Minka-Aire F853-BN/DK, Aviation, 60" Ceiling Fan, Brushed Nickel

I purchased this fan about a year ago (2015) and it's as great as everybody says in all the reviews. Quiet, stylish, powerful, etc. However, I will make a comment about a minor issue that took me about a year to resolve. I'm writing about this because it may be something someone is experiencing and driving them crazy like it did me...I bought this fan for my master bedroom, specifically to use during sleeping hours. During the day I'm at work, in the evening I'm downstairs and on the weekends I'm out and about. The very first night I noticed a small random crackling as the blades spun. The faster the fan would spin the higher the frequency of crackling. For most, this wouldn't be a big deal. Again, it was a very low sound and happened randomly where a few minutes would go by without the sound or it would happen repeatedly consecutively for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately though, I need complete silence to sleep so this crackling might has well have been a freight train. I could only have the fan on speeds 1 or 2 (out of 6 total) and even then I could still hear it. Usually most nights I would just turn it off because I couldn't take it. So in essence I had a functionless $700 decorative art piece. I didn't return it because I figured every fan would do this to a greater or lesser degree and I just couldn't see myself removing and installing countless ceiling fans. So I just kept it.I did try several times to figure out where this crackling was coming from. At least three times last year I took down the fan and messed around with the housing mount. I added rubber gaskets to every screw or metal space touching anything. I retightened everything. I sprayed W-4 and other lubricants. But nothing would make the crackling noise go away. Then one day I ran the fan at about 4th speed and I got real close to the fan to see if I could identify where it was coming from even though I thought it would be futile. As I listened, I realized the crackling wasn't coming from the housing or ceiling mount at all. It was coming from the actual blades. I was like WTF? Then it dawned on me. As the fan swung around the force of the air being moved was causing friction between the blades and where they attach on the fan itself. I instantly new how to fix this.So I took all the blades off and then applied a very thin, but complete layer of marine grease (I'm sure other greases work, but marine grease is pretty long lasting and has less odor than other greases I've found) along all the area where the blades connect w/the fan. I screwed them back in and have never heard a crackling sound again! It's been completely eliminated. I sleep w/the fan on all night now. It's the most absolute wonderful thing now. All you hear is the air moving. So if this is happening to you, that's how you fix it. Good luck!

We installed this fan outdoors under a large roof over our outdoor living room, here in Southern California. It is as protected as any outdoor fan can be protected. On installation it was beautiful, perfect. Within 8 months the gorgeous imitation koa wood -- it is of course imitation, feels like balsa wood which it needs to be to lighter in weight -- had changed to a greenish beige. It went from being a richly colored art piece, something to be proud of, to just an outdoor fan that hopefully you don't notice too much above your head. It isn't a disaster exactly, but it is a huge sad change. So, buy the insurance and make sure it covers a year, and make sure it covers it changing color, etc. Better yet, see if you can find one that is better quality. We have tried to clean it, just in case, but no, whatever they did in manufacturing, is cheap and lame and not well tested. I would seriously worry about installing this indoors even.

We use this fan everyday. Our ceiling is vaulted and we tried a couple of other fans first without success. This fan works perfectly, looks wonderful, and is perfectly quiet. I would highly recommend.

I purchased this fan for a large living area. I was looking for a modern look that would move a lot of air and this fan meets the bill. It has 6 speeds, but I generally only need 1-3 as I have the AC on quite a bit. The fan looks great and performs very well. My only issue was that two of the blades had scuff marks on them and the center cap has a dent in it. For this price, I should not see these flaws. I contacted the seller and was told they would pass the comments along to Minka-Aire directly, but I haven't heard anything else. I didn't want to deal with uninstalling the fan and returning it since they are minor, but disappointing none-the-less, especially since I have spent around $3k on Minka-Aire fans for my home. I have taken 1 star off for the quality control issue.Pros:• 6 speeds for total comfort control• Sleek, modern look• Good airflowCons:• Fan arrived with defects• A little more challenging to install than others

Our goal was a fan that would be almost a 'work of art' since the large, open space great room had few walls for real art work. We debated between this fan ($695) and the Haiku by Big Ass Fans ($895+), choosing this one because of its astounding energy efficiency and lower price. This fan is simply gorgeous, and does have that antique airplane propeller look about it that we wanted. The blades are an engineered plastic, but the painted finish looks quite authentic and so does the shape of the blades. The finish we chose (nickel with Koa blades) was on back order but well worth the wait. Also, the color exactly matched the website pics; Koa is a medium-golden-brown, a lot like aged bamboo.Minka Aire's packaging was pretty amazing: Each blade was separately wrapped in a soft flocked cloth-like bag, They provide cotton-type gloves (I think they're actually synthetic) for handling the blades during installation and a lint-free cloth for wiping off dust. The blades use a small hex-head machine screw that can be a bit awkward to install. If you can, get a 2nd person to help with installation so that one person can hold the first blade steady while the screws are installed using the supplied hex wrench. After that, the blades fit into each other making the rest of the installation a bit easier.The fan comes with a 6-speed remote control with a wall-mounted holder. Even on speed #1, this fan moves a lot of air very quietly. There is no "hum" from the motor and no real noise from the blades. Overall, we're really happy with this fan. It was twice the price of those we usually buy, but was well worth it. Definitely would buy it again.