A ceiling fan is a type of lighting fixture, although some do not have lights attached to them and are merely the fan application, that suspends from the ceiling featuring rotating paddles to circulate the air in the room. Ceiling fans have been around since the 1860s and first originated in America. These types of ceiling fans were a little different to how we know them today as they were not powered by electricity but rather by running water. These ceilings fans were found mostly in restaurants, shopping stores, offices, and places of business.

 

In 1882 the first electrical powered ceiling fan was created by Philip Diehl. Diehl had originally engineered an electrical engine to be used in sewing machines and he adapted the design to fit ceiling fans. He improved on his design by adding lights to the ceiling fans so they were not only able to circulate air but offer a source of light as well. Due to other companies working on their own designs as well the design of ceiling fans changed a lot such as they started using four paddles instead of two and they were much quieter. In the 1970s the US had an energy crisis and so the demand for ceiling fans really took off as they took less energy to fuel than air conditioning units.

 

Ceiling fans are now found in many homes, not to mention places of business and shopping centres. Ceilings fans are very versatile in their performance because they are not only used to cool down the air when the weather is warm but they are also used to circulate warm air around the home in the winter months. By changing the direction of the rotation of the paddles ceilings fans can either create cool air, or they can dispense warm air. Still to this day they require a lot less energy than air conditioning units or heating systems and so people have ceiling fans in their home to save on their energy costs.