Flush Ceiling Lights

By 

S. Chung (Bay Area, CA USA) –

  

I purchased one of these fairly expensive ceiling fans for our large family room. I’ve had it for a few months now.

Pros:

1. Looks sleek, especially with the tapered blades
2. Has 6 speeds for the fans, more than most other fans
3. Fan is very quite – at higher speeds you get wind noise, but no audible motor noise
4. Remembers the last setting even after power outage
5. Moves lots of air at high settings
6. Energy efficient

Cons:

1. The fan buzzes loudly all the time whenever light is turned on
– As long as the light setting is “on” (regardless of whether bulbs are installed or not) the unit buzzes loudly
2. Lighting is mediocre
– Does not provide good ambient lighting – there is glare directly underneath the fan, but other areas of the room stay somewhat dark
– Uses uncommon GU-24 socket CFL’s
3. No flush-mount option for standard height ceilings – instead they have a problematic “short” downrod option
4. Doesn’t come with wall-mount option for the remote control
5. Difficult to install
– No wire to hang fan to anchor during installation, so you have to hold up the fan near the ceiling while you attach the power wires, which means you need at least two people perched on ladders
– Short rod is incredibly tricky and difficult to install, things just don’t seem to fit

So, no matter how energy efficient that fan is, I just can’t stand the loud buzzing. We have standard 8-ft ceilings so we purchased the short rod so it wouldn’t hang down too low, but that proved very difficult to install (things just don’t fit right with the short rod). I had to pay an electrician $150 to install it for me, and even he had a difficult time installig it. At one point he was about to give up saying the parts just didn’t fit, but after one last push we finally were able to get the rod pins into the rod. However after he installed it we noticed the loud constant buzzing. Emerson customer support admitted that this was not an uncommon problem, and at first said it was probably the receiver and offered to send me a new receiver (the small box inside the fan that receives commands from teh remote). But then later they said they had replaced receivers for other customers and the buzzing still continued, so they said they would send me an entire new fan.

So after a few weeks I received a new fan from Emerson, and lo and behold the new fan has the exact same problem! Whenever the lights are turned on, it gives off a high pitched electrical buzzing noise. This time I took it apart and found out what the cause was. It was in fact the electronic receiver. Whenever the light turned “on” so that the receiver routes power to the light fixture, it buzzes (doesn’t matter if the light bulbs are in or not). Since there is nothing drawing power, this means that the relay or electrical switch mechanism they use for the lights is just very poorly designed and/or manufactured. Not what I would expect in a higher priced fan like this one.

So now I have to wait for them to send me a third fan, and in the mean time we can’t use the light because the high pitched buzzing drives us crazy.

Overall, this fan is not worth the money, even if it didn’t buzz so loudly (in my opinion, the features should yield a price point of about $250-$300, not the $400+ it’s currently priced at). But combine the high price with the issues, it’s not something I would recommend to anyone right now, at least until they redesign their electronics.

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 Comments (7)

These fans are expensive to purchase but cost pennies to run. The manufacturer “manages” retail pricing but I finally managed to find some available at discounted prices. Once you have swallowed the initial cost, these fans are superb. The quality and finish is of a high standard, and the installation process is (comparatively) straightforward. Do however make sure you have a helper around as the blades are attached prior to hanging the fan and this makes it tricky for someone hanging the fan on their own. Once installed however these fans are a delight. They look sophisticated (I have posted pictures) and perform excellently. The comments I have read about the “humming” light units appear to be justified as all three of mine emit a slight humming sound, especially as the bulbs warm up. For me the noise is not a major problem and certainly fades into the background when the fans are running at half speed or higher. This being said, I can see how some would find it annoying especially if it was louder than mine.

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