Ceiling fans are a good way to save energy, whether or not you have air-conditioning, during warm summer months. A couple of weeks ago, the fan over my bed progressed from making a periodic clicking noise (which was mildly annoying), to more of a scraping and squealing noise (which was intolerable).

I did two things to improve the situation: oiled the bearings, and inserted thin cardboard spacers between the fan blade brackets and the motor housing. Oiling the bearings was a chore, because I had to drop the motor from the ceiling to get my oil can spout above the bearings, so the oil could run down into them. (It only took a few drops, of light machine oil.)

After remounting the motor on the ceiling, and re-attaching the fan blades, the fan now whispers very quietly through the night.