[lifehacker]

We were hoping to get finance and have a split system installed but after a quote for $6000 we have changed our minds. It's stifling in our house and we haven't even had any REAL hot weather. I think I am feeling the heat extra this year (fatigue due to auto-immune illness) and am desperate to get something set up.
So do ceiling fans help? We have an old 5 bedroom house, thick stone walls, very high ceilings. Does anyone know how much roughly they cost to buy and install? any recommendations on brand? We are in SA.

Alternatively we could buy an air con for window or wall but this would only cool one room, area and I am assuming would also be more expensive to run than fans

TIA

[duckasorus]

We are in a old double brick house but normal ceilings. The new fan works very well but the older style one not so.

It still is hot but not sticky if that makes sense?

[MrsLexiK]

We have ceiling fans. We have BV home there is only 1 room (our lounge room) that we are contemplating putting a split cycle in but probably won't worry until next year or the year after. At the moment when it gets to hot in there we just go into our bedroom at night. Ie we eat dinner and watch TV in our room with the fan on and it is plenty cool enough. I don't forsee this being an option when we have kids. There is one window that gets warm as well (not near the room that gets hot but makes the hallway really hot) we are going to get a quote either in christmas or when I am on maternity leave. Those outside blinds work really well.

[Soprano-Cat]

I miss my ceiling fans!

I always wished for AC, but now we have it, I don't want to use it! It gets difficult with cats, too, as you need to shut the doors down the hallways to be efficient in cooling the loungeroom, and that includes the bathroom with the litter trays.

[Jellyblush]

I have ceiling fans - work fine. And an awesome thing you can do it put a damp sheet over you under the ceiling fan - it's like being in a freezer!

[EBeditor]

They work really well in my bedroom. I can go from being boiling to needing a blanket on the low setting!

[raven74]

Since hot air rises in a high ceiling home the fans will just rotate that air thus being not particularly effective. I'd get a few pedestals in this case.

[Natbub0610]

We just had ceiling fans installed because the layout of our house is awkward for A/c.

So far they're great, takes the sting off the heat. I was told they're only 1/2 the cost of a light bulb to run, don't know if that's true, but it does add some comfort on hot days.

We also used the rev switch in winter with our wood fire place, it was sooo hot, we had to open windows to balance it out! Could really feel the difference with the fans then too!

[Allymeg69]

OP, if you are in an area where your heat is "dry" (low humidity), which I think SA probably is, then I think good quality ceiling fans would probably be quite effective. Up here in Darwin during our dry season, when we have very low humidity, all we use are our ceiling fans with our windows all open for good cross-ventilation, and we are always comfortable.

In our wet season, when we do use our airconditioners, we continue to use our ceiling fans, they are important for circulating the air, and it is recommended that the aircon be set to around 25-26 degrees so that it does the function of extracting humidity from the air, while the fans do the circulating which is what helps you feel more comfortable. So even if you got air-con you would probably still want something to move the air around properly.

[AllegraM]

IME, ceiling fans work great in tropical and sub-tropical environments and not so well in dry heat environments.

I would not be without mine. We rarely use our aircond.