Ceiling Fan/lights

[Sidewinder]

Hi peeps,

Looking for ideas for what makes of ceiling fan/light you feel are good.

I have used the ones from TLC in the past and found them fine, however, I'm looking for a 36" unit with a 3 light arrangement, and all the TLC ones with 3 lights are 42" & above.

I have also used Fantasia, but, the models they do in 36" are either single light, or, if a 3 light, "client" does not like it.

"Client" wants a £46 B&Q special, I'm not sure of the quality of one of those units so would rather not fit it.

I'll tackle the wholesalers on Monday, just looking to get a few ideas to start.

Oh, just remembered, a remote control option would be good, Fantasia, & Westinghouse both offer this.

Another thing...

3 off dimmable LED's, recommendations & which dimmer to go with them?

To fit which ever fan light I end up with.

"Client" is a pain!

 

[NozSpark]

IIRC you can get an IR remote kit for the shed ones... Personally I would never supply something like this as the quality is rubbish or the price will be too much or they won't like the design.

IMHO get them to buy it and just do the installation, that way any warranty issues are theirs and you don't have the ball ache of finding one that suits their requirements

 

[steptoe]

personally,

I think they are all ****, and a bit too '70s chav for my taste,

but, what do I know about fashion, or in trend things,

maybe my clothes will be back in fashion soon too.

 

[ProDave]

My 100% advice is get the customer to choose it and buy it. you just go and fit it.

Anything else leaves you open to "that's not what I had in mind, take it back and change it"

 

[kerching]

I agree with all of the above.....get the wife to buy it!

Just.."..extrapolating the given information "

 

[Sidewinder]

Kerch has it spot on!...

Mrs SW, & Miss SW Jnr are the "client"!

Been looking at the Fastlec site since I posted, they do both brands, and also been checking the sizes of the ones we already have.

Steps, I'm sold in them mate, stuff the looks, they work!

In hot weather, fan on in the bedroom overnight and the room is a lot better to sleep in!

At the moment looking @ Westinghouse 42" from Fastlec, as they are cheaper than the Fantasia, and Westinghouse have been good.

Only thing I will need to check I suspect with Westinghouse Technical is what type of dimmer they use in their RF remote base.

That way I can get the LED lamps to suit.

See this is why I hate domestic electrical works!

Especially my own stuff!

 

[steptoe]

Steps, I'm sold in them mate, stuff the looks, they work!

In hot weather, fan on in the bedroom overnight and the room is a lot better to sleep in!

see, this is where I get confused,

if its too warm how does a fan help?

all it does is move air, it simply moves warm air from one place to another,,,,,

maybe I missed the physics lesson that showed how they cooled air down,,,,,,

my missus insists on having a fan in the bedroom too, I have to turn it off, the noise drives me up the wall,

hell, Ive even slept on the sofa a few times because of it.

 

[ProDave]

Leave the window open at night to let cooler air from outside in, and allow the warmer air from the room out.

Simple.

There. that's done you out of a job.

 

[Sidewinder]

OK, mind games again.

You are in a hot country, 40 in the shade, goodness knows what it is in the sun.

There is no wind, no air movement, and I mean none.

You are sweating like a racehorse after the Grand National, simply due to the heat.

Sweating is your bodies way of loosing heat by evaporation of the perspiration on your skin, taking heat with it by the laws of Thermodynamics.

Now, with the lack of air movement, the sweat relies on pure evaporation, as water boils @ 100 Celcius, it relies on the droplets of sweat on your skin heating to evaporation point.

All this does if you are in the sun is heat your body up more as the droplets act as light gathering lenses due to their geometry.

IF you add air movement, then the air will disturb the droplets of sweat, and break them up, into aerosol, and take the hot liquid away from your skin, thus giving you a cooling effect.

Also, when you have air movement over a static surface, you have a stationary layer of air known as the boundary layer, it is akin to the layer of water inside a wet suit, keeping you warm, if you can disturb this layer, then you can replace it with moving air, which will be cooler, hence putting a cooler boundary layer next to your skin, which in turn allows your body to dissipate heat into this cooler boundary layer, thus making you feel cooler.

Now as far as the noise thing goes, if you have desk or floor mounted pedestal fans, I agree totally, they are noisy, I find ceiling mounted fans a LOT quieter, in fact almost silent in comparison.

Quieter perhaps than air con even.

Hence my liking of them.

Does that help?

Leave the window open at night to let cooler air from outside in, and allow the warmer air from the room out.

Simple.

There. that's done you out of a job.

Front bedroom, noisy road outside, so not quite so easy...

 

[steptoe]

yes, somewhat,

its the constant whoosh of the blades gets me more than the hum of the motor,

or maybe its a bit of both,

or, maybe, just maybe, Im an old carnaptious git getting,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Evans Electric]

Westinhouse sounds good .  Are they American ?   Be Chinese made anyway I 'spose .

I've only fitted customer supplied Chinese  stuff , most of them cheap 'n'nasty ....especially the one that you have to spend hours and hours and hours fitting supplied weights to the blades to balance  the damn things and stop it thashing about on the ceiling .

yes, somewhat,

its the constant whoosh of the blades gets me more than the hum of the motor,

or maybe its a bit of both,

or, maybe, just maybe, Im an old carnaptious git getting,,,,,,,,,,,

Carnaptious  ????       Hmmm ...   ah yes .. Scottish word ................ ill tempered and grumpy .....hey !..good description :innocent

 

[Sidewinder]

Westinghouse are from the pedigree of the Westinghouse company founded in 1886!

yes, somewhat,

its the constant whoosh of the blades gets me more than the hum of the motor,

or maybe its a bit of both,

or, maybe, just maybe, Im an old carnaptious git getting,,,,,,,,,,,

The one we have in the bedroom has virtually no hum, and if you are careful and meticulous in the installation and you set the blades correctly it minimises the "whoosh" as the blades are not cutting any material in the airstream, there is free flow, no mesh casing to cause flow noise.

They are MUCH, MUCH quieter than pedestal fans, in comparison, I would say they are silent in comparison.

 

[Marvo]

There's a very noticeable difference in noise levels between a cheap ceiling fan and one with manufacturing pedigree. Stick with Westinghouse even if they're double the price, you won't be sorry. Also attention to detail when installing will also help, don't throw away any of the rubber washers or bushes even if it's not immediately obvious where they fit

 

[Sidewinder]

There's a very noticeable difference in noise levels between a cheap ceiling fan and one with manufacturing pedigree. Stick with Westinghouse even if they're double the price, you won't be sorry. Also attention to detail when installing will also help, don't throw away any of the rubber washers or bushes even if it's not immediately obvious where they fit

This is one of the reasons Marvo, that I called a halt to the cheap DIY shed purchase of a fan today, and I got in BIG trouble for it.

I was prepared to pay 2-3x the shed price for a tidy fan.

The Westinghouse units are fine and the Fantasia in my experience, it was just that when I posted I was having trouble finding a unit to the spec I had developed at the time, so I thought I would throw it out to the forum.

At the moment, it looks like a Westinghouse, and I will be ringing tech support on Monday about their dimmers to see what lamps are suitable.

Please keep thoughts and comments coming, as you can never have too much information upon which to judge.

 

[batty]

I have just had to replace the electronics on a fantasia ceiling fan that had stopped working customer did get a new remote and electronic unit from fantasia not sure if they paid for it or it was FOC. Not sure how old it was either so really no help sorry.

 

[Sidewinder]

I have just had to replace the electronics on a fantasia ceiling fan that had stopped working customer did get a new remote and electronic unit from fantasia not sure if they paid for it or it was FOC. Not sure how old it was either so really no help sorry.

Not actually no help batty, but, real help, I'v only got my own installs to call on, as I may or may not have mentioned, I HATE doing domestic works.

So, I don't do them as a rule, but there is no way I am paying for something I can do myself.

Yes, tight, and yes it may be worthwhile looking at subbing the works out, but, I am also a control freak!

 

[batty]

They can be a real pain to get the electrics in poor design. I had the customer on the bed holding the fan while I tried to connect the new unit he nearly fell off at one point they have a hook to hold the fan but then you can't get your hand in to connect the wires. I use wagos which help but if the people that design these thing fit them they would design them differently.

 

[Marvo]

In general any unit that's actually manufactured in the US will be pretty good, the market there for these items is massive and the US have manufactured them for many decades and pretty much have it down to a fine art. There are a couple of far East units that are on a par but the problem is that you can't tell by look and feel and there's many that are really kak. It's the small design details that make all the difference such as a minimum of ABEC 5 EMQ rated bearings and things like blade shape and blade angle and obviously the overall build quality.

 

[Steve3948]

I have always fitted Fantasia and with no complaints, I have one in own bedroom and would not do without it.

For those saying loud, yes cheap ones maybe but my Fantasia even fast is not loud but the airflow over the body soon chills you down, so much so we only ever have it slow speed and that's just right.