My ceiling fans are reversible - there is a tiny switch on the body.

However, I found that most of the time, I prefer the air directed upwards - in winter it is the manufacturer's recommended 'mixing method', and in summer, I just find it more comfortable with the air not blasting directly onto me - also it removes heat from the ceiling and allows it to be vented out the windows in the daytime.

If the ceiling is cooler at night, you get less radiated heat downwards into the room, and the inside of the house feels cooler - ceiling insulation helps here too, but unless you have the "reflective" type, the insulation just "lags" or stores the heat, which then seeps out at night.

he best trick to manage heat in my Queenslander with an insulated roof is to watch the relative inside and outside temps- and open or close windows to drive the heat in the desired direction - like a pump.

Incidentally, I have a corrugated iron roof - and got it repainted (it needed it!) with a new type of heat reflective paint - and I had it done in white,instead of the 'traditional red'. I also had a 'whirlybird' ceiling roof space vent fan installed too.

Now the temp in the roof space, which used to exceed 60 deg C, is never any greater than 1 deg C more than the temp of the outside air - you can put your hand on the inside of the iron! - and I have far less heat hassles in Summer - external air temps of up to 40 deg C here are not uncommon - With the windows shut, I can easily get a good 5 deg C reduction in inside air temp during most of the day - then you have to open them as the external air temp drops.

There is sufficient 'heat lag' storage such that a week of high nighttime temps (usually caused by cloud and lack of breeze) will gradually pump the internal temp higher - only air conditioning would battle that, but I can't afford it.

In Winter, you just reverse the process - shut up after peak day temp, and open when you wake up.