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outdoor ceiling fans...

robphelan

robphelan

Diamond Member
anyone know anything about these?

We built a patio with a pergola covering it. The pergola has beams going East-West and has sheets of lattice on top of them to help diffuse the sunlight.

We installed 3 Hampton Bay model 58020 Nassau 52" ceiling fans which we bought at home depot in between the East-West beams.

We extended the electricity from an outdoor security light across the pergola to each of the fans. However, they don't seem to be moving alot of air for some reason.

At first, i thought there might be too much of a power draw from all 3 fans, so I shut 2 off. But, the 3rd still pushed the same amt of air.

my bro suggested that since there's no solid roof above each fan where air would collect,
the fans can't push any more air.

any suggestions?
 
Which way to do have the rotation going?
Up or Down? Fans move air in two directions. Check the rotation switch on the side?
BTW, I'ld put a GFCI inline. Nothing kills a party on the patio like electrocuting a guest from an illegal installation.
Did you use a box rated for a ceiling fan? If not, do so right away. The tab ears on a regular ceiling box are not rated for fan's weight and the slight oscillations that they produce will fatigue those tabs.

Are the Fans rated for outdoor use?
If not, expect to replace them after a season or two due to corrosion.
 
the rotation is correct - down.

good point about the GFCI. I had just assumed it was GFCI because it was already an outdoor light fixture.

what do you mean by box rated for a ceiling fan? the junction box? if so, yes - because we bought the cross beam ceiling fan supports that included it.

ceiling fans are UL Wet rated.
 
I bet your fan is too close to the "ceiling," it need to be at least 1ft or so away from the top to get good air movement.
 
Originally posted by: richardycc
I bet your fan is too close to the "ceiling," it need to be at least 1ft or so away from the top to get good air movement.
Click to expand...

But he said there is no real ceiling.

Do the blade seem to be spinning at the right speed but just no air is comign down? If could be something with the blades being on wrong or not angled properly. *shrug*

Post a link to the fans you bought if you can find one. And mabe a pic of the area the fans are showing the roof and such.
 
here's the link to the fan.

hopefully this will come through - home depot is funky about linking to specific products..

i'm uploading an actual pic in a second.
 
It looks nice,, but those blades don't actually look like they'd move much air.

edit: Maybe you could grab a set of replacement traditional blades and see if they move more air.
 
Those are some short fan blades. The fact that there is no roof means they should be getting enough air (no problem being too close to the ceiling).

I might guess that these fans are slower than normal fans (even on the fastest setting) because that would "be safer" where someone might be more likely to reach up into one.

How do these compare with the fans inside the house?
 
they are actually 52" fans - the blades are 21" long. I was under the impression that 52" was on the large side when it came to fans.

they do seem to run at slower speeds though.
 
The other thing you might want to realize is, the reason that ceiling fans work so well indoors it that they get all the air in the whole room moving after a bit. Outdoor fans can not really do this.

That last suggestion I have is that you find someplace (restauraunt/bar) near you that has fans and see what you think of those fans.
 
Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: robphelan
here are the links to the actual pergola

1

2
Click to expand...

Nice setup, could you come up and build me one? 😀
Click to expand...

thanks alot.. we even have a fire pit on the opposite side of the patio which can be used for warmth or for cooking.

ACTUALLY, i should have written 'we had a patio BUILT for us' - we didn't do anything but install the fans (and write the checks)
 
Did they have a working model at Home Depot? If so, how does your airflow compare? The installation looks great, (nice patio cover) and I see nothing obvious that should cause them not to work properly.
 
Originally posted by: nissan720
The other thing you might want to realize is, the reason that ceiling fans work so well indoors it that they get all the air in the whole room moving after a bit. Outdoor fans can not really do this.

That last suggestion I have is that you find someplace (restauraunt/bar) near you that has fans and see what you think of those fans.
Click to expand...

i think you had some good points which add up to our problem - slower fan motor + not an enclosed area means we feel less air pushing around.

i'll check the fan documentation to see what speed it goes up to.. then talk to the wife to see if she wants to search for a faster one.

thanks alot for your help.
 
Originally posted by: BoomerD
Did they have a working model at Home Depot? If so, how does your airflow compare? The installation looks great, (nice patio cover) and I see nothing obvious that should cause them not to work properly.
Click to expand...

unfortunately, there was no working model, just a display.
 
Put in similar model at grandparents house but with regular blades, works great.

Perhaps your problem is the open air above your deck.
 
Nice pergola--I've been thinking of building one too, but we have a 2-storey house and I'm not sure how to 'attach' the pergola beams to the house.

As for the fans, I'd bet that the rpms are too low. Perhaps a few Type-R stickers will help.
 
I have no idea because those fans should do the job.

You should be able to find out the CFM of that fan and how it compares to the competition.


It would be costly, but commercial rated fans put out a ton of air, but are nothing to look at.
 
Originally posted by: robphelan
here are the links to the actual pergola

1

2
Click to expand...



these pics further proved that my theory was right, your fan blades are too close to the "ceiling"/rafters in this case. They are blocking the air, use the downrod to lower the fan a bit, it will help a lot.
 
Originally posted by: richardycc
Originally posted by: robphelan
here are the links to the actual pergola

1

2
Click to expand...



these pics further proved that my theory was right, your fan blades are too close to the "ceiling"/rafters in this case. They are blocking the air, use the downrod to lower the fan a bit, it will help a lot.
Click to expand...


ah.... doubt it. I would guess that the length and shape is decorative more than functional.
 
Originally posted by: richardycc
Originally posted by: robphelan
here are the links to the actual pergola

1

2
Click to expand...



these pics further proved that my theory was right, your fan blades are too close to the "ceiling"/rafters in this case. They are blocking the air, use the downrod to lower the fan a bit, it will help a lot.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? There's nothing blocking any air. The ceiling is lattice. It has holes in it. the air has plenty of room to move around.
 
Looks awesome... in fact, I'm saving one of those pictures for my wife. I need to put in a deck or patio next year. That looks exactly like what I've been invisioning my project to look like. Thanks!!!

Anyway, I'd expect to feel airflow from those fans, but perhaps they simply operate at lower rpm's than the indoor equivalent. I will point out that sometimes, there's an internal switch or plug type of thing for different types of installations - so that the speed can be controlled at a switch. I worked in a restaurant where the fans were set-up such that they could not be turned onto the high position (owner disliked them when they were first installed; too fast, didn't trust employees to make sure they were turned on to the correct setting.)

Anyway, one other thing that you might want to look into when/if you change your fans: I'm guessing that those electrical boxes are NOT rated for outdoor use... am I correct? It may or may not cause problems. But generally, outdoor boxes are waterproof.
 
Thank you thank you thank you!!! That'll work great! I have an L-shaped area to do and have been wondering how I was going to accomplish it with two different heights for the roof. I knew it would need something to really tie the area together and make it look nice... that'll do perfectly!

Did you do the concrete work yourself?
 
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