INFORMATION & TIPS

Note that any advice is general and may be situational. Please contact one of our experienced consultants to go through your specific needs.

CEILING FAN INFORMATION

No matter which size fan you choose, you need to place it in the area where you will get the most use out of it. Because they circulate air directly below them, the right size fan depends on your space and how you use it. Most people can find something to suit their needs in the 48–56-inch range, but we have many more sizes available. To help decide the size you need, we suggest measuring out 52 inches in the space. Seeing this will give you an idea of how much coverage you can expect from a standard size fan, and you can adjust accordingly. 

explore small fans explore large fans

The motor powering your ceiling fan will either use an alternating current (AC) or a direct current (DC). Even though Australian homes typically use AC power, our DC ceiling fans can still connect to Australian wiring. They have an internal adaptor that converts the AC power into DC to run the fan smoothly.
AC motors turn because the current alternates direction, creating the momentum which turns the motor. A DC motor uses magnets to reverse the direct current’s direction. This method uses less energy than an AC motor, but even AC motors are very energy-efficient appliances.

Learn more about AC and DC Ceiling fans

Ceiling fans run off less than 120 watts – the equivalent of 2 standard light globes! In most cases, they will use even less energy. Depending on the type of motor it uses, and the way you use it you can lower your fan’s energy consumption to close to zero. Some fans in our range use as little as 2 watts on low speed! Compared to other appliances you might use to cool down, this is incredibly energy efficient. To find fans the which use the least energy, look at models with a DC motor.

browse DC ceiling fans

A lot of ceiling fans allow you to reverse them to spin in the opposite direction. Most people buy fans to use in summer and create a cooling effect. In winter, reversing the fan will push the hot air from above the fan down into the room. This allows you to run your heater on a lower setting. Click here to find out more about how to use the reverse function on your ceiling fan in Winter.  

read more about summer and winter mode

A fan is the sum of all its parts. Its shape, blade pitch, motor power and speed all affect its airflow. No single factor guarantees it will be more effective than another fan. Luckily, most manufacturers test the airflow on their fans, making it much easier to compare models. Keep in mind, the fan with the highest airflow may feel a little bit too effective in some situations. If you’re trying to sleep, too much breeze can keep you awake! Our site categorises fans by area to make it easier for you to find what you need. However, if you have a particular requirement please contact us so we can suggest some suitable options.

Browse bedroom fans Browse outdoor fans

Different fans may be designed for different purposes, so it is not a matter of one being ‘better’ than another. There are other factors that influence a fan’s performance therefore you cannot conclude that a 5 blade fan is “better” than a 3 blade fan. The performance of a fan depends on factors such as the power of the motor, the number of blades, the pitch, shape, size and material of the blade and more.

Most fans come with a wall control, however a remote can be purchased as an accessory and you can find this at the bottom of the product page. Some fans come with a remote included, and usually this will mean this is the only control option available for that particular model. Some of the traditional style fans come with a pull cord operation, and wall controls or remotes can be bought and used with these instead also.

learn more about ceiling fan remotes

Most of the ceiling fans in our range are available either with or without a light. In the last few years, models featuring an integrated LED panel have emerged as a favourite among manufacturers and consumers, but you can still get fans with an E27 globe fitting too. Light technology is improving all the time, and now some ceiling fans even have user-replaceable LED panels.

Predicting the lifespan of an LED panel is extremely difficult. At present, ceiling fan manufacturers do not publish data to indicate the longevity of the LED panels they use. To give you a general idea, LED manufacturers claim that their products will last anywhere between 10,000 and 50,000 hours. Even at the lower end of this range, this means that you can expect your LED panel will last for quite a few years, depending on how many hours you use it each day. Keep in mind that other factors can reduce its lifespan, including overexposure to heat or faulty wiring.
If you’re looking for an energy-efficient light option that is easy to replace, we have a great range of ceiling fans the come with user-replaceable LED panels. You could also choose a fan with an E27/B22 light fitting because it’s easy to find replacement globes at supermarkets or hardware stores.

We have a large range of outdoor ceiling fans with varying ratings. Whether you are after a stainless steel fan, a salt resistant fan or a plastic fan, we have many options for you. 

View outdoor ceiling fans

If you live close to the sea and you want to put a ceiling fan up, you need one with a bit more protection against the extra salinity in the air. While ceiling fans with an outdoor rating have some protection against outdoor elements, they can be susceptible to corrosion in coastal areas. If you choose a fan with a coastal rating and take care of it, you cn enjoy the sea air without worrying about how it’s affecting your fan’s lifespan. 

View coastal ceiling fans

The closer you are to your fan, the more you will notice the breeze it creates. However, for safety reasons, there is a limit to how low low ceiling fans can hang.  The building code requires that you allow for a 2.1m clearance between the fan’s blade and the floor.  We suggest installing the fan so that the blade sits between 2.1 and 2.4 metres above the ground, but this suggestion might not suit everyone. For example, if you are on the taller side, you might prefer to install the fan slightly higher.

If you have high ceilings, you can lower your ceiling fan using an extension rod. These extension rods usually come in 90cm or 180cm lengths and most can be cut to size by your electrician. All our ceiling fans are listed with the compatible extension rod as an accessory if available. If you’re not sure if you need an extension rod, we have more information here. 

Learn more about extension rods

The Australian Standard AS 4226 – 2008, Clause 12.5.3 states that all ceiling fans should be at least 2.1 metres from the floor. If your home has low ceilings then you will need to choose a low profile model. 

Explore Low Profile Fans

You can use an extension rod to lower your ceiling fan to the height you find the most effective. If you have higher ceilings, then you might benefit from an extension rod. Ceiling fans move air across your skin to create a cooking windchill effect. The closer you are to the fan, the more you will feel it. Generally speaking, we suggest installing the fan so that the blade sits somewhere between 2.1 and 2.4 metres above the ground. If the ceiling fan blades hang any lower, your installation will breach the building code. To see if you need an extension rod, check the ceiling to blade drop on the fan you like, and subtract this measurement from your ceiling height. Once you have this information, you can decide whether you want the fan to sit lower. 

If you are installing a fan on an angled ceiling, you will likely need to lower the fan to make sure it fits into the available space. Most fans sit too close to the ceiling to accommodate a slope. To check, measure out the blade length and the overall drop from the installation point. If there is not enough room to fit the fan with a comfortable clearance to allow it to rotate, you will need an extension rod. Remember to make sure that the fan you choose is compatible with the angle. Its canopy also needs to sit on a sloped ceiling, so it has to rotate. We include the maximum angle for each of our fans on our listings. 

Most of our fans have a ball joint and can be installed on an angled ceiling. There are a few things to take into account including the placement, the width of the fan and the drop so please contact us to help you work out your options. If you need assistance calculating your ceiling angle you can use our simple ceiling angle calculator.

Calculate your ceiling angle

EXHAUST FAN INFORMATION

Apart from local building regulations, it is important to ventilate well so as to avoid future humidity damage to your home or building. Ventilation is also important in toilets to dissipate odors produced.

Choosing the right exhaust fan depends on what you’re trying to achieve. Some areas of the home need to have the air extracted at a higher rate than others. For example, in a bathroom with a shower, we suggest a fast extraction rate between 15-25 air changes an hour. By contrast, you don’t need something as powerful if you’re trying to improve the air circulation in your home office. Because you will have different priorities in different spaces, you will likely need different types of fans in different spaces. You should also consider the size of the room, and the available space in your ceiling or wall cavity before making a choice.

View our exhaust fan guide

While you can exhaust directly into your roof space, you need to consider the effect on the building. Extracting air directly from a bathroom into a roof space may create a build up of moisture in the roof cavity, unless the roof space is sufficiently ventilated. If you’re not able to duct the exhaust to the outside of the building envelope, check that you have enough passive vents to allow air to flow out of the building.

These are all Inline exhaust motors. The Axial inline exhaust fan has a single propeller and is good at moving larger amounts of air at low pressure. It is important to keep restrictions to the air flow at a minimum by only having short lengths of duct, as few bends as possible etc.
Centrifugal inline fans move good volumes of air against high pressure. This means they can be used for longer runs of duct, branches, bends, etc. For all models, please refer to the relevant pressure curves and technical specifications of each fan for more detailed information.

Mixed Flow inline fans are a mixture between the Axial and Centrifugal models. They have good airflow and good pressure characteristics, can be used for longer runs of duct, bends etc. They show centrifugal fan characteristics from a size of 150mm upwards and axial fan characteristics for sizes smaller than 150 mm.

Yes, this can be arranged with your electrician. The fan can be hardwired to the light switch so it will turn on at the same time as the light.

We have a range of exhaust fan models that can be remote controlled, most of which are 3 in 1 fan, heat and light units. >> View Our Exhaust Fan Guide

It’s possible to ensure an exhaust fan over your shower area, provided that you ensure that the installation complies with all the relevant building and electrical codes. But directly over the shower is not necessarily the best place to for your exhaust fan. Installing the fan 1-2 metres from the showerhead and away from the door will allow more cross flow and air circulation.

Over a short length of ducting, most exhaust fans will perform reasonably well. Depending on the type of exhaust fan you’re using, you can expect its performance to drop off over the length of a duct run. If you know that you need to duct your fan more than 1-2 metres, it is essential to check how much pressure you will lose over the duct length. This information is not always easy to access, so make sure you ask our staff for help if you are having trouble. We may suggest that you choose an inline fan that can still achieve a high extraction rate over a longer duct run. 

Regardless of how far you duct your fan, the ducting needs to be as tight and straight as possible – every bend you add in the duct run is equivalent to adding one extra metre of ducting.

HEAT TRANSFER INFORMATION

Heat transfer systems are for homes without centralised heating. Installing an inline exhaust fan in the ceiling to draw air from the room with the heater into 2-3 additional rooms can be a very cost-effective solution to circulate warm air around your home in winter. Unheated bedrooms can benefit from the heater in the living area.

An air or heat transfer system is an energy efficient and economical way to distribute air from one room to another (or many others). They have a low running cost and provide a significant temperature increase in destination room(s) by utilising the excess heat at ceiling level in the room with the heat source. Let us help you create a heat transfer system specifically for your application.

To set up a heat transfer system, you will need an inline fan powerful enough to push air as far as you need it to go, insulated ducting, an intake vent and an outlet vent for each destination room. If you want to heat two or more additional rooms, you will also need a y junction or “splitter”.

Depending on the type of fan you choose, you can also add a thermostat or a speed controller to your system.

To make it easier for you, we have kits with everything you need to get started. Each kit listing includes links to suitable accessories like controls.

The best fan for your heat transfer system depends on the number of rooms you wish to distribute air to, their distance from the heat source, and your family’s noise sensitivity. 

We put together our heat transfer kits with this in mind. The 1-2 room kits include fans powerful enough to draw air from 1 room to the two secondary rooms, and the fans in the 1-3 room kits can draw air to three additional rooms. 

Choosing a heat transfer kit from our range is an easy way to make sure you have everything you need to move heated air from one room to another. If you want something slightly different to existing kits available through our store, we also sell the components separately. There are also accessories available for each kit, including controllers and thermostats. You can find compatible accessories for your kit at the bottom of the listing. 

SUB FLOOR INFORMATION

Inadequate ventilation under your home can lead to moisture and dampness in the home, a musty smell or a home susceptible to mould. These symptoms are all possible signs of problems with your underfloor ventilation. Subfloor ventilation kits provide an effective solution for ineffective air movement under your house. Protect your home and your family’s health by making sure you have adequate subfloor ventilation.

We have all the parts necessary to ventilate your subfloor. We have ready to go DIY “kits” available for typical applications, however speak to one of our sales consultants and they will assist you in the right kit to purchase for your application otherwise they will help create one specifically for your situation.

Before you choose an exhaust fan for your subfloor system, you need to calculate the size of the space in cubic metres. This calculation is pretty easy to do. First, multiply the length by the width by the height of the subfloor area. Then, multiply your answer by the number of air changes you wish to achieve. We suggest aiming for at least five air changes per hour to ensure adequate ventilation in a subfloor area. If you have a subfloor space with a volume of 12m3 and you want to achieve five air changes per hour, then you need to multiply 12 x5. The answer to this is the volume of air you want to extract from the floor space in 1 hour. In this scenario, your exhaust fan needs to move 60m3/hr. To find an exhaust fan that can achieve this, just check the capacity on the listings on our site. 
We also sell kits based on subfloor size. So if you do not feel confident about finding a fan with the capacity you need, you can look for a subfloor kit to suit your area.

Running your subfloor fan for as little as 4 hours per day should be enough to ventilate the area underneath your home. We suggest running the fan during the day when the air is dryer and warmer because these conditions allow for faster air changes. You are also more active in the day, so you will be less likely to notice the sound! Keep in mind though, you may need to run the fan for a longer period if anything is exacerbating the problem. If there’s a build up of water under the house, you will need to dry it out and address the cause (fix broken pipes or improve drainage) before you can expect the air quality to improve.  

We suggest exhausting air out of a space rather than drawing it in. Extracting air out gives you more control over where the stale air goes – it leaves the building envelope. When you draw fresh air into the building, you have less control over how musty air leaves the subfloor. You may find that drawing fresh air into the subfloor pushes stale air up through floorboards or gaps in the building frame. Extracting air with an exhaust fan draws the unwanted air out of the building and away from your family. 

The subfloor kits available through our website come with a lead and plug, which means they are suitable for DIY installation. As long as you have some basic DIY skills and a power point available, installing the system should be relatively easy. If you don’t have a power outlet available for under the house, then you will need an electrician to install one, but you can complete the rest of the job yourself if you want to. Of course, some of our customers choose to hire someone for this type of work. Whether or not you decide to do the job yourself or pay someone else to do it, our kits still provide a low-cost subfloor solution. 

Like running any electrical appliance, the cost of running a subfloor fan depends on its wattage, the price of electricity in your area and the number of hours you run it. The inline fans in our subfloor kits have motors with wattages between 73 and 193 watts, so they can be very cheap to run. If you a re ventilating a bigger space and need a more powerful fan, you can still keep your costs down by making sure that you only run the fan for as long as you need to. In most cases, the fan will only need to run for a few hours each day.

Subfloor kits use inline fans that move high volumes of air over a long duct length. Their motors need to be reasonably powerful to achieve this aim, so they do make some noise. However, adding ducting to the fan insulates the sound so that it’s less noticeable. The floor of your home can have a similar effect. We also stock a range of fans with inbuilt insulation, which make less noise. To get an idea of how noisy your subfloor system will be, check the dBA rating on the individual fan. Customers visiting our showroom can also compare the sound of the exhaust fan with assistance from our friendly staff. 

GENERAL INFORMATION

General Information

We believe that dealing directly with our customers means we can offer a higher standard of service. From our Oakleigh South office, we handle enquiries from right across the country and even overseas. No matter where you are, we can advise you by phone, email or chat. And if you happen to be in Melbourne, come and say hi! Our showroom is located at 18 Cleeland Road, Oakleigh South. 

Where to find us

For any products which need to be hard wired, you will need a qualified electrician per Australian regulations. We have now partnered with a third party trade booking service to offer installation Australia wide. 

Learn more about ceiling fan installation

We encourage our customers to see our fans on display in our Oakleigh South showroom if possible. Seeing a fan in person will give you a better sense of how it works, sounds and feels. When you visit, our friendly staff will be happy to help you find a model to suit your needs, as well as demonstrate all of its great features.

 

For customers requiring assistance to design a customised ventilation solution, we offer a personalised consultancy service whereby one of our ventilation experts will review your documents, engage via email or phone (as required) and produce a customised recommendation of specific products and/or suitable options for you.

Bear in mind, we are unable to physically attend sites and may not be aware of certain setup or environmental factors and can only work based on the information you are able to provide. For more specific advice, you can seek the services of an installer who can attend on site and advise accordingly. For any consultation requests pertaining an application we are not familiar with or do not normally handle, we will let you know if we are able to assist.

To proceed with the ‘consultation service’ you will need to pay an initial fee of $60 which then becomes a transferrable credit towards your order value of $400 or more. Contact us for more information. 

TRADE CUSTOMER INFORMATION

Customers with an existing trade account on our website can access their orders and exclusive pricing using the link below. This link is also available from any page on our site, but clicking the login button in the top left-hand corner. If you don’t have a trade account, you can apply for one using the  “Trade-Apply Now” button on the top right.

Universal Fans customers are eligible for 10% off Fanco and Claro ranges and 5% off the rest of our catalogue. Once your trade account has been approved, you can view trade pricing by logging into your account.

Universal Fans trade customers can place an online order with us by logging into their trade account. 

For orders directly over the website, we offer Bank Transfer and Paypal – which offers a secure credit card payment method (you don’t have to have a Paypal account to use this method).

In all situations like these we suggest you contact us directly so we can discuss discounts