Fans Come Back Around | 2012-07-02

In our 13th day over 100 degrees why not read about the evolution of efficient ceiling fans, maybe you'll feel cooler!

The invention of the electric ceiling fan wasn’t banner news in its day — after all, it had to compete with P.T. Barnum buying Jumbo the elephant, the patent on false teeth, the first demonstration of pancake making, and the Hatfield and McCoy feud. But 130 years later, new high-efficiency ceiling fans have shown that when it comes to comfort, everything old is new again. From their first appearance in the early 1880s to the peak of their popularity in the 1950s, electric ceiling fans looked essentially the same and confronted the same basic issues. Alternating current motors took in far more energy than the fans actually required to run, resulting in excess heat within the motor. The need to ventilate this heat drove the design of these early fans, creating the large, ventilated motor design that persists among many models today. These fans also garnered a reputation for ...

Full article: http://www.edcmag.com/articles/94554-fans-come-back-around