We have an outdoor living area (covered patio) that have two Hampton Bay ceiling fans that supposedly has the spec of 5448 CFM... yet when I stood below either fan, I can't feel any air movement.

After being fed up by it, wife and I bought a couple of Hunter ceiling fans from Costco last week and last night I installed one of them. Again, the new ceiling fan moves no air. These new ceiling fans has spec of 5259 CFM.

Yes we tried every speed, we tried both directions... nothing.

What am I missing?

How far down from the ceiling are they? Can you post a pic?

You're not going to move much air with an outdoor patio. You're essentially trying to displace the atmosphere.

Ceiling is A-frame (metal roof sitting on 2x6s). Ceiling fan is hung on the center of the A-frame (peak/center of the ceiling/roof). Down rod is about 2-feet long, so from the J-box down to the fan it probably drops about 30-in? But the edge of the blades are obviously closer to the ceiling due to the A-frame.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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You're not going to move much air with an outdoor patio. You're essentially trying to displace the atmosphere.

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how's that any different than in the house? air is air...

How far is it from blades tips to patio floor.

Also, if blade tips pass close to the A-Frame roof deck it could adversely affect the airflow performance. But I'm not ready to buy in to that for your situation till we learn more. Despite a previous comment ceiling fans work great in outdoor patio rooms.

Pictures?

stardustag said:

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Martin Q. Blank said:

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You're not going to move much air with an outdoor patio. You're essentially trying to displace the atmosphere.

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how's that any different than in the house? air is air...

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Hopefully your house has walls.

AgEngineer72 said:

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How far is it from blades tips to patio floor.

Also, if blade tips pass close to the A-Frame roof deck it could adversely affect the airflow performance. But I'm not ready to buy in to that for your situation till we learn more. Despite a previous comment ceiling fans work great in outdoor patio rooms.

Pictures?

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I don't have good picture... here is the best I can come up with... you can see the lights poking out under the trusses... gives you an idea how high/low the ceiling fans are relative to the ceiling.

Gary79Ag said:

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You need longer downrods for the fans to be more effective as the fans are too far away from the floor area!

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I can literally be 5 inches away from the bottom of the fan (standing on a ladder) and still not feel the air flow!

stardustag said:

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Gary79Ag said:

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You need longer downrods for the fans to be more effective as the fans are too far away from the floor area!

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I can literally be 5 inches away from the bottom of the fan (standing on a ladder) and still not feel the air flow!

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I think your fan needs to be lower. I seem to remember different CFM ratings dependent on the distance from the ceiling but the A-frame is not like a regular room.

since most of the fan brackets I've seen are similar try wiring it up in place of an existing fan inside the house and see if it works better.

http://www.hansenwholesale.com/minka-aire-simple-1

About the put these on our back patio. There's 3 color choices and an optional light kit too. But yes you need longer downrods too as others have mentioned.

AgEngineer72 said:

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Stardust- like some have said you need to lower your fans. For best airflow you should be 8 to 8 and a half feet above the floor. No more than 9 feet. The downward airflow from the fan is an expanding cone that has a "hole" in it up close to the fan. When you get right up close to the fan you won't feel much air. Furthermore in your case the rafters are likely interacting with airflow development and either blocking it or creating turbulence that's preventing good cooling.

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I was always told you want the fan blades to be ~ 7 ft from from the finished floor for maximum airflow regardless of ceiling height
That is how I have installed them for the last 20+ years and they seem to work good. If you install a hugger fan versus a downrod mount at ~7' on an 8 ft ceiling there is quite a bit of reduction in airflow.

Have this problem too and my fans are only about 7-8 ft off the ground

JP76 said:

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AgEngineer72 said:

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Stardust- like some have said you need to lower your fans. For best airflow you should be 8 to 8 and a half feet above the floor. No more than 9 feet. The downward airflow from the fan is an expanding cone that has a "hole" in it up close to the fan. When you get right up close to the fan you won't feel much air. Furthermore in your case the rafters are likely interacting with airflow development and either blocking it or creating turbulence that's preventing good cooling.

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I was always told you want the fan blades to be ~ 7 ft from from the finished floor for maximum airflow regardless of ceiling height
That is how I have installed them for the last 20+ years and they seem to work good. If you install a hugger fan versus a downrod mount at ~7' on an 8 ft ceiling there is quite a bit of reduction in airflow.

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JP- I agree with 7' and normally use that placement. But for an outdoor application I normally bump it a little. You have people carrying stuff through and playing outdoor activities that normally doesn't occur indoors. So I add a little. Most fans are ok up to 9' with somewhat diminishing results. Also, I don't like "hugger" fans- they don't seem to move air well regardless of how mounted.

ktownag08 said:

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http://www.hansenwholesale.com/minka-aire-simple-1

About the put these on our back patio. There's 3 color choices and an optional light kit too. But yes you need longer downrods too as others have mentioned.

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let me know how you like it once you install them... if adding longer downrods don't work, I may be in the market for ceiling fans (again).

AgEngineer72 said:

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Stardust- like some have said you need to lower your fans. For best airflow you should be 8 to 8 and a half feet above the floor. No more than 9 feet. The downward airflow from the fan is an expanding cone that has a "hole" in it up close to the fan. When you get right up close to the fan you won't feel much air. Furthermore in your case the rafters are likely interacting with airflow development and either blocking it or creating turbulence that's preventing good cooling.

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Ok I have a 5' downrod laying around the house so I'll give it a try today. Thanks for the advice.

Might I suggest one of those big-ass fans from Costco? Much more air movement than any rinky-dink ceiling fan.

Put 2 box fans up, problem solved

5259 CFM is not that powerful for an outdoor fan. I have a 5 blade 72" fan that puts out 11,000 CFM. It'll cost you $300 but well worth it in this Texas heat.

A fan is basically an air pump. If not enough goes in, ain't nothing coming out. Height matters but the distance from the fan to whatever is above matters a lot as well.

PlanoAg98 said:

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5259 CFM is not that powerful for an outdoor fan. I have a 5 blade 72" fan that puts out 11,000 CFM. It'll cost you $300 but well worth it in this Texas heat.

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What brand and model is it?

Kensgrove 72 in. LED Indoor/Outdoor Brushed Nickel Ceiling Fan

PlanoAg98 said:

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Kensgrove 72 in. LED Indoor/Outdoor Brushed Nickel Ceiling Fan

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Thanks. That looks similar to a ceiling fan I have in my living room, so I like the look anyways.. I'll definitely keep that one in mind in case extra downrods doesn't help...

FYI though, according to this website below... 11,00CFM on 72" fan is really pretty much equivalent of 5400CFM on a 52" fan as far as wind speech... it's just that your "cone of air" is bigger (72" diameter as opposed to 52" diameter).

http://www.hansenwholesale.com/ceiling-fans/ceiling-fan-wind-speed

We just bought these at Lowe's last week and will have them installed on Monday. Close to 9000 cfm. Hoping they do the job. We have 4 going into a new outdoor patio.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Fanimation-Studio-Collection-Covert-64-in-Dark-Bronze-Downrod-Mount-Indoor-Outdoor-Ceiling-Fan-with-Integrated-Light-Kit-and-Remote-ENERGY-STAR/1000002270

It'll be probably at least a month since the extension is being built right now, but I'll get back with ya!

The only 2x6 in the pic above are the cross pieces to keep 2x8 doubled truss/main structural beams from spreading and the flat purlins holding up the metal roof. Everything else (except rafter tails) is 2x8 or larger. That structure will hold a lot of weight!!

Re the ceiling fans: as noted rod them down to about 9' and you should get much better down draft movement.

12th Man Ag said:

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We just bought these at Lowe's last week and will have them installed on Monday. Close to 9000 cfm. Hoping they do the job. We have 4 going into a new outdoor patio.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Fanimation-Studio-Collection-Covert-64-in-Dark-Bronze-Downrod-Mount-Indoor-Outdoor-Ceiling-Fan-with-Integrated-Light-Kit-and-Remote-ENERGY-STAR/1000002270

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Please let me know what you think about the air flow! The price seems right and CFM rating of 8853CFM seems great!

Aggie1 said:

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The only 2x6 in the pic above are the cross pieces to keep 2x8 doubled truss/main structural beams from spreading and the flat purlins holding up the metal roof. Everything else (except rafter tails) is 2x8 or larger. That structure will hold a lot of weight!!

Re the ceiling fans: as noted rod them down to about 9' and you should get much better down draft movement.

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Yeh we are hoping the structure will last a while!

Okay some updates: I put a 4' down rod on the original fan and the air flow went from non-existing to barely there. I double-checked the specs on these fans again and uh oh... apparently it was worse than I had previously noted (4153CFM!). These fans are definitely going to trash (donation actually, maybe someone else will use it). I also tried the newer fans we bought from Costco a couple of weeks ago (that's the one with ~5200CFM): down rod also helps but still disappointing. Needless to say... the two old fans are going to trash... the two fans we bought from Costco are going to be returned (they were $50 a piece, that's why I was willing to give them a try), and we are now in the market for some new fans! Here is a picture of the old fan with the 4' down rod:

I'd be curious to know if the only true way to improve is going to a more industrial model fan. Seems any residential outdoor fan will all be similarly rated and built. (Same RPM and fan blade style = same result)