I find the fastest way to assemble the blade hardware is to sit on the floor, clamp the blade between my knees, put the hardware at eye level, and use one hand to hold the pliers on the washer and/or nut while turning the screwdriver with the other hand. One tip for the Westinghouse Comet in particular: The fabric washers that go between the blades’ faces and the mounting hardware are usually really tight on the screw threads, and it’s far easier to grip them along their edges loosely in a pair of long-nose pliers than to rub your thumb raw holding them with your hand. If you’re doing it all yourself, the time to mount the blades comes at a pretty labor-intensive moment in the whole process, after the fan body is hanging from the ceiling, and the last thing you’ll want to do is get off the ladder and mess with a bunch of screws and nuts. This is a tip you can use even if you’re hiring an electrician to do the actual installation-the work takes at least a few minutes per blade, which could easily save you an hour of the electrician’s time if you’re installing multiple fans. And when it comes to a ceiling fan, that’s all you really need.īuild the blades before you begin: Prep the fan blades’ mounting hardware-the metal pieces that attach the blades to the motor-before you even take the old fan down. There are also new systems equipped with sound-reducing features like: Variable-speed blowers. Look for indoor components rated around 20 db, and outdoor units from 5060 db.
While it would be a lie to claim that it-or any other fan, for that matter-is the singular best ceiling fan among the thousands of available models, the Westinghouse Comet has consistently proven itself to be silent, powerful, affordable, and understated. If youre shopping for quiet new HVAC equipment, be sure to check the decibel (db) ratings for different models. At least a half dozen manufacturers make perfectly good and affordable fans that will last you a decade or even longer, and they all fulfill the basic functions of moving air with essentially silent and steady operation.īut time and again (specifically, seven times across three different homes), I find that I keep going back to the Westinghouse Comet 52-Inch Indoor Ceiling Fan. The truth is, it’s easy to find a decent fan. For a quiet unit, look for something between 40-60 decibels. It is generally listed in the units technical specifications. In 2011, I even disassembled a fan motor while researching a ceiling-fan feature for Popular Mechanics with the team there, I collected data and tried to chart the exact recommended blade diameter per square footage of a room and determined the ideal blade count, digging deep to find the true sweet spot of a fan’s cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air movement.Īfter going through all that work, I realized something: Many of the stats and facts I found, while technically accurate in the strictest sense, don’t mean much for the average fan buyer. To ensure your air conditioner is quiet, check the decibel rating of the air conditioner before buying one. I’ve personally installed at least nine ceiling fans over the years-the first few with a colleague from This Old House magazine, others alongside pro electricians I was interviewing, and the last four on my own at home.