A minimum safe height for ceiling fan blades is not listed in either the National Electrical Code (NEC) and the International Residential Code (IRC). But fan manufacturers like as Hunter Fan Company, along with the EPA EnergyStar program, specify not less than seven feet. And since both the NEC and IRC specifically require following the manufacturer’s installation instructions, that makes it a code standard.

    The ideal fan location is at the center of a room and at least 18-inches away from any wall, although 3-feet or more is recommended. Also, a ceiling fan needs a minimum of 8-inches of clear space above it in order to produce its rated full volume of air. Blades closer to the ceiling reduce air volume and fan efficiency. So a ceiling fan in a room with less than a seven-foot ten-inch ceiling, will have to sacrifice either air flow or safety of the room occupants.  

    We call out the bottom edge of fan blades below seven-feet as a safety defect in a home inspection report, and they occur most often in budget mobile homes with a ceiling height below eight-feet and their aluminum porch additions, like the one shown below. The blades were at 5’-10” above the porch floor and would give a crew cut or whack in the head to someone not paying attention that walks under it while the fan is on.

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Here’s links to a collection of our blog posts about CEILING FAN: 

• What are the code requirements for ceiling fan installation?• What is the average life expectancy of a ceiling fan?

• Why are my ceiling fan blades drooping? 

• How does a home inspector check the ceiling fans? 

• What is the code requirement for ceiling (paddle) fans near or above a swimming pool? 

• How close can a smoke detector be to a ceiling fan?

• Does a home inspector check ceiling fans?

• Does code require a ceiling fan to be grounded?

     Visit our SAFETY and HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING pages for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.