Ceiling fan
A ceiling fan is a mechanical fan mounted on the ceiling of a room or space, usually electrically powered, suspended from the ceiling of a room, that uses hub-mounted rotating blades to circulate air. Ceiling fans typically rotate more slowly than other types of circulating fans, such as electric desk fans. They cool people effectively by introducing slow movement into the otherwise still, hot air of a room. Fans never actually cool air, unlike air-conditioning equipment, they in fact heat the air due to the waste heat from the motor and friction, but use significantly less power (cooling air is thermodynamically expensive). Conversely, a ceiling fan can also be used to reduce the stratification of warm air in a room by forcing it down to affect both occupants' sensations and thermostat readings, thereby improving climate control energy efficiency.
Space heater
However the metal reflectors needed to be fairly heavy gauge, and if the size was reduced then the metal housing would get too hot to be safe. In the mid-20th century, the cheapest heaters were radiative, but with the heating wires stretched relatively closely across a larger thin metal reflector separated from a thin metal housing. A small fan blew just enough air between the housing and the reflector to cool them; the main output to the room was the radiative heat and not the heated air. Having the heating wires stretched across a larger area meant that fewer expensive ceramic insulators were needed, and the small fan was cheaper than a larger or heavier housing.