Choosing a Ceiling Fan for a Large Room with a Tall Ceiling: 4 Factors to Consider

When choosing a ceiling fan for a large room with tall ceilings, a one-size-fits-all approach falls flat. The enormous space and the extended ceiling height do demand a different strategy—one that ensures efficient air circulation, compatibility with room size, and an aesthetic that complements your interiors. But where do you start? Let’s look at some factors to consider.

Do note that this post will present these considerations, but no suggestions will be made as to what particular ceiling fan or fans this author would consider the best choice. This format is chosen because the objective here is to be truly objective. 

In our research, it was very difficult to find information that was not biased, as almost all such data appeared to be written by or for the benefit of a particular ceiling fan company. In almost all cases, in this author’s view, they were informational articles that were written to influence readers to buy a particular fan or buy from a particular retailer. Here, we will present facts that will allow a prospective ceiling fan buyer to make an informed choice. 

1. Energy Efficiency

The primary functional objective when choosing a ceiling fan for a large room with tall ceilings is to ask yourself if you are looking for a ceiling fan that will help in the reduction of your utility bill due to the high cost of operating the home’s air conditioning  If so, the fan must have a motor large enough to move enough air to make you feel cool enough to adjust the air conditioner’s thermostat upward thus saving up to 20% on the power bill. 

The Department of Energy requires manufacturers to print the CFM (Cubic Feet Per Minute) on the ceiling fan's outer packaging.  It would seem that simply comparing these figures would allow one to easily find the ceiling fan that would move the most air. Unfortunately, according to our research, these figures are inaccurate and often reflect the inconsistency in factory testing. 

Additionally, some companies report figures that are “average” air movement between the fans at various speeds, while other companies report the airflow at maximum speed only. As such, we conclude that the best figure for the customer to look for is the ceiling fan’s motor size. This figure, although sometimes not reported by the manufacturer, is the most important to determine which fans will have the most air movement. 

Along with motor size, blade size is very important. Blades should generally not be longer than 72” as residential ceiling fans, even with the largest motors, are not strong enough to provide much air movement with blades longer than 72”. Some manufacturers have fans with blades as long as 99” and impressive CFM figures, but the airflow velocity is so slow that the cooling effect of the fan is drastically reduced. 

2. Ceiling Fan Style

Ceiling fan style is, for the most part, a personal preference. How many blades a ceiling fan has is not an issue as far as air movement. Still, visually, the 3-blade ceiling fans are more modern in style than the multi-bladed fans as they fit the current minimalistic design trend. This is, of course, a personal design choice. 

3. Ceiling Fan Finish

Ceiling fan finish is also a personal choice, but several designers we spoke with pointed out that fans with more than 5 blades are often chosen for large rooms with tall ceilings to “fill” the space. These designers recommended using these fans in brushed nickel or similar finishes instead of black or bronze. They reasoned that the dark colors with massive multi-bladed fans tend to bring the ceiling height down. 

One designer explained that a room’s tall ceiling should be looked at as if it is the sky and that bulky dark ceiling fans psychologically remind us of dark clouds instead of the sunny skies represented by the brushed nickel ceiling fans.

4. Ceiling Fan Quality

Ceiling fan quality is the final consideration when choosing a ceiling fan for large rooms with tall ceilings. We’ve noted above that no specific recommendations would be made in this article as to which ceiling fan would be recommended for use in large rooms with tall ceilings and that the objective was to give the prospective ceiling fan buyer good sold information to allow them to find the best ceiling fan for their individual needs. With that said, it’s unquestionable that the ceiling fans from retailers such as Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot are of the lowest quality. 

The Consumer Digest magazine stated that “The lowest rating Yenichek (the researcher) cited is Lowe’s minimum requirement for fans it purchasers for sale in its stores.” Our research further showed that these stores do not provide parts for the repair of their product past the initial 90-day to one-year warranty for all electrical parts, which, of course, are the parts that generally fail if there is a problem. The effect of the unavailability of parts is that these fans are often referred to, according to our research, as “throwaway ceiling fans.”

Conclusion

A ceiling fan for a large room with a tall ceiling is not just an appliance but an investment. Therefore, consider all the above-mentioned factors and carefully select a fan that efficiently cools the room, saves energy, illuminates, and contributes to the room's aesthetics.