It is my understanding that a wet rated ceiling fan is for outside use and can be in the rain and even washed off with a hose. It should state on the box that it can be used outside. You can also google wet rated ceiling fans and get this information. HTH

I'd love to see the fan that you are looking into...and your pergola, too!. :)

We have talked about adding one to our pergola. Electric would first have to be routed out there, so we were not sure it was worth the expense.

We have a fan on our screened porch, and frankly, it does not really cool that well when the hot sun is beating in. For a true outdoor fan, I worry about rust, rough weather (wind) and having to replace every few years.

My children have a front porch (think reproduction old Southern mansion) and have 4 on the porch (it is covered but it is still exposed to the 4-season elements). They have a breezeway that they converted to a glass enclosure due to heat (west facing) in the summertime with air conditioning and there were fans there for 3 years before they enclosed it. When they enclosed it, they built a pergola outside which has ceiling fans. I don't know what kind they are and they had architects and contractors do this, so they probably don't know but I would imagine any good contractor or contractor supply house could answer the question for you. To be honest, I think their ceiling fans under the pergola only serve to look pretty. It is still hot as Hades. The ones on the covered porch do, however, seem to provide a good deal of air movement in summer.

"To be honest, I think their ceiling fans under the pergola only serve to look pretty."

I bet you are right, and why we decided to go with a chandelier for candles.

We have 2 ceiling fans on our covered back porch. No problems with them. But boy do they get dirty! Especially in the spring and summer with all the pollen and gunk. And I can't turn them on when I want to use the grill on the porch. Too much air movement goes on. So I would weigh that if you have plans to put any 'fire' nearby and use both at the same time. We do use them to keep the bugs away when we want to sit outside, however, so there is that.

I'd contact the mfr. I think a covered porch application is totally different then a pergola, where rain could go down into the housing.

I've seen people use them under a pergola but they cut out a square of what looks like plexiglass and attached that to the pergola first and then mounted the fan under it to keep the rain from running straight into the housing.

Just a warning (from our experience). On our covered lanai we installed 2 outdoor ceiling fans (Hunter) with light kits. The fans are turned on and off by a wall switch...BUT the chains that control the speed and the lights rusted and broke within the first year. Broke within the fan housing, luckily they were set where we wanted.

Fans still work fine, we opted to not buy the remote control type because we were going for the 'look' of the classic. Why they didn't come with stainless chains I have no idea?

ML

Fans also serve to keep bugs away.

we had a freestanding fan under ours. I like that you can move it around where you need it - but can make arranging the outdoor furniture a bit of a hassle. we had a chandelier hanging as well...
http://www.stoversliquidation.com/shop/hunter-outdoor-54-free-standing-oasis-patio-ceiling-fan/

I like dktrahan's suggestion to put some type of protection above the fan. Overall safety will depend on the correct installation of the outdoor electrical box.

I love the idea of a free standing fan. We have thought of standing heaters to go along with the fireplace, but not a fan. Thank you for that idea!

We have freestanding fans under our pergola, one near each seating grouping. We also have small fans that can be directed upward and utilized on serving carts when our "bunch" is playing games and they don't want the larger fans blowing their monopoly money, cards or score sheets away.