traditional style.