Ceiling fans first originated in hot, tropical countries with somewhat poor economies. While more wealthy countries have removed ceiling fans with the advent of air conditioning, the ceiling fan of yesteryear is making an important comeback. This is no doubt due to the continuing escalating cost of utilities and the expense of maintaining a full house air conditioning system. People are finally understanding that comfort doesn't need to mean cold and in the process they're able to save significantly on the monthly electric bills. How much savings of course depends on local utility cost and the amount of time an air conditioning system is in operation. Typically though, a 2-3 dollar per DAY savings is not unreasonable if a household can use ceiling fans a major part of the day instead of running the air conditioning system.
Although ceiling fans were in widespread use in the early 1900's, they gave way to the air conditioning systems of today. A ceiling fan however is much more than an air movement machine. They're beautiful and can be ordered to perfectly fit into any decor or room of your home. Ceiling fans have a central motor with three to five blades attached. this unit is then mounted to the ceiling. Depending on the height of the ceiling, the unit can be close mounted, with the motor almost touching the ceiling or on a matching decorator bar to allow the unit to hang down into the room a little more if the ceiling height is greater than the typical 8 feet. The motor drives the blades of the ceiling fans which move the air around. Air movement naturally cools people and makes them comfortable without resorting to the brute force of removing moisture and cooling through a compressor air conditioning unit.
Many people wrongly assume that a ceiling fan is only good in the summer. Actually most fans built today have a reverse switch installed. This allows the fan to either pull air from the floor area or push air from the ceiling. So in summer, you would want air movement from low to high but in winter, with hot air rising, you would naturally want the warmer air at the ceiling to be pushed down to warm the whole room. Ceiling fans also are a great to use anywhere there's people or living spaces including bedrooms, living and family rooms and even out on the backyard patio or deck.
So in the end, a ceiling fan can be a great way to add a nice decorating touch to your home while saving big dollars on that monthly electric bill. It's not unusual to save the price of the ceiling fan in the first month, just on the electric bill alone. With your home more open, natural ventilation will make it more pleasant and enjoyable both inside and out.