Antique porch fan?

[Kathy Kaufman]

Hello,
Does anyone know of an antique fan model that would be suitable for an unenclosed porch (i.e. damp location)? My porch is only 68" deep by 21' wide (picture below). 

Given the lack of depth available for a ceiling fan, I'm wondering if there might be an oscillating fan that could be wall mounted, but I'm open to ideas.

I should mention that I'm not super handy. I got stuck sewing a pillowcase in Home Ec when the boys took woodshop, so I'm hoping my electrician could install it.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[Steve Rockwell]

Kathy, why not a ceiling fan? Seems as if you have a wonderful location there.....

[Russ Huber]

19 minutes ago, Steve Rockwell said:

Kathy, why not a ceiling fan? Seems as if you have a wonderful location there.....

 

[Paul Michael]

52 minutes ago, Kathy Kaufman said:

Given the lack of depth available for a ceiling fan

@Russ Huber 😬 Maybe some SUPER-Slim Profile CF! 😉

[Kathy Kaufman]

 

10 minutes ago, Paul Michael said:

@Russ Huber 😬 Maybe some SUPER-Slim Profile CF! 😉

Yes. I'd love a ceiling fan. Just not sure if there's a model small enough that could stand the damp location. 

[Russ Huber]

I remember this from years ago when I lived in Iowa for roughly one year. When you open the link below look just above the entry door on the red brick building in Keota, Iowa. It was a Hunter R-36 snugged up close to mounting just overhead. They probably used it for Fly control during the summer. If your ceiling fan exposed metal is well sealed it will hold up to humidity.

207 E Broadway Ave - Google Maps

Edited August 12, 2023 by Russ Huber

[Paul Michael]

26 minutes ago, Kathy Kaufman said:

 

Yes. I'd love a ceiling fan. Just not sure if there's a model small enough that could stand the damp location. 

Your post suggests not enough headroom. There certainly 'outdoor rated' CFs, I have two from a greenhouse, where there was constant waiting and they are maybe 30 or 40 years old. It's common in the South to see CFs in porches, even on a local porch  in rainy humid NJ) there's a patio of what I at frost thought were EARLY  CFs, but I suspect are moderns... 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Paul Michael

[Kathy Kaufman]

12 minutes ago, Russ Huber said:

I remember this from years ago when I lived in Iowa for roughly one year. When you open the link below look just above the entry door on the red brick building in Keota, Iowa. It was a Hunter R-36 snugged up close to mounting just overhead. They probably used it for Fly control during the summer. If your ceiling fan exposed metal is well sealed it will hold up to humidity.

207 E Broadway Ave - Google Maps

That's really nice. I wonder if it's the 42" Hunter (22289) cf? We bought 4 of the reissued ones in 2011. Sadly, 2 died while still under warranty but after Hunter stopped making them. 

 

 

[Kathy Kaufman]

39 minutes ago, Paul Michael said:

Your post suggests not enough headroom. There certainly 'outdoor rated' CFs, I have two from a greenhouse, where there was constant waiting and they are maybe 30 or 40 years old. It's common in the South to see CFs in porches, even on a local porch  in rainy humid NJ) there's a patio of what I at frost thought were EARLY  CFs, but I suspect are moderns... 

@Paul Michael That's correct. In terms of non-antique fans- I've done some internet searches on the big retailer websites for damp-rated fans but there's not much to choose from. Most are too big or very modern looking. 

[Stan Adams]

I use antique ceiling fans under the deck cover & a belt drive for the large deck. These are all out in normally very humid, very damp (except this year), very hot Houston. My mom has an 80s Hunter ceiling fan on her porch, but also used a Homart belt drive window fan. On the ceiling fans, if you use anything modern, order plastic blades from Home Depot or Lowe’s. The new “wood blades” will not hold up unlike the antique basswood blades.

[Stan Adams]

This 24” Emerson belt drive is going to Austin next weekend for my son’s porch

[Andrew Block]

We almost always have ceiling fans on the porch in the South. Many of them are 50-60 years old and running great.

Id probably use two small Hunters with metal blades on your porch. You could always mount an oscillating fan, like an Emerson 77648 on the wall, but you’d need to get power to it somehow. 
 

Lovely porch btw. 

[Andrew Block]

This Emerson has been running 24/7 on my back porch for a couple years now keeping my huskies cool. If it wasn’t always on, I’d put a cut off funnel on top to give the birds some discouragement from nesting there. 

[Kathy Kaufman]

48 minutes ago, Andrew Block said:

Id probably use two small Hunters with metal blades on your porch. You could always mount an oscillating fan, like an Emerson 77648 on the wall, but you’d need to get power to it somehow. 

 

Now that's a stunning porch. 

@Andrew Block In terms of small Hunters, any particular model?

[Stan Adams]

The pre80s 36” Hunters used aluminum blades. The 32” GEs used steel blades.

The earlier Hunter 52” fans had wood blades, but would hold up to humidity. The 52” Hunter currently on my porch cover is a 1980s but I put plastic blades on it. Andrew has lots of those.

[Andrew Block]

2 hours ago, Kathy Kaufman said:

Now that's a stunning porch. 

@Andrew Block In terms of small Hunters, any particular model?

Not particularly. They’re all basically the same.

I believe, if you really wanted to get fancy, the plastic woodgrain blades from the Fasco and Emerson’s of the 80’s and 90’s will fit the 36” roundnose fans from the 40’s. Basically the baby brother to the single fan I posted above. But I’ve picked up quite a few 40’s fans from porches that have intact blades. 

[Kathy Kaufman]

Thanks for all the info, and especially the inspiring pictures. I'll be on the lookout for fans available for sale. 

[Jim Kovar]

On 8/12/2023 at 10:10 AM, Steve Rockwell said:

Kathy, why not a ceiling fan? Seems as if you have a wonderful location there.....

Just not a modern POS
       MDF bladed CF!

This is what humidity
      does to MDF blades.

[Jim Kovar]

Humidity and gravity!

[Kathy Kaufman]

OK, @Jim Kovar! I'm convinced!!! 😮

[Andrew Block]

6 hours ago, Kathy Kaufman said:

Thanks for all the info, and especially the inspiring pictures. I'll be on the lookout for fans available for sale. 

We restore ceiling fans for porches. Send me a message with what you were thinking.

[Robert Todd]

There has been a lot of suggestions regarding Hunter and GE fan.  I have had a couple of each of their little 36" and 32" fans and they are great little fans.  But let's not forget about the small Emerson (like the baby fernleaf below) and the small Westinghouse (the baby sidewinder).  All of these major manufacturers made smaller versions of their regular 52" fans.

 

[Paul Michael]

22 hours ago, Jim Kovar said:

Humidity and gravity!

"Oh, the humgravity!"

[Andrew Block]

9 minutes ago, Robert Todd said:

There has been a lot of suggestions regarding Hunter and GE fan.  I have had a couple of each of their little 36" and 32" fans and they are great little fans.  But let's not forget about the small Emerson (like the baby fernleaf below) and the small Westinghouse (the baby sidewinder).  All of these major manufacturers made smaller versions of their regular 52" fans.

That's actually a longnose with ornate plate. That is most likely a creation of a fan restorer such as Phil Frey. In fact, that shouts that it is his work.

 

[Doug Wendel]

I also have a long porch about 7’W x 25’L.  I would love to put up antique fans, but reality is it would be really expensive and/or labor intensive to find three matching small fans with lights that are both moisture and insect resistant.