Yep, same here - all over the freakin' house! I dislike them, but hubs can't seem to live without them and you've got to pick your battles ;-) Me? I'd rather chandies and 72, LOL!

And yes, over the breakfast table... no vaulted ceiling, but 9-ft. anyway... ours is hung way too high (because the PO was 6'5" everything is like this) but I'm planning on replacing soon. I'm 5'2" and cannot reach it to change speeds or turn the light on, so I'm interested in this question too.

Sounds familiar. I'm 5'2" but dh is 6'3"

JMHO, but I don't like fans over tables as it cools food too fast. Just does not have the ambience of soft lighting. :)

Patricia, exactly why I need access to change speeds - read turnoff completely - when setting food on the table. I know I could add more chain, but I really want to change it out (brass and frosted glass is making me crazy). And believe me I'm going to be picky when choosing it for the lighting!

Too bad they don't make a fan with a nicer looking light kit for dining rooms.

We have one ceiling fan with a remote control. It is in our room with vaulted ceiling.

I love ceiling fans. And if you haven't looked at them lately, you might change you mind. There's some very beautiful ones. No they aren't as pretty as chandeliers, but I've got them too. Each bedroom, the library and the gentlemen's parlor all have ceiling fans. The laundry room and screened in porch will have them soon too.
Main entry, sunroom and ladies parlor turned dining room all have chandeliers. We'll be adding a ceiling fan to the far end of the sunroom by next summer.
Eating is not the only thing most families do at the dining table so I feel they come in very handy when not eating. They also dry a wet table when you are in a hurry to set it. ;^)
~Becky

I'll have to look soon Becky. And you are right, when we have family gatherings, we sit at the table for a couple of hours. With 10 or more people in the dining room, it does get stuffy without the fan moving some air, especially in summer.

There are now chandelier fan kits. Do a google. I bought one to go on my ceiling fan in master bath. I got it locally but I saw one just like it looking at one of the light sites, which I believe was Lamps Plus.

I like having a ceiling fan in the dining area. When ours broke and we went without one for about a month I found it very uncomfortable. We don't turn it up high but the gentle breeze is wonderful.

In the Dallas area almost everyone has numerous ceiling fans. I think there are some very nice looking ones out there.

Justgotabme, I love the list of rooms in your house. :) You must have an old home? It made me think of the game Clue, what with the gentlemen's and ladies' parlors. :)

I love ceiling fans generally, but the ONLY place I won't put them is over eating areas because they cool food too fast (like patricia said) and also because they get dusty, and I don't want the dust flying around my food.

Ironically the only place we have a ceiling fan in this house, is directly over the breakfast nook (good thing there's no room for a table there with the refrigerator in the way).

All of our higher fans on vaulted ceilings have a wall panel to select the speed, direction, and on/off. Just get this kind of switch and you don't need to get out the ladder to change anything.

"I love ceiling fans generally, but the ONLY place I won't put them is over eating areas because they cool food too fast (like patricia said) and also because they get dusty, and I don't want the dust flying around my food."

Ditto that!

marti, my in-laws could sure use a ceiling fan in their dining room. We too always set around the table and talk for hours and it's the hottest room in the house since it opens to the kitchen where the oven has been on for hours making bread whenever we have a get together there.

sarschlos, our home is a Queen Anne Style Victorian Revival. We've lived here just short of five years, but it's still not finished. We were the owner/contractors doing much of the work ourselves and still are working on all the wood work and a few other things. It's so not finished, but there's a link below if you'd like to see it. Don't expect much though. LOL.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home. Such as it is. But someday!!!!! :^)

Threegrad, forgot to mention what a difference you made in the room and with the fan!

Here's the chandelier light kit I want for the fan I forgot to mention in the Masterbath.
{{!gwi}}

The only room in our house that doesn't have a ceiling fan is DH's bathroom and now the dining room. There are two in the den and two on the covered patio. Before our last remodel, dining table was in the eat-in kitchen. The ceiling fan was in the middle area of the kit and eating area. We've since removed a wall and made the LR a dining room. We're in humid, hot East Texas. Not having a fan is NOT an option....fans and 74 degrees. But, I really really wanted a chandelier over the dining room table. Here is photo showing a fan I found at Hobby Lobby. It's the perfect solution for us! Has three speeds, oscillates, swivels and moves plenty of air...trust me. I'm the most hot natured person I know :( The dining room is 15x15 (or is it 16?) It's quite comfortable for me and everyone else (except our daughter while she was pregnant this summer) gets TOO cold :o

Generally if the ceiling fan is on in my DR during meals, any "cooling" of the food is offset by "roasting" temps! Can't put the fan on high without blowing Party A's food onto Party B's plate, though.

I've never noticed an issue. Of course, I tend to serve a lot of light, room temp meals when it's hot -- salads with grilled meats etc -- but it doesn't noticeably affect after dinner coffee.

I have the same fan in the kitchen (not directly over the table, but close as it's a smallish kitchen!) and in 2 bedrooms with vaulted ceilings. We use them on "reverse" in the winter to help with heating distribution, too.

justgotabme, where did you find that chandelier for the ceiling fan? Is it very expensive? Wow!! Thanks!!

threegrad, I have your dining room pic in my inspiration pictures. I think I found it when searching photobucket for window ideas. You really made a difference in that room.

Those chandy light kits are great too. I never would have thought to look for something like that. And I have NEVER seen a nice looking stand fan before. That is really pretty.

justgotabeme, your house is great. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures. What a lot of work.

monica, we're in N Central Tx, and you are right, it's just not an option. And it seems every year it bothers me more than the year before.

Ooh, Vix. You've been holding out! I've never seen those lamps on your buffet before (or did I just miss them). They're loverly.

We have a ceiling fan in everyroom but the bathrooms and love it. I don't run the dining fan if food is on the table, but it sure helps to keep the a/c bill down. I would love to update the electrical socket and install the switch controls because I'm under 5 foot, but we already have so many projects on the table, we've just extended the chains and put cute new pulls that match the room on them.

[Ms S, ya just missed them. $30/each from Lowe's, and they've been sitting in that spot for 3 years now, uh...underneath the ceiling fan!

Here is a link that might be useful: lamps with iridescent glaze next to vintage MOP buttons

We are in hot and humid Central Texas and have ceiling fans in every room but the open kitchen/dining room area and oh, I wish we had one there. I spent all day today preparing a large meal, cake and flan for daughter's family birthday party and would have given anything for a ceiling fan when we sat down to eat. My DH had to set up a fan right next to my chair pointed directly at me or I would have expired. I had to shower and wash my hair twice today! A ceiling fan would have been much more efficient. Or a restaurant. Next time, we're going out.

Several of our fans have remote controls, no chains, very convenient.

"...or I would have expired." LOL!

We have a ceiling fan in our music room that is operated by a wall switch which has three speed controls for the fan, a button switch for the light and also a dimmer.

I am not a lover of overhead lighting, nor ceiling fans, but this helps move the air in the room when it is too cool for the air conditioning, but still feels too warm to be comfortable.

I have not researched it, but I am wondering how much energy is saved when you have your AC at 78 but electric ceiling fans running in every room of a house? I have read that you should turn the fans off when you leave the room, as they do nothing to cool the air, only to cool people sitting in the space by moving air and evaporating perspiration. So if no one is in the room, there is no benefit to having them running.

We just had one installed today (it's so pretty!) in our library. It's the only one in the house (we're not in Texas obviously) but we added this fan specifically to run all the time, verses being a cooling source for people.

We are in a five level townhouse and when it's warm (over 70) our bedroom, on the top level, is unbearable to sleep in (huge windows, lots of sun exposure). The fan is being added because we can literally feel the air rushing up the stairs at times to our bedroom. When it's cold, we have the opposite issue downstairs, all the warm air rushes up and the downstairs gets really cold. The fan is at a level to interupt the rushing air and send it back downwards again.

Would I put one over an eating surface or in a kitchen...no, not even in Texas. If the air conditioning has to come down for an evening of entertaining, that's ok, but I don't want a dusty fan over food ever.

Well, I don't have A/C; it's only needed a few times a year, and fans do the job the rest of the time.

I do have pretty clean fan blades, though (and apparently less delicate sensibilities, ha!).

Les, you're right. A fan running in a room (generally speaking) with no one in it, isn't doing anything other than increasing the electric bill. I wish I could get that thru my daughter's head! When I leave a room, I turn it off just as I do with the lights. I keep the thermostat at 74...73 on occassion. We're in an area (and with a co-op) where electricity rates haven't gone insane! We just had our highest summer electric bill in all our 27 years here. $188. 1750ish sq foot house and all electric. We hit $200 for the very first time last winter :(

That air conditioning thing is so subjective (and ceiling fans run the bill through the ceiling, more so IMHO than air conditioners). We had a stretch of time that our AC was out during the Katrina crisis and we could not get anyone to repair it because so many people were volunteering, and we used the ceiling fans. It's hot and muggy in the south. Sometimes when it is 70, it feels like 90 because of the humidity. Ceiling fans were worse on the bill but but not as good on the cooling as AC but I cannot imagine how unbearable it would have been without the ceiling fans.

AC does not work as efficiently in the deep South as it does in other corners of the world without the humidity. It is not the heat, but the humidity that is unbearable. When we moved from California, we left the Mojave at 105 degrees and when we got to Mississippi it was 80 and I felt like I had never been that hot in my whole life.

If your air thermostat is set to 70 in the south, some days you are lucky to pull it down to 78. Other times, when it is less humid, it can be kept comfortable on 75-80 but rarely in August and September.

Another thorn in my side was when our central heat went out near Christmas once, and it was 14 degrees. We used the gas logs in the fireplace which kept one room too hot while the others were freezing and our bill, again, was through the ceiling.

Simple. Buy a ceiling fan with a beautiful light on it and don't run the fan part while at the table while eating, just the light on.

Cooling food? Several people mentioned this but they probably are just guessing this would be a problem. I have never found it to be, but I don't have the fan on high, it's just a gentle breeze.

Nor has dust been a problem, though of course you need to clean the blades now and them.

These are just non issues.

Patricia43, I from Sunny SoCal too, but on the coastal side, and then we moved to Louisiana for several years. The humidity was a nightmare!!! And you're right, the fans are no help at all in those conditions, but here in Michigan they work great and our electric bill is much lower this year with the fans and less a/c than last year when it was the reverse. Have to say though, I loved living in the south, humidity and all, there's just nothing like it. :c)

Marti8, By all means get the ceiling fan for over the table.
I think they look better on higher ceilings. Our ceiling is only 8 foot high. There are so many pretty ones out there.
We extended the chains so that I could reach them. It really does keep my kitchen cool on dog day afternoons!

Monica, I love that antique fan you have on your buffet, way cool!
Joann

Yeah. Clean the blades once in a while. I wouldn't want dust raining down in any room.

Patricia43, do you mean to say that ceiling fans cost more to run than air conditioners? Or that they add to the total electric bill? They don't cost more to run. For most months in the year, we use the ceiling fans and no AC. We never run the AC with no ceiling fan, and we keep the thermostat at 80 or when I can't stand it anymore, at 78; at night I turn off the AC and open the windows so we can hear the tree frogs and the whip-poor-wills.

And my daughters always complain that it's too cold so we have to keep the throw blankets out all year long. Poor little things, wait till they get to my age.

We don't leave fans running when we aren't in the room. It's just like someone else said about lights; they aren't doing any good unless someone is in the room. I clean my fans every week just like everything else in the room so they don't add any more dust than the a/c, in fact, probably less since the a/c ducts have never been cleaned.

When we have a large group eating, we usually use the fan, but I've never noticed the food cooling off any faster. We often have buffet style with large groups too, with a lot of stuff in crock pots or warming trays.

threegrad, I found that lighting kit chandelier with a google search for ceiling fan chandelier light kits. I'm pretty sure it was from Lamps Plus. It was $99.00 on sale. Reg $179.00 and their price usually $119.00. Shipping included. Don't quote me though.

Marti, I'm glad you enjoyed looking at our home. It's been a labor of love. And will be for years to come. Ha Ha Ha.

Here is a link that might be useful: It's on first page second row. thought you'd like to see more.

I'm redecorating a newly purchased home and want to use a beautiful fan over the dining room table. I've never seen it done, and was wondering if anyone has pix of what they've used. I found a Fanimation "Torto" that is beautiful, has a built in light, and reminds me of a whirling dancer when it's turning. It is a formal dining room. Here's a link. http://www.fanimation.com/products/torto/