I share you concerns with the look of the light. I lived in Cairns for a while and many restaurants etc had high ceilings with lights and fans with a more traditional look. Maybe you could do some internet stalking of hotel websites etc. I'd start with Palm Cove. Good luck.

Hi new to all this but thought I'd pass on some fan tips; Be very selective of the shape of the fan blades. They all look stylish but in my experience the flatter the blade the less air they move. We have now gone back to the original metal fans with the blades that bend at the edge, http://regencyfan.com/industrial, our fans are more stylish than the one shown (the blade shape is nice and clear in this example). Our weather in no where near as warm as yours I'd hate for you to make the same mistake we made, twice, before we learnt. Look at the fans motor size, some of the expensive and lots of the cheap ones have small motors that don't last long, unfortunately price does not dictate quality in this case so don't get caught out. My husband is a mechanic and this is one of his "things" when every we shop for electrical items (drills, fans, pumps etc.) always make sure the motor is quality and large enough to do the job and last. How may speeds. We have 8 fans in our home, one is in our extension and was purchased at a different time; It's low speed is realllllllly slow the next one is so fast it's like a cyclone and I'm not game to try the third one in case it dismounts from the ceiling. Be careful not to mount fans too close to down lights or you get a flickering effect caused by the blade passing over the light. Try not to mount the fan directly over the dining table as it will cause food to go cold. I'm with mydesignobsession when it comes to style/look I prefer visitors see my wonderful eclectic decoration then my ceiling fans! Good luck

I have actually imported furniture myself without a freight forwarder/ shipping company a couple of times. it is fiddly but not impossible. I saved heaps if you don't count my time. And it was a bit of an adventure. It did give me an appreciation of the expenses importers have though and these shipping places (myUS etc) have to add their margin of course. so for anyone considering-anything timber has to have pest certification and that has to be within 3 weeks (I think) of arrival. Then the shippers in their wisdom had put the container on a timber pallet for which I didn't have a pest fumigation certificate so I had to pay $33 to have the pallet destroyed. But with a lot of family in rural/farming businesses I don't mind the strict quarantine. We are very lucky with our relatively clean produce. The customs people at the airport are very discouraging and keep telling you to use a freight forwarder etc (my stuff was already at Botany so no way), there were all sorts of odd fees etc (eg AQIS container fee $6), terminal fee. All sorts of things but it was fun and I saved a fortune, even after GST (I had to pay GST on the freight too, I guess as a 'service', which I wasn't expecting). Mind you the dollar was better then. It wouldn't be worth it for just a lamp but for more stuff...... But then if you were bringing in that much stuff maybe you wouldn't need to save the money. they also required that the invoice from the supplier of the furniture clearly showed what currency it was in. This was a hassle as I had just bought retail in the US. What currency do customs think a receipt/invoice from a shop in California shop would be in? But that's where the bureaucracy was frustrating. a final tip, the freight forwarders usually only include delivery to kerbside. They were even very unwilling just to help me get it into the garage (let alone down the steps/indoors) so you may need someone to help you receive the goods at home and get them at least out of the weather.

watchedpoppy, here's something about heat pumps designed for cold temperatures. Note, these are reverse cycled air conditioners (air-to-air), not pool heat pumps (air-to-water). I don't know how heat pumps stack up. It's an American site, so FYI -13F equals -25C. http://www.mitsubishicomfort.com/benefits/hyper-heating On a side note, temperature is just the product of the motion of atoms & molecules (kinetic energy). These are in motion all the way down to zero Kelvin (-273C). So although it may feel cold outside, there's still energy available in the site, although heat pumps do become much less efficient when it's cold (the difference in input & output temperatures is important). One thing that has made heat pumps very inefficient in the past is that the condensing coil would ice up at around zero C. This would have to be thawed out with a plain old electric element (COP of 1). Greatly reducing the overall COP in temperatures around our below zero C. But the modern heat pumps, which use the CO2 compressors Luxury Home Heating has talked about don't have an electric element to thaw them out, greatly increasing their efficiency. As for the noise issues. Some modern heat pumps (but not all) are very quiet. So just pay close attention to the decibels they produce, listed on their spec sheets. FYI, here's a good read. Though it doesn't mention solar PV, which would be advantageous for a heat pump. https://www.pooledenergy.com/blog/choosing-a-pool-heater-what-are-the-relative-performances-of-solar-gas-electric-pool-heaters/