Helpful Ceiling Fan Information

MOTORS - THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF ANY FAN

The heart of a ceiling fan is its motor.  The more powerful the motor is, the more air the ceiling fan will typically circulate.  Also, better quality fan motors will not only last longer but they will run quieter.  So when purchasing your ceiling fan keep this in mind if you don't want a noisy, annoying ceiling fan.

Fan motors have poles that the copper windings are wrapped around.  Some really cheap ceiling fans can have as little as 8 poles.  Our fans have a minimum of 16 poles, with the Gulf-Coast brand having 32 poles.  When a fan operates at high speed all poles are working together for maximum power.  When the fan it turned down to medium the number of poles the motor has is cut in half and when operated at low speed that number is cut in half again.  The more poles left operational at the medium and low settings, the better heat is distributed accross the motor's windings.  The cooler the motor runs the less likely anything will ever burn out within the motor, so the longer the fan motor will last.

AIR CIRCULATION

Now days ths one is a no brainer.  The Energy Protection Act passed in 2005 requires that all fans be sent to a testing facility to be tested to how much air they move, how much wattage they use, and then the cubic feet per minute of airflow is divided by the wattage to give an energy effeciency rating.  On all fan boxes and on each fan page of our website it will show the Energy Information label.  We suggest paying closest attention to the Airflow Rating above all others because the higher that number is, the more air the fan moves to keep you cool during the summer months.  You'll always have slower speeds you can use during the winter.

Keep in mind that we feel the overall energy effeciency rating is flawed because the way it is calculated doesn't take into account how much money you'll save from your air conditioning bill.  For the effeciency rating, the amount of airflow is divided by the wattaged used.  However because it doesn't take into acount that more air will make you feel cooler, thus cutting back on A/C cost, this is why we and most fan companies feel the Energy Protection Acts calculation is not accurate.  Keep in mind, even the fans that use a higher wattage use only around 100 watts, whereas most central air unites come in at around 3000 watts.  Besides, if a ceiling fan has a high energy effeciency rating because it doesn't use much power, but then doesn't move enough air to keep you cool, then what good is the fan anyway?

BLADES

Many ceiling fan companies use pressboard or similar materials, covered by a laminate to save money.  These types of blades can warp easily, are hard to keep balanced, and just overall look like a cheap piece of furniture.

Not here at the Palm Fan Store.  Most of our standard ceiling fan blades are 7-layered plywoods with wood veneers on the finished sides giving them strength not to warp and a look like good quality furniture.  Many other ceiling fans we have use solid, furniture grade wood blades, that have been hand-carved into exoctic shapes to even further the quality look of our fans.

Our outoor fan blades are usually made of high-quality ABS plastics but in some of the really high-end outdoor fans the blades may be made of solid wood that has been chemically treated to withstand the elements.

With our palm leaf blades, all are made of natural palm fronds (unless otherwise noted) that have been woven together and chemically treated so they don't deteriorate.

MOTOR HOUSINGS AND FINISHES

The motor housing is the decorative part of the ceiling fan that hides the motor located just above the blades.  This is where a ceiling fan's style design usually begins.  Most of our fan motor housings are made of die-cast zinc and usually not the cheaper method of stamped steel found at most home improvement centers.  Where some of our fans do used the stamped process with the housing, the metal is thicker so the fan has a good, solid appearance.

Our finishes are unparalleled.  Metal finishes such as nickel, brass and copper are triple plated to give them a deep luxurious finish.  Painted finishes, such as white, are done using a baked on powder paint process.  This will insure your fan's finish, regardless of which finish you choose, will last a lifetime.

With outdoor fans, many fans sold today brag about having a special paint process to help the finishes to hold up the the weather conditions.  The special paint is good but doesn't help when the fan housing starts rusting from the inside out.  To solve this problem, most of our outdoor  fans use galvanized steel for the housing and then use the special paint process on top of that.  Many of the fans, such as the Gulf-Coast brand, go a step further and even give you all stainless still screws and hardware.  This insures their outdoor fans will look better for longer than any other brand.  Gulf-Coast Fans has been using this process for years and now some of the brands such as Casablanca ceiling fans and Craftmade ceiling fans are starting to do the same.

BEST CEILING FAN BRANDS

We get this question asked a lot and I guess the answer would be that it just depends upon exactly what you are looking for in a ceiling fan.  Although we can get other name brands from the ones shown on our website, we only wanted to sell what we feel is the best fans online.  By hand picking what we feel is the top 5 brands it has helped us in several ways.  One way it helps is to insure complete customer satisfaction with the purchase.  Lets face it, it is a pain to order something, especially something you may pay an electrician money to install, only to have to take it back down and ship it back.  Even if a refund is given it is a big inconvenience and you would still be out of the money you paid to the electrician and shipping charges.  So by us only offering fans we know our customers will be well pleased with, you nor us will have to deal with the inconveniences and hassles of returns.  Although we do allow returns, when a fan is returned it is usually never due to a quality issue.

However, just for kicks, if we had to list the brands we carry in the order we feel are the best and why, here they are...