mod'ing ceiling fan light

[RustyShackleford]

I'm trying to buy a ceiling fan for a good-sized room (about 15x17 ft) and I'd like it to provide the main lighting too. I'm thinking somewhere in the 52-60" range. I find those light kits with 4 bulbs (each with its own shade pointing out in four different directions) to be really tacky. I'm looking for something with a more "contemporary" or "modern" style. After searching some of the big online vendors, this one seems to be significantly brighter than anything else (two 75-watt halogen bulbs), but I'm not all that crazy about the styling:

(broken link removed)

There is another one:

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... that I think is incredibly cool-looking, but it just has one 18-watt CFL bulb, so not all that bright. Worse, there apparently is not much clearance, so the CFL is a "squat" style one - very short - so difficult to imagine putting something brighter in there, maybe even difficult to find one when that one burns out.

But the only thing limiting that is the shade glass that goes over the bottom of the light kit. If only there was some way to replace it with one that has more clearance. But how one earth to manage to get a shade that fits the thing bulb has a bowl shape ? There's also the issue of how much wattage can be put into the thing, but since I intend to stick with CFL or LED, I'm thinking I can get a lot brighter and still have a reasonable wattage, maybe 30 watts or so.

Any ideas on this, or pointers to a modern-styled fan with a brighter light ?

 

[ian105]

Look at a fan with an up light as well as down light. Take a look at gulf coast fans. http://dansceilingfans.com. Had one with a halogen up and down light in the past and it was great

 

[Highbeam]

Watch out for the stupid candelabra base that they often use in ceiling lights. It's a really tiny threaded base that limits bulb selection.

I share your dislike for the 80s style lamp shades. My bedroom ceiling fan/light is a big dome like a boob light. Three candelabra base bulbs in there. Bought it at lowes or home depot.

An 18 watt bulb is a 100 watt equivalent so not too shabby for such a small room.

 

[DougA]

I got this one for $189. Cdn. on sale. A remote was a necessity and this remote is freakin amazing. The fan comes on or off at pre-set room temps plus a timer for the light. The light is OK but not bright enough to read when 15' away. The fan is SILENT. Lots of others at HD or any of the box stores a lot cheaper than you are looking at.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-...-Star-Energy-Star-Ceiling-Fan-55296/202060268

 

[firefighterjake]

Watch out for the stupid candelabra base that they often use in ceiling lights. It's a really tiny threaded base that limits bulb selection.

I share your dislike for the 80s style lamp shades. My bedroom ceiling fan/light is a big dome like a boob light. Three candelabra base bulbs in there. Bought it at lowes or home depot.

An 18 watt bulb is a 100 watt equivalent so not too shabby for such a small room.

Hehheh . . . I've got two of them in my master bedroom . . . and I said the very same thing when we put them up. I, on the other hand, don't really mind the look.

 

[RustyShackleford]

An 18 watt bulb is a 100 watt equivalent so not too shabby for such a small room.

Well, 15x17ft is not such a small room, but I guess 18watt CFL is fairly bright. There are some other fans that have two 13watt CFLs, I guess that's fairly bright. The other problem is, some of these CFLs (like in the second fan I linked) are the "squat" type, for which there's not a whole lot of options available.

The minican candelabra base (aka. E11) is pretty small and limiting, but that one fan with two 75-watt bulbs is brighter than anything else I've been able to find.