outdoor ceiling fans around here--humidity affect them? (Cary: house, cost)

[TabbyCats]

Anyone have outdoor ceiling fans in their screened-in or covered porches? If so, how well do they hold up to the humidity? Do you use them (are they worth it)?

Thanks!

[sacredgrooves]

Just be certain you have exterior rated blades and you will be fine. If you use interior rated, they will warp.

[MikeJaquish]

I just put one up, with plastic blades that look like rattan.
We are optimistic it will be durable.

We bought a fan rated for "Wet Areas," not "Damp Areas."

[CHTransplant]

I've had one on our screened porch for the past 4 years. Still looks and works as good as the day we moved in.

[J_Lurk]

The one in our old house in Cary is 5 years old and still looked fine to me when we left . It is absolutely worth it!! Air movement makes a lot of difference in comfort.

[jln69]

We had one for our front porch. We never really used it except maybe a few times. After ten years it still worked fine and had no problems with it. It did look a little weathered being exposed to the elements all those years but that's it.

[Beermat]

we have had ours on the screened porch for 3 years and so far showing no signs of wear - great for those nice evenings sitting in the porch when air is still and highly recommended

[KellyCrash]

They really are nice to have. We had one for 3 years on the screened in porch of a house we recently sold. It looked just as good the day we sold as it did when we bought the house. It's definitely worth it if you spend a lot of time on the porch.

[TabbyCats]

Thanks for the great outdoor fan reviews! On a house forum where I lurk (as we build our house), someone was lamenting how their outdoor fans don't last. Mike--I'll be sure and look for one for "wet areas".

Thanks again.

[frankpc]

The "wet" rated fans should last a long time. A "damp" rated fan should also hold up well on a covered porch. Both types tend to have the ABS plastic blades but the "wet" rated fans also enclose the motor housing to prevent water from entering from above.
We bought a "wet" rated fan for our covered screened porch because:
1.) I'm anal
2.) My bride has this vision of hosing down the porch in the Spring to get all the pine pollen off everything.

The biggest downside to "wet" fans are the limited choices available. The incremental cost is not that great.
We found a Monte Carlo "wet" fan we thought we liked (Cyclone) on their website. Lowe's now carries that brand so we had them special order it. This way we could actually see the fan w/o potentially having to pay a restocking charge that the other dealers required.

Frank