Imagine kicking back on the porch on a warm summer's evening. The sun is setting, the flowers in your yard are in full bloom, and you are surrounded by friends and family. Life is good.
Except, of course, for the fact that you're baking in the sweltering heat. You would give anything to have a nice, gentle breeze to cool things down so that you can enjoy this beautiful evening in comfort.
As it turns out, you can have a cooling breeze at your will with an outdoor ceiling fan. Not many people realize it, but the same type of ceiling fan that you use inside your home can be modified to work outside, hanging from your covered porch to provide a cooling breeze whenever you feel like it.
These fans are similarly styled to indoor fans, but are made more rugged so that they can survive outdoors. This allows you to enjoy years of worry free operation in situations where an indoor fan might quickly fail.
There are two levels of weatherproofing available for these fans, damp and wet. As the name suggests, wet rated fans are the most rugged, designed for situations where moisture is likely to be encountered, such as an open porch. Damp rate fans are designed for more sheltered situations such as screened in porches and the like. Neither is designed for full on exposure to the elements, but if you're in doubt, consider getting the wet model to be safe.
You can install these outdoor ceiling fans yourself, but it is quite likely that wiring will need to be run in order to power the fan. if this is the case, you might find to consider finding yourself a professional to install the fan for you, so that you are not risking injury by installing the wiring yourself.
While having an outdoor fan might not be quite the same as sitting indoors with air conditioning, having that on demand breeze can really enhance your enjoyment of the outdoors. There are a wide variety of outdoor rate fans on the market, so you are sure to find one that works for you.