S&B Mercury 48" in Black
It is safe to say that Singaporeans do not know how to take care of their ceiling fans. They bought fans with knowledge they have researched online or from word-of-mouth, which usually concluded in them getting popular brands such as KDK, Fanco and Alpha. If all products now are made in China, why do the quality differs between brands?
Actually, there isn't much difference between brands product quality BUT, we as the consumers (or rather, the owners of our fans) can make a huge difference... Simply by knowing how to take care of our fans.
TIP 1: Clean your ceiling fans from time to time
No, you can't just do it once every year during spring cleaning session. Choking on dust bunnies aren't really suitable for a joyous festival such as Chinese New Year, ya?
Without routine cleaning of the fans, dust settles and collects onto the top side of the fan blades and this would wear the fan down over a period of time. The weight of the dust also increases the usage of electricity as fan motor requires more energy to ensure the fan blades are up to its usual speed. Bad news for your electric bills!
Take a bicycle date as an example. A boyfriend decided to fetch his girlfriend with his bicycle out on a romantic date. The ride from his house to hers is a breeze, after all he is only carrying his own weight. Then his girlfriend hops on and suddenly he is thinking it's time to going back to the gym because the additional burden is causing him to exert more energy to pedal his bicycle forward. Well, needless to say what happens next. He signs up for a one-year gym membership... for his girlfriend.
For step by step instructions to cleaning ceiling fans, click hereeee!
TIP 2: Check for loose screws, nuts and bolts
Many a times, a ceiling fan that was working fine the night before suddenly greets you with a noise that won't go away and although you can't describe the noise exactly, you think it sounds pretty dangerous. Now, before you enter panic mode and arrange for a paid fan-maintenance visit down to your house, check for any loose screws.
Ceiling fans that have been in motion frequently will result in loose screws eventually. It is no surprising matter since the fan blades are constantly in motion. Manufacturers do not screw bolts and nuts overly tight because of the possibility that the warm climate in Singapore might expand the parts in the fans and cause damages/cracks to the fan.
TIP 3: Lubricate the nuts (Not dirty-talking here...), screws and bolts
After checking and you have found no loose screws, don't start to panic just yet. It could be the machine's lubricant running low. At times like this, switch off your ceiling fan and make sure that all blades have reached a complete stop before apply some lubricant (seek assistance from your nearby hardware store). Switch the fan back on and let it run for awhile to ensure that the lubricant has been evenly spread around.
If the noise still persist on, keep calm and give your service center a call. Do not procrastinate! Loose screws, nuts or bolts in the fan should be attended to ASAP.
PS. As advised by HowStuffWorks, if your ceiling fan is newly purchased and installed and is making noise, allow it 24 hours to run for the lubricant applied during the manufacturing to be evenly distributed throughout the fan.
OKIE DOK. Guess we shall end this here today.
Stay tune for Part 2!
"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence." - Abigail Adams
