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(More customer reviews)This is the fourth Minka Aire fan that I've purchased. The first two were Concept II hugger fans (wet versions) for our patio. After some initial technical confusion with using them with the remote controls I marveled at the quiet high performance of them. When it came time to put a new fan into our bedroom we were initially concerned with getting a beautiful looking fan and ordered a Casablanca fan from Amazon (that product/review can be found here Casablanca 38DHG45T Bel Air Ceiling Fan, Brushed Nickel . The Casablanca was a huge disappointment as the 1st one shipped with missing and broken parts and then the 2nd one, which took hours to install, didn't work.
At this point we ordered the Minka F517-ORB as it seemed to be sufficient for our needs and was still a modern, attractive looking fan for a bedroom. We also had extra controls for Minkas which saved us a bit more money.
The fan showed up and was very straight forward to install. It is worth noting that the remote receiver for this fan is not contained in the motor housing but has to be wired between the fan outlet box and the fan leads. This does take a bit of extra effort as you have to wire the receiver up and then squeeze all the wires above the fan hanger bracket and then slide the receiver into the bracket opening. It's really not that difficult if you are even slightly handy but a novice would probably be a bit overwhelmed by it as the instructions and description of doing this are not quite up to snuff. For those that like this fan but don't want to deal with it you can probably install it with a regular wall switch and just hardwire the fan to the circuit electricity. The fan can be hung in the bracket while wiring it which means you don't need one person trying to hold the fan (and yelling at you to hurry up) while you wire it together.
One thing about the install of this fan that is wonderful is how the blades install. Instead of balancing on a ladder and putting dozens of screws onto the fan blades (or putting the blades on while it's on the floor and then climb a 12 foot ladder and try to avoid getting hit in the head with the blades) the blades simply snap in. It is worth noting that they are just basic plastic and some people won't like the plastic look.
Once installed you do have to apply power to the fan and then hold the 'stop' button on the remote down for 30 seconds to get the fan to program. I had a spare WC212 wall remote for the fan so we would have both a wall control and a wireless on a night stand (which is a great option by the way!). All you have to do is set both of them to the same control frequency and both will control the fan with no problem. There are 256 combinations so even if you want a bunch of Minka fans there should be sufficient frequencies available to avoid any interference.
So, how does the fan look and perform? It is great! This fan puts out over 6000 cubic feet per minute on the highest speed, which is quite a lot. It doesn't wobble even a bit that I can tell and it is pretty quiet for the amount of air it is moving. It also uses only 59 watts of power when doing it which means it is highly energy efficient especially if you leave a fan running all night or all day. The light could be a bit stronger but not really an issue if you have other lights in the room such as on your night stands, etc. I would not count on the light being enough in a large room. I hear good things about the Emerson Eco fans and they have more light output so that might be an option if you want high energy efficiency but need extra light.
Cosmetically the fan is good looking. I think it would look better if it had textured blades that looked more like 'oiled bronze' but how much time do you really spend examining the blades of your ceiling fan? If you want a more fancy looking fan Minka does make them but this one looks pretty stylish and modern and is reasonably priced for the level of performance.
Having installed many different brands of fans over the years I am really quite impressed with these, they are a good value and I expect to get decades of service out of them. I am probably going to be buying this brand from here on out unless they flat out sell me a piece of junk in the future or don't have one for a particular application of mine.
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Minka-Aire Fans F517-ORB 52" Concept I Contemporary Oil-Rubbed Bronze Ceiling Fan w/ Light & Remote
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