My Cart:

0 item(s) - $0.00
You have no items in your shopping cart.

FREE SHIPPING on most Ceiling Fans

Payments accepted for ceiling fans

Speak to a Fan Pro: (888) 841-1993

Swipe to the left

Flies & Mosquitoes vs. Ceiling Fans

Print
By 6 years ago 103545 Views 7 comments

Shop Top Brand Ceiling Fans

Now that summer is here you have probably noticed the annual increase in flying insects. Most annoyingly flies, and most bothersome, probably the mosquitoes. Although bees and gnats are pretty good at ruining outdoor relaxation this time of year as well.

What is really annoying is inviting family and friends over for a cookout, only to have most of them wanting to go inside to eat, because flies won’t stop trying to land on their burger, or on their perfectly buttered and salted roasted ear of corn-on-the-cob. Nothing can ruin the urge to bite into that ear like flies swarming all around it.

Do you have a tendency to use your hand like a fan to try to shoo off these pesky insects landing in your plate? I know I do. And the bees… now those little fellers will make my daughter jump up and go running, leaving her food behind. She doesn’t even think of trying to shoo them away.

Why Fan with your Hand?

So, why use your hand when you can hang a ceiling fan overhead almost any outdoor structure to help do the same thing, so that you can keep more focused on the cookout feast? Whether you have a covered porch or deck, or a gazebo out in the yard, a damp rated outdoor ceiling fan is all you’ll need to keep those pesky insects at bay.

Even when you don’t have eating on your mind, and just want to simply go out and relax under the pergola, a wet rated ceiling fan is all you'll need to help keep cool, and also to greatly reduce pest that you don’t want buzzing around your head.

Why Outdoor Ceiling Fans Win the Battle

Small flying insects prefer to fly in calm wind conditions. That’s why during a hot and humid summer day, in still wind conditions, a fly always seems to find its way buzzing around our heads. We swat at it, seemingly always missing. Then sometimes we think we are going to get away from the thing by running away from where it found us. It’s funny, we think we’ve outsmarted it, until about 10 seconds later it’s back annoying the living H.E. double hockey sticks out of us. My goodness, I hate flies!

Now think of the same hot and humid summer day, when suddenly the sky begins to darken, the wind picks up quickly… a storm is approaching. Ever noticed the fly around you in that condition? Not usually, huh? Why is that? Is the fly scared of thunder? No! The fly doesn’t like expending the energy it takes to fly in those windy conditions. Nor do mosquitoes and most other flying incests.

Flying insects’ flight muscles use a lot of nutrients when flying in the first place. Flying into the wind only causes them to consume more energy and thus use up the nutrients their muscles need more rapidly. Because of this, most flying insects will seek shelter from the storm (so to speak) to avoid the air currents that cause them to expend too much energy.

Therefore, if the wind picking up chases the insects away, then why not simulate that same wind effect by installing a niceoutdoor ceiling fan in the spaces you spend most of your outdoor time trying to enjoy? Not only will fans keep the flies, bees, mosquitoes, and gnats off of you, fans will also do a great job of keeping them off of your cookout meals as well. A ceiling fan may not get rid of them 100%, but even a 75% reduction of the pests is a major improvement.

Outdoor Rated Ceiling Fans

Less Humidity

The moving of air circulated by a ceiling fan also helps to keep the area around it more dry than it would be without one. Most of us all probably know that the more humid it is, the more mosquitoes seem to be out biting. That’s because mosquitoes love a moist environment. By running your ceiling fan, you now know you have a double advantage when it comes to keeping mosquitoes at bay. You have air movement, which they do not like to fly in, and you have a drier area, in which they will eventually flee from.

Larger Blade Spans Are Best

For outside use, typically the bigger the fan is the better it is for everything you are installing the fan to do. Larger outdoor fans usually look better, and they spread the airflow better over a larger area (meaning less bugs over a broader coverage area). Also, if you install a high-end large ceiling fan you’ll notice much more air windspeed for cooling purposes as well. Don’t use one of the big box stores versions that look big, but perform small. You’ll never be satisfied with that. If you’re going to go big, you need to do it right by purchasing from a quality manufacturer that does it right!

Whatever your style, whether modern, industrial, rustic, tropical, traditional, or even nautical, you can find a large ceiling fan to suite you tastes.

Summary

Most flying insects do not like flying info air currents, especially mosquitoes and flies. Installing a ceiling fan is the perfect way to simulate a natural windy day outside when mother nature isn’t blowing the wind for you. By installing a ceiling fan you’ll have less bug bites, and enjoy cookouts at your home with family and friends more, because you’ll enjoy your own bites more, and also be more comfortable while doing so.

Modern Fan Outlet Ceiling Fan Brands


Choose A Category to View Different Ceiling Fan Design Choices

MODERN
OUTDOOR
TRADITIONAL
SMALL
LARGE
NAUTICAL
ORNATE
KIDS
TROPICAL
DOUBLE MOTOR
ORNATE
CLEARANCE
FANS WITH LIGHTS
RUSTIC
MISSION


Mike 6 years ago at 7:37 AM
How about a list of Wet Rated Large Fans for comparison? It looks like the only Wet Rated Large Fan is the Fanington STELLAR.
Jeff 6 years ago at 12:35 AM
Good idea. We will make an article about that. You're right though, there really aren't many wet rated outdoor fans in large sizes over 60". Most are damp rated, which are still for outdoor use. The difference is a wet rated fan is for when there is no roof or ceiling over the fan, and the fan will get direct rainfall coming in from above. A damp rated ceiling fan will work fine for most outdoor locations, even if there is a little blowing rain that hits the fan every now and again, but it will not handle direct rainfall coming down from over the top of the fan. Much of it has to do with where the remote control receivers are installed on many of the large fans, and it causes them not to be able to achieve the wet rated labels.

Until we can get that article written up, you can check out this link for the time being, and maybe it'll at least help some to learn the exact differences between wet and damp rated fans, and when to use which... https://www.modernfanoutlet.com/blog/what-type-of-outdoor-ceiling-fan-will-you-need.html
Carol Spiegel 4 years ago at 9:14 AM
This is a COVID-19 question. In a outdoor space like a gazebo, what is the path of the air flow when the fan is set to blow downward? Is it creating turbulence so virus will be recirculated or just blowing it down and out of the gazebo? Thank you.
Jeff 4 years ago at 3:23 PM
Mostly down and out.

I'm not a doctor but, from what I've learned from other doctors, this virus doesn't spread well outdoors. At least not with the sunlight and heat. Also, not sure where this gazebo is, but if it's private in your backyard, as long as you or your family doesn't already have the virus I really don't think you'll need to worry about it on your personal gazebo. That said, at a public park where strangers are sitting near you it may be a completely different story.
CAM 4 years ago at 2:01 PM
Hi - we have a small porch that is covered but would be great to hose down. Did you ever publish anything about the best wet fans?
Also - is it better to have more or less blades when finding something to keep the bugs away or does that not matter - and just the length of the blades and speed of the fan matter? Thank you!
Jeff 4 years ago at 1:20 PM
Hi Cam,

It looks like we've been slack on blogging lately. We have been too busy with selling and the customer service end of our business that it's been hard to find the time. Business has been going crazy this year, in a fantastic way! That said, this article may help, although it's not specifically about wet rated models... https://www.modernfanoutlet.com/blog/best-outdoor-ceiling-fans-for-2019.html.

If you give us a call we can help you narrow your search down a bit as well.

To answer your question about more or less blades, that isn't going to matter as much as volume of airflow. I would suggest looking for the highest CFM rating on a fan in the size range you are looking to install for your area. The higher the wind speed is, the less things like mosquitoes enjoy flying around in it. To keep it simple, without all types of crazy calculations, if you are looking for a 60" fan, and one moves 6,000 CFMs and another 9,000 CFMs, the 9,000 CFM fan is also going to always have more wind speed associated with it. Just keep in mind that for whatever blade size you are seeking, the more CFM from that size blade span will be best for you.

The only caution is if you are comparing various size blade spans, because lets say a 72" fan moves 9,000 CFMs, and the same for a very powerful 60" model; the 72" is spreading those CFMs accross a large blade span, which is good in some ways, but less wind speed for keeping bugs uncomfortable nearby. That said if your living area is huge, you may need a bigger blade span. Just be sure the get the highest CFMs from the size you are searching for as possible to achieve the best results.

That said, fans for sure help, but I don't think they will completely stop all instances of bugs coming around. They do reduce the amount for sure though.
RonArt 1 years ago at 10:50 AM
Great article, thanks, but please change the font color to black.