Westinghouse Industrial 56-Inch Ceiling Fan with Brushed Nickel Steel Blades - 3 Indoor Speed Settings for Living Room, Bedroom & Office Cooling

After a month of 24/7 use, I now have some experience. By far the best ceiling fan at any price. At $55, it moves more air and looks more contemporary & sleeker than any $500 designer fan. Same fan as the brushed nickel model so read those reviews as well. Set to the lowest speed, it moves as much air as some residential fans move at their highest speed.I have it mounted above my bed. On the highest speed, it moves so much air it blows the Sunday paper apart & off the bed. Standard installation will lower the fan blades almost 2 ft so if you have 8ft ceilings, it's too dangerous for residential installation. The blades are metal, move at an incredible speed & could probably slice a tomato. You do not want them clipping your hand. BUT ... the down rod can easily be cut in half (with only modification being to drill a new cross mounting hole in the rod, keeping the blades safely above 7ft. Have never had to sleep with the fan set to "high" but the dogs love sleeping under it on hot days and I find that it takes minutes to cool down the room before bed if I turn on the A/C + the fan on high for a few minutes, then back to second lowest speed when I crawl into bed. Saves running the A/C in there all day.To address, other writers' criticisms:- the motor itself is whisper quiet. Quieter than many other brands. But it is impossible to move that much air without hearing the sound of rushing air. Set on "high" there almost a slight "helicopter chop" sound but that's not the motor, that's the metal blades slicing thru the air. But remember, for me, the blades are only 4 feet above the bed. Mounted from a 14 ft ceiling, you might not hear it at all. To me it's "white noise" that drowns out other sounds (but not the TV) but again, I have never had to set it higher than "medium" to stay cool at night. Your choice: strong quiet motor that blows a lot of air that creates some wind noise set on the highest when you really need it, or suffer thru a hot night when you are dying for a breeze.- Lot of criticism of the old fashion looking surface mount box switch. So much so that I ordered a slide dimmer at the same time. But at time of installation, I read NOT to use an electronic dimmer (why, I don't know). And know from other installations, some dimmers can cause the motor to hum. If you have a row of switches, the standard surface box switch could present an installation challenge. In my case, the fan switch is by itself. So rather than risk a potential humming noise, I used the provided switch. After 2 days, I got use to it. It looks like a regular thermostat. Bid deal. Plus I like that the switch "clicks" from one speed to the next, as opposed to sliding. So each position is always the same speed, which matters because since this fan is powerful, it can take a minute or more for the motor to get the blades spinning at the speed you set. There's no second guessing if you set it to the correct speed like there would be with a sliding dimmer switch.- And there is no "reverse switch". Again, big deal. Google the web and you'll find some expert opinions that the "winter" & "summer" settings for ceiling fans is a marketing myth. It doesn't matter if the fan pulls the cold air up or pushes the hot air down, once you've got the air circulating, there are no longer any different temperature zones in the room. The pros just say to use low or medium speeds in winter to avoid a "wind chill" effect.Lastly, easiest fan I've EVER installed. All others have required a second pair of hands to hold it while I connect the wires.Suggestion:- mount the blades PRIOR to lifting the motor onto the socket. When it's fully assembled all you have to do is lift the motor with blades and place the ball into the socket holder. That's it. No more holding a heavy motor. Then do the wire connections. There are only 3 blades, easy to work around them connecting the wires and beats trying to climb even higher later to mount the blades from the top.- Use rubber, even plain old weather stripping between all screw connections, between the holding bracket & the junction box, even between the ball & the socket to dampen any vibration noise. During the first week, I would occasionally hear a rhythmic "clicking noise" if the fan was set too long at the same speed. It had no relation to the speed of the fan (so I knew it wasn't the fan blades hitting anything) and it disappeared if I slightly rocked the based of the fan (carefully) while it was spinning. After trial and error, I discovered it was the electrical wire nut covers tapping against each other inside the junction box. Wrapping them with insulating foam and electrical tape solved the problem.