Well-designed fan motors have sealed bearings so that they require no lubrication or maintenance. However, vibrations sometimes can cause the screws on the blade mounts or motor housing to work loose. That results in noisy fan operation.

The remedy is simple: Tighten any loose screws with a screwdriver. Do not overtighten. Before turning on the fan, spin the blades by hand to be sure they rotate freely.

The rotating blades usually pickup dust and dirt, so periodic cleaning is a must. Clean the blades and housing with a mild detergent. Do not use abrasive agents because they can mar the finish. It’s also a good idea to protect wooden fan blades with a light coat of furniture polish.

Most homeowners position the fan in the center of the ceiling. Used as a decorating accent, the fan can be positioned in a corner, but the blades should be no closer than 18 inches to the wall. That distance will allow sufficient clearance for proper air circulation.

In the bedroom the ideal location for the ceiling fan is over the foot of the bed, never directly over the head of the bed. A dining room fan should have a reversing switch that allows the fan to create an updraft during dining. A down draft would cool hot food prematurely.

A ceiling fan cools and circulates room air most efficiently when the blades are 2400mm to 2700mm above the floor. For rooms with high ceilings, extension poles are available in lengths between 300mm to 1800mm. For safety reasons, the fan blades should be at least 2100mm away from the floor. A low profile ceiling fan with the blades 8 inches from the ceiling, is available for rooms with low ceilings.

If you live in a part of the country where air conditioning usage is a necessity and you are building or buying a new house, a complete AC system will of course cost you more but it will pay back its cost in the form of increased pleasure, comfort and efficiency for you and your family.

The major pitfall in buying an air conditioner for one room is getting one of the wrong capacity. Many people are unaware that a too powerful oversized unit can be just as unsatisfactory as a weak AC unit: a machine that is too large will often annoy you with its continual switching on and off. At best, an individual air conditioning is rather noisy, and there is no need to put up with more irritating mechanical noises than you have to. How do you get the right size of an air conditioner system for your home? You can probably trust your local AC dealer to estimate the proper sized unit, especially if he has other brands of AC appliances to sell. But a more efficient method is to get a Cooling Load Estimate from a mechanical engineer, refrigeration or AC engineer. These professionals use computer programs or manual calculations to ensure correct air conditioner sizing and heat gain calculations. A few ideas about air conditioner sizing is located at this article

An AC’s ability to remove heat is rated at approximately 12,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) per hour, or “tons” of cooling. That rate should be satisfactory to cool a good sized living room of about 56 to 111 square meters if your temperature and humidity do not get too high.

If you have a chance to observe a particular machine’s performance in a friend’s house, office or store under actual operating conditions, you will have a better understanding how ACs work. Things to look for include: machine drips, noise of the system under different speeds, unpleasant darfts and changes in temperature, louver positions and filter cleaning. Don’t overlook the machine’s weight and installation directions. All air conditioners are still heavy and ackward to handle and, unless you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can have the dealer install the machine for you.

In my previous post about summer heat, I said that April was the hottest month here in Manila. I take back that statement because today was the hottest! (at least here in my place). Up until this time I have a headache because of the heat, I called it a day and stopped working and proceeded to go to a nearby mall. You see, our airconditioner is not working so the heat was really unbearable.

To prevent our readers suffering the same fate, here are a few ways to cool your house without using an airconditioner (aside from going to the mall). Readers who are planning to build a new house might find this tips useful as they can plan ahead of time:

a. Buy only rated windows (those with a low solar heat gain coefficient ratio) when you are planning to install them on the sunny side of your home.

b. Try not to bake or use an oven in hot days.

c. Insulate your walls, roofspace or attic.

d. Having bright colored roofs installed helps in minimizing heat.

e. Have a trellis or a shading device built on the sunny side of your home.

f. Replace your incandescent lamps and opt for CFL lighting fixtures. Incandescent lamps produce 90% of heat.

g. Install reflective window films on windows located at the sunny side of your home.

h. Plant trees on the sunny side of your home.

i. Ventilate your roofspace by using soffit vents, ridge vents, or mechanical ventilators.

j. Plan rooms that promote cross ventilation.

k. Buy a ceiling fan.

This post is similar to an article posted earlier.