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Answer: The fan motor itself is very quiet and highly recommended for sound sensitive applications such as bedrooms. However, you can expect to hear the wind noise on high and medium speeds just as with any other fan that moves lots of air. On a scale from 1 to 10 for motor noise I would rate it 9. Wind noise is above average since the fan moves more air than the average fan. Plus, 3 blade fans will have slightly more wind noise than 5 blade fans, though most people find the sound of the breeze to be soothing.

Answer: Here is a link to one a 60" Carrera Grand Eco fan without lights. Once you reach the page, if you click on the button for "Blades" just below the picture, you can choose from blades in various shapes and sizes that work with the Carrera Grande Eco. If you click on the "Controls" button beneath the picture you can select a wall control that is compatible with the remote that comes with the fan.

Answer: The Carrera Grande Eco ceiling fan is in fact Energy Star qualified when purchased with 60 inch blades. see a 60" version here:
http://www.hansenwholesale.com/ceilingfans/emerson/model.asp?ProdNo=CF788ORB-B91WA

Emerson offers 50 different blade options for the Carrera Grande Eco fan in various shapes and lengths. In order to say the fan is Energy Star qualified with every blade option, they would have to test it with each blade and then pay additional fees to the government for the Energy Star label with each different blade option. Needless to say, the testing and application fees are astronomical and the red tape is an additional burden. The additional costs would drive up the price of the fan significantly without any added benefit except for a label that says it is Energy Star qualified. As tested with 60" blades, the fan more than quadruples the necessary efficiency required by the EPA for Energy Star. So even though it does not bare the label with 72" blades, you can rest assured that it is 3 to 4 more efficient than most other fans that are Energy Star.

Answer: Yes, the Emerson Curva Sky is super quiet and a perfect choice for bedrooms and other sound sensitive areas where you need lots of airflow with no motor noise. This is a superb quality fan!

Answer: Yes, you can install the Fanimation Keistone ceiling fan without the light fixture. It comes with a bottom cap designed for that purpose. To see how this is done, you can refer to page 12 of the installation manual here!

Answer: Actually, a room that is 12 x 18 should use at least a 52" fan, nothing smaller. The Minka Aire Concept II hangs only 10 1/2" from the ceiling to the bottom of the light, yet still moves lots of air (most hugger fans move very little air) and has the convenience of a remote control (excellent for bedrooms). I believe the Minka Aire Concept II flushmount would be an ideal choice for you.

Answer: From your description it sounds like you have industrial ceiling fans in your church. Such fans are designed to operate at a higher RPM than residential fans, and therefore move a lot more air. They also make a lot more wind noise because they are generating more wind. So, the answer is yes, if you change to 5 blade residential ceiling fans they will operate much quieter than 3 blade industrial fans. However, they may not move as much air, so while you will have less noise, you may also feel less cooling effect depending on the layout of your church. If you email me some pictures of the fans in your church I may be able to offer more input. Email pictures to: gregt@hansenwholesale.com

Answer: In most cases you CANNOT use an existing downrod with a new fan because each manufacturer has their own downrods that attach to their fans in their own specific manner. Plus, you would have to cut the wires that come out of the top of the motor and splice them to the wires in your existing downrod, which is much more difficult to accomplish on a ladder than simply replacing the downrod. In some cases, you cannot attach the downrod to the fan without screwing it in very tightly, which would require you to remove the existing downrod from the ceiling and do it on the floor so you can get a good grip on it while you turn the fan. Overall, not a good idea...just buy a new downrod that matches your new fan.

Answer: Blade pitch is the angle at which the blades of a fan are positioned in respect to the horizontal plane in a room. The more a blade is pitched, the more resistance it places on the air in its path as it spins...and therefore, the more air the fan should move, that is if it spins at the same RPM. However, the key is RPM. In order to increase the blade pitch on a fan and maintain the same RPM, a more powerful motor must be used. Otherwise, the additional drag will cause the motor to spin at a lower RPM. When a fan motor is overworked, it begins to overheat and will operate less efficiently. So overworking the motor can actually cause it to move less air if the blade pitch is too great. Therefore, a well designed ceiling fan will have the correct size motor for the blade pitch. Because consumers generally believe that a steeper blade pitch makes a better fan, some fan manufacturers will simply increase the blade pitch without increasing the motor size. They do this because smaller motors are a lot less expensive and they can sell a fan with a steeper blade pitch at a lower price than the competition.

That being said, the actual shape, material, thickness, size and weight of the blades as well as the motor power and RPMs are just as important as the pitch. Without the proper consideration of all of these factors, it is foolish to compare ceiling fans based on blade pitch alone. As a matter of fact, blade pitch is not even a necessary consideration anymore because the EPA requires all ceiling fan manufacturers to publish the actual CFM output of their fans. So who cares what the blade pitch is, what is most important is how much air a fan moves (CFM) and how good the quality and durability of the motor is.

This is why I have developed our website so that the fans with the highest quality and highest CFM show up first in our search results. This way you can always find the fans that move the most air without having overworked motors. Thus, being the fans we recommend the most.

Read more about this here: Who Makes the Best Ceiling Fans: The Online Guide To Ceiling Fan Comparisons.

Answer: Yes, the Montecarlo Strasburg fan control does have separate settings for the uplight and downlight. So you can control them both independently with their own on/off and dimming function. As far as halogen bulbs in ceiling fans, they are actually quite commonly used. Many ceiling fan manufacturers use halogen bulbs in single light fixtures that are integrated into the bottom of the fan because they are very small and yet produce great lighting. This allows manufacturers to design low profile single light fixtures that are integrated into the bottom of the fan. Incandescent bulbs require more space and therefore would require a larger bulkier looking globe, which makes designs such as the Strasburg impossible. In the 25 years I have been selling ceiling fans It is rare that I ever hear someone mention that they feel the heat from a halogen light fixture, particularly from a fan like this one that is usually mounted on a high ceiling. In most cases, the light fixture is only used in the evening when it is cooler, so the heat most likely welcome (if you can even feel it). Generally, during the day (when you really use the fan for cooling) the light fixture off...although admittedly there are many cases where this is not the so.