Gizmorama: Life in the Tech Age

BLADES OF CLASS

It's hotter than blazes outside. The air conditioner is on and you just came in from an all-too-long session of yard work. Straight for the shower you go and afterward, you flop down on the bed in cool delight under the gentle whisper of a ceiling fan with nothing on but a smile -- you, that is, not the fan.

The nudity is strictly a personal choice, of course, but as the dog days of August approach, we must pause and pay a small bit of appreciation to a graceful appliance that has made a triumphant comeback.

Ceiling fans used to be associated with atmospheric black and white movies featuring Sydney Greenstreet and Mary Astor among the cast and set in locations such as the "Casbah." Not any more. Nowadays, they're seen in the most up-to-date domiciles because they pay for themselves in terms of making air conditioning and heating systems work better.

One thing ceiling fans do that the tabletop varieties don't is work in two directions. When you purchase a new fan, if you look on the side of the box or read the directions you will see how the fan can circulate air one way in the summer and the other way in the winter.

Same air? Warmer one way and cooler the other? What's up with that?

Simple. The fan moves air by pushing it out of the way. In the summer, the blades should be angled down when spinning, so they can push the warmer air up toward the ceiling, thus keeping things cooler down at your level. In winter, it's the opposite. The blades push warmer air down from the ceiling, keeping your toes a little less icy.

Most ceiling fans have several speeds, but we prefer the slowest because it's quiet and you don't feel as though a stiff breeze is blowing through your bedroom.

Shopping for a fan? There's a wide price range to choose from. The more expense units don't give you more air, however. They give you more quiet.

Really. The main differences are in the quality of the motor and the more silent bearings and mechanics of the fan.

By the way, when you are looking for a place to hang party balloons, don't use ceiling fan blades, even if they aren't spinning at the time. Yes, a wobbly fan can be balanced with stick-on weights if you have run out of options. Make sure they really stick well (clean before sticking) so the weights don't fly off and into the lasagna.

(Questions? Comments? Send them to ideas@gizmorama.org)