Philip Diehl first invented the ceiling fan in 1882, around the same time electricity was beginning to spread into homes and businesses throughout the country. Over the next decade, Diehl improved his original idea and made it more practical. Two improvements were that he made the motor smaller and added electric lights. By the 1920s, ceiling fans were found all over the country and soon spread to the rest of the world.

The basic idea behind the ceiling fan has remained relatively unchanged since its creation. ceiling fans make a breeze or suck up air in order to make a room feel more comfortable. A small motor contained within the ceiling fan turns the fan blades. The blades come in various lengths, depending on how big the room that needs to be conditioned is. Standard ceiling fan blades are made out of wood and are between 32 and 52 inches long. That measurement is from the tip of one blade to the tip of the blade opposite it. ceiling fan blades are mounted at a 12- to 15-degree angle in order to properly spread the air. ceiling fans normally have either four or five blades that have to be balanced around the fan so that it will not rattle or shake when it is in operation.

Some aspects of ceiling fans have been updated over the years. The inventor of the original ceiling fan, Philip Diehl, made a number of improvements on his first model. He started using smaller motors and added electric lights to the fans. He called the ones with lights Electroliers because they were combinations of electric ceiling fans and chandeliers. Fans also changed in the ways they could be mounted. Down-rods enable the entire contraption to be mounted on a high or vaulted ceiling.

ceiling fans can save consumers energy and money. They can lower the temperature of a room by as much as 6-degrees and use much less energy than air conditioners.

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One of the best things about becoming a grandparent, is that you often get to do a lot of fun things with your grandchildren. Many grandparents in fact, love being able to have fun with their grandchildren because they feel they didn't have enough fun with their own children as they were growing up.

When your own children were growing, you had many more concerns and stress in your life. You had bills to pay, emergencies to handle and so on, all during a time of your life when you were still getting things started. Most people for instance, have children before they've even started buying their own home. And most people are still building their careers when their children are born too, so these everyday life pressures made things more difficult as your children were growing.

As a grandparent though, generally you're more settled in life. You've climbed the career ladder already, your home may be paid off, and you've learned a lot of lessons about financial stability, and which things are most important in life. So now you get to spend time having fun with your grandchildren.

Having fun with your grandchildren can mean any number of things too. How you have fun together will depend on a combination of what you like to do, what your grandchildren like to do, and how old those grandkids are too.

A very young grandchild of two years old or less for instance, will have fun simply playing games like peek-a-boo, hide and seek, or airplane food. You can also have great fun with your younger grandchildren by taking them to the zoo or the park, or just by going outside and splashing in the kiddie pool on a hot summer's day.

Even grandchildren as old as five or ten will have fun going to the zoo with Grandma or Grandpa, or going to the park too. As grandchildren get a bit older of course, thier tastes will start to change a little bit, but you can still have fun with them too.

Once a grandchild reaches the age of about ten to twelve, they may not be interested in going to the park or zoo anymore. They will likely however, have great fun going to the mall. They might also like to go hiking and exploring with you, and they'll almost certainly have fun going to the movies with their grandparents as well.

The best way to have fun with grandchildren of any age though, is to find out what they like to do. Once you know what it is the grandkids like doing and have fun doing, you can attempt to spend time with them while they're doing that activity. Try to find some commonalities about your own likes and theirs if you can, because if you're doing things together that you both enjoy, you'll both end up having more fun in the end.

Start having fun with your grandchildren as early on in their lives as you possibly can too, and that will set the stage for spending quality fun time with them no matter how old they get.

Looking for more information on grandparenting? YourLifeAfter50.com is an authoritive site for baby-boomers and issues that affect them.

Jerry Stearns is a writer and the editor for YourLifeAfter50.com, which is a website devoted to baby-boomers and their issues such as Family Relationships, Health and Dating. Copyright 2007 YourLifeAfter50 http://www.yourlifeafter50.com