If your fan light or globes are facing upward, that could be creating the strobe light effect. Having had a vaulted ceiling w/ a fan, we had never experienced that problem - we had a fan light with the globes facing down, directing the light down toward the room. Perhaps changing the light fixture on the fan will solve your problem.

You're right--the light cover is open to the blades and the lights are shielded from below. The previous fan had globes facing down but that had another problem because DH uses CFLs in the globes--those are not pleasant to look at unshaded. What is it with DHs? :-)

So, to solve your problem - replace the fan light , and I recommend using a softer bulb - I hate CFL's - not to start a bulb war - this is ambient room lighting not task lighting. I like overhead lights as well; all our fans have light kits. Good to know that the shades that uplight create that strobe effect you described. They look so pretty.

I agree that changing the type of bulb and the direction of the shade would solve the problem. I don't think I was clear regarding what kind of solution I was looking for, unfortunately.

DH refuses to use incandescent lighting except in the dining table light, but only because that is on a dimmer switch and I lobbied very strongly to keep it on a dimmer. Using CFLs is very important to him so I know he wouldn't be agreeable to switching to incandescents. I'm tired of fighting with him about CFLs--I've learned to just place cream or pale yellow tinted shades over them (and to give up on the lighting in the bathrooms until we remodel them). As for changing the fan light, I'd like to consider a fan w/o a light and learn more about alternative general lighting.

I was looking more for suggestions on good "general lighting" for LR with vaulted ceiling that would not be affected much if the fan was on. Specifically, would can or eyeball lights be appropriate? It's not a huge vault; the room has a symmetrica peak at the apex that might be 12 feet high at the very peak. Walls are 8 feet and the room is about 9' x 11'. The apex prevents anything being specifically in the center of the room--even the fan is off-center a little. It's just hard for me to imagine any kind of lighting on that ceiling besides the fan because it's not flat.

Sorry it took me so long to clarify that I'm not looking for a fan mod, rather, some other type of overhead lighting altogether.

Melanie

We have 18 ft ceilings in our family room and added three can lights over the sofa area. That, coupled with some task lighting and an uplight for ambience, is all we need.

I never turn on the light from the ceiling fan.

I talked to DH about adding cans. He tells me there isn't enough clearance (between the vault and our roof?) to put them in the center of the room (which is where he thinks they should be) and he thinks it will look weird to have them over the couch on one side. I suggested "eyeball" lights b/c they can be directed, but he thought that would be odd.

parma42--does it feel odd, to you, to have lights over the sofa?

When we brought the idea up to our builder's site supervisor, engineer guy, he looked at us kind of strangely but after he drew them in, he said it looked perfect and loved them in place. The TV is opposite the sofa so the lights add no glare to the screen.

The picture is from soon after we moved in so please excuse the temporary blinds. We hope to get the rest up over the three day weekend.

I have the spotlights on my fan and I get the strobing. I have found that if you put more lights in the room, table, uplights it seems to help it. I am going to put in cans when the budget permits. Haven't changed to the new bulbs yet. Been stocking up on the old.