A cool place to check out is J.P. Dye's 5,000-square-foot showroom in South Dade, where fans of every conceivable shape, size, color, material and design hang from the ceiling and swirl gently, moderately or vigorously to suit your taste and temperature.

Dye owns Dan's Fan City at 13110 S. Dixie Hwy. and if you don't see what you want from among more than 100 fans he has installed, the walls are artfully covered with designer blades, motors, fittings, globes and pulls that can be put together in myriad combinations.

Custom fans are the specialty of the place and Dye or his assistants are happy to fulfill your fan fantasy if you don't mind paying for it. You want the fan blades and motor stained copper to match your pots and pans? Dan's Fan City has done it.

You want the fan blades painted lavender to match the picture frame and coverlet in your bedroom? Modify a fan's fittings to incorporate your 150-year-old antique chandelier? He's done those, too.

And, if you are renovating the Betsy Hotel on South Beach and want fans with chrome and white blades for the 125 guest rooms, you'll have them. Dye will also change the components so the custom fans in the hallways can spin at a slower, tranquil, tropical-feeling speed 24 hours a day.

``I like to do things people say can't be done,'' Dye says.

Dye's showroom is one of 50 Dan's Fan City stores nationwide selling only GulfCoast fans, a high-end brand. The showroom is the only Dan's Fan City in Miami-Dade County and the largest showroom in Florida dedicated to ceiling fans. There are two in Broward County, as well.

While most of his customers are from the vicinity of Coral Gables and Pinecrest, Dye says he also does business in South America and the Caribbean. The Ritz-Carlton in the Cayman Islands recently ordered 45 fans with blades stained to match the woodwork on the porch.

Upgrades can range from $25 a blade to $500. And they can be incorporated in any of the fans. Dye's stock ranges from 31-inch fans to the largest, 80 inches. The least expensive is a 52-inch fan for $39.99.

The array of blade design includes everything from palm fronds spinning on elegant leaf-shaped brackets to blades of woven bamboo. Top of the line in blade choices is a leaf design made of balsa wood. A set of five balsa blades costs $500. With components added, the price comes to $798. Motor prices range from $79 to $260.

Thus far, Dye hasn't had any customer requests he hasn't been able to fill. Customers have definite ideas in mind when they come in, he says, and he's happy to oblige. The only occasional drawback might be room size and ceiling height. ``If it's an eight-foot ceiling and a 12 by 12 room,'' he says, ``you can only put in so many fans.''

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