Low-Tech Cooling with This High-Tech Fan

The sleek, energy-efficient Haiku fan from Big Ass Fans will help keep us comfortable in our new house this summer

The Haiku fan in our upstairs guest room.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

As summer heats up here, I’m looking forward to trying out the high-tech ceiling fans we installed in our two upstairs bedrooms. First, let me explain why I like ceiling fans so much.

By moving air, moisture is evaporated from our skin, cooling us through evaporative cooling. With modest air movement in a room, most people will be comfortable at an air temperature at least five or six degrees Fahrenheit warmer than would otherwise be the case.

To clear up a misconception: ceiling fans do not actually cool the air in a room—in fact, they slightly increase the air temperature, because of the waste heat from the fan motor—but they allow you to be comfortable at a warmer air temperature. In other words, they raise your threshold of comfort.

If you are normally comfortable in the summer with the air temperature around 75°F, for example, with a ceiling fan operating, you might be just as comfortable with an air temperature of 81 or 82°F.

Because ceiling fans don’t involve the energy-intensive vapor-compression cycle, as do standard air conditioners, they use far less electricity, so they can save you a lot of money. A typical ceiling fan uses 90-110 watts of electricity, with Energy Star models averaging 65 watts.

For decades, ceiling fans have changed little. Often called “paddle fans” or “Casablanca fans,” most ceiling fans use rotating fan blades operated by standard AC (alternating current) electric motor. The waste heat generated by these fan motors necessitates the large, ventilated metal shroud that you see on most ceiling fans. Many of these fans become noisy as they age, as heat results in delamination of steel in the motor core.

Detail photo showing the Haiku fan in natural bamboo.Photo Credit: Big Ass Fans

Enter the Haiku fan

Several years ago, the uniquely named company Big Ass Fans, long a leading manufacturer of very large fans used for commercial buildings and warehouses, introduced their first residential ceiling fan, trademarked Haiku. In late 2012, BuildingGreen, impressed by Haiku’s energy performance and elegance, named this a Top-10 Green Building Product for 2013. I was anxious to try out these fans in our new house.

The Haiku fan features a sleek, attractive, aerodynamic design for the airfoils (blades) in either bamboo or a plastic composite. All Haiku fans are 60 inches in diameter. Our fans are made of the composite material, in white; they elicit great comments from most visitors to our house.

Haiku fans have brushless, DC (direct-current) motors with advanced electronic controls; these are known as electronically commutated motors, or ECMs. The Haiku has seven speeds, compared with just three for standard ceiling fans. These features contribute to the very low energy consumption of just 2 to 30 watts, depending on the speed.

Haiku fans are by far the most energy-efficient fans rated by Energy Star, exceeding the Energy Star requirements by 450% to 750%.

Quiet operation and multiple settings

One of the features I’m most excited about is the incredibly quiet operation. At lower speeds, you can’t even hear the fan. Noise had kept us (mostly my wife) away from ceiling fans in the past.

Along with the multiple speeds, the fan can be operated in reverse (pulling air up rather than pushing it down), a timer can automatically turn it off, and there’s a unique “whoosh” setting that varies the fan speed to mimic natural breezes.

All these features are controlled by a very compact remote that fits into a plastic pocket that can be mounted to a wall. There are blue LEDs on the fan showing the fan speed. These stay illuminated for a few minutes then turn off.

With the high ceiling in the center, we were able to order a fan with a longer stem.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

A premium price for a premium product

Be aware that Haiku fans are not cheap. The composite fans (in black or white) list for $895 from the Haiku website. The bamboo fans (in a natural bamboo or a darker cocoa color) are $100 more. This compares with just $100 to $200 for most ceiling fans on the market.

Haiku fans can be ordered with different stem lengths, depending on your ceiling height, and for flat or sloped ceilings. They are also available with integral LED lights, though I haven’t seen those and can’t comment on how they look.

All Haiku fans carry a lifetime warranty.

Alex is founder of BuildingGreen, Inc. and executive editor of Environmental Building News. In 2012 he founded the Resilient Design Institute. To keep up with Alex’s latest articles and musings, you can sign up for his Twitter feed.