When installing a ceiling fan, most of the owners are concerned with the distance between the ceiling fan and the floor. Well, this is necessary to prevent any mishaps if the fan is installed at a low height. Hence, it should be installed at an optimum height. But often, the distance is ignored. Here, we will discuss the procedure of determining an optimum distance between ceiling and the ceiling fan.
Why is it important to maintain the distance between ceiling and the ceiling fan? For maximized circulation of air, it is important to maintain an optimum distance. The air flow is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). Fans that displace at least 5,000 CFM are ideal for the rooms. For maximum efficiency, it is important to maintain a distance of at least 8-10 inches between the ceiling and the ceiling fan.
But, the distance is not just dependent on the proper circulation of air. We need to emphasize on various factors to determine an optimum distance between ceiling and the ceiling fan.
Height of the Ceiling
Now, if the height of the ceiling goes beyond 15 feet, you cannot afford to keep the distance between ceiling and the fan at 10 inches. This is because it will significantly affect the air circulation. Hence, for an effective circulation, you need to adjust the measurements. We will look at this factor in detail.
The minimum distance between the ceiling fan and the floor should be 7 feet. This means, in any case, you cannot decrease it below 7 feet. If you do so, it can result in a fatal accident and it will certainly affect the air circulation. Hence, you should keep it at least 7 feet. But you can also opt for larger distance. It depends on your preference.
For this purpose, you can use a down rod. The down rod helps in adjusting the distance between the ceiling fan and the ceiling, and it also helps in adjusting the height of a ceiling fan from the floor. Hence, the down rod serves multiple purposes.
For example, if the height of the ceiling from the floor is 12 feet. You want to maintain the height of the fan at 8 feet from the floor. Therefore, you can use a down rod of 4 feet (48 inches) to suspend the ceiling fan at a height of 8 feet from the floor.
As you can see, we didn’t keep the distance between ceiling and the ceiling fan at 8-10 inches. This is because it would have hampered the efficiency of the fan. Therefore, in this case, it was important to hang the fan with the help of a down rod for proper circulation of air.
Now, while considering a slanted ceiling, we have to ascertain that the fan blades don’t collide with the ceiling. In this case, the length of the down rod is dependent on the slope of the ceiling and the length of blades. When you have the measurements, you can use the concept of Pythagoras Theorem to calculate an optimum length of the down rod.