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Post by Noah C on Apr 4, 2019 3:11:25 GMT -5
This review is for a product from a pretty "new" fan company, called Star Fans. Their website link is here; check out their stuff: www.starfans.co Their most common fan is their Propeller ceiling fan, which some of you guys may have seen before. It looks like this: Attachment DeletedThis fan looks pretty similar to most of these three-carved-wood-blade designs, most notably the Fanimation Spitfire, among many others. The difference here is that this fan has a skeletal motor as opposed to a normal spinner or DC motor. Normally these retail between $450 and $500, but on Amazon, these tend to drop drastically in price. The grey version of this dropped to around $90 on Amazon at one point (is now back at around $420), and with me being curious about what made these special enough to be priced so outrageously high, and whether or not this thing is a total turd, I bought one and installed it. Installation was painless with this fan, since the only assembly necessary is putting the blades on (there is an Allen wrench provided to put the blades on). Picture of the fan installed: Attachment DeletedDesign/Build: After I took this out of its box and started putting it up, this fan's look definietly grew on me. In person, the skeletal motor design is definitely nice and adds character to what would otherwise be a relatively bland design. This fan's construction is quality; everything is die-cast aluminum (even the downrod and both canopies), with the exceptions being the blades and the case around the motor (yes, that is indeed a case around this fan's motor), which is made out of acrylic/plastic. Said case is there to protect the motor from damage from dew or water, since the motor is skeletal on both top and bottom (this fan is UL Damp Rated); the case is only vented on the bottom of the motor. The blades are obviously solid wood, and as is typical with fans with this design, they are lightweight. However, Star fans didn't cheap out and use Balsa wood here, as while these blades are light, they don't feel flimsy or cheap; Star fans is using some kind of Belizian wood here. These blades also go through some type of impregnation process with an effect similar to the PVC overlay on newer Hunter Originals' plywood veneer blades, making them lightly dew/water resistant. Overall, build quality is solid here, even in places you'd expect cheaper materials to be used. Off to a good start indeed... Motor: Similarly to most industrial and commercial ceiling fans not sold residentially, the motor size of this fan is not published. The buyer is supposed to trust that this thing is worth its salt when they purchase this fan. However, when I got this fan, I was happy to find that the motor is nice and big, definitely 188mm. Looks to be a 188×20mm motor, since it's as wide and thicker than the 188×15mm motor in my Minka Aire Supra, without the case. Comes with a pretty standard 3-speed wall slider, 5uf + 5uf, which makes for a 5uf low and a 10uf medium. I have it on a standard Hampton Bay (Rhine) remote (5uf + 6uf), so my fan has a slightly faster medium than it would with the wall control. Don't know if this works well on a solid state control. Even though the bottom part of the motor has no cover for the end of the thread rod, there are not light kit wires. These are not light kit adaptable, which I'd say is totally fine for this aesthetic. Because this fan is residential (obviously lol) and people don't know that this contoured blade design is only effective in one direction, this fan is reversible. The (arbitrary) reverse switch is on top of the lower canopy, and is covered with the rubber film seen on many outdoor-rated fans. Performance: This fan is...surprising. In a good way... Low Speed: around 100 RPM (same as with wall control). I was expecting a slightly slower low speed, but regardless, low speed on this is definitely functional and too fast for my tastes; it's more like a slow medium. Medium: around 160 RPM (a little faster than with wall control). When I first ran this on medium, I was a little surprised, like "this is MEDIUM on here?", because every other fan I've seen designed like this has been pretty slow, and this is faster than high speed for most of them. That's a move to avoid "excessive wind noise" due to the 3-blade design, which already looks slower at the same speed than normal 5-blade fans do since there are less items making revolutions, spaced farther apart. This is basically a "medium high" (what you would get with the medium high on an Emerson 4uf-7uf-11uf), which is perfect for me because it's a slow high with less wind noise for when I don't want full power. High Speed: Around 235 RPM. This thing is insane for a residential fan, no doubt. Wind noise isn't actually that bad, since the blades aren't metal. Performance on this is more similar to a commercial fan than anything else; not as good as a full-blown industrial (i.e. Goldlines, cast Daytons, Prolines before they became turds, modern Heat Fans, etc) but similar to a K55-type Heat Fan/Blenderfan and better than more residential K55-type stuff (i.e. Panama, Premium, Charleston, etc). This motor is tuned similarly to a commercial/industrial fan's motor; high speed, low torque, and middling current draw (this draws around 60 watts full blast). That works well with the fan's blades, which are light, quite narrow, and start off with a shallow pitch but contour to a relatively steep pitch. Conclusion: Hats off to Star Fans for making a product that is simple, built well, and performs as well as it does. I was considering sending this back until I opened the box and put it up. Definitely wouldn't pay $500 for this, but then again, I wouldn't pay anywhere close to that for any fan unless we're talking about a restored antique or a Razzetti or something...or maybe a Casa Columbia 500. Wait till the price drops to $100, because it will, lol  , these are great fans. Side note: Star Fans claims these are suitable for residential and commercial use (keep this out of a warehouse, obviously), maybe that explains why the motor is tuned more for speed than torque, it seems. I'm pleased to see a company make a 3-blade residential fan that outpaces a carousel and moves air. If only they had something like this with four blades... |
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Post by Cole D on Apr 4, 2019 17:02:18 GMT -5
That's a pretty cool fan, I like the motor design and how the cover is clear. And, it sounds like it's well made too. Thanks for your review on it.
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Post by Noah C on Apr 4, 2019 19:44:17 GMT -5
That's a pretty cool fan, I like the motor design and how the cover is clear. And, it sounds like it's well made too. Thanks for your review on it. Thank you, and no problem. The motor design looks so cool in hand. Star Fans' website (starfans.co) pictures the motor without blades, but pictures don't do this justice, to be honest. As for the case, it's hard to not mentally associate acrylic or plastic with "cheap" but this thing has all cast parts otherwise and the plastic case is necessary here, plus this plastic isn't flimsy or anything. I'm also glad the case is clear because it's nice to see the skeletal motor in all its glory, with no tints or anything on the case. This brand is still unpopular, so a little coverage never hurts lol  |
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Post by Noah C on Apr 8, 2019 20:04:27 GMT -5
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Post by philippe1995 on Apr 8, 2019 20:57:43 GMT -5
Pretty cool fan. I am not much into newer designs but still great coverage of the product you have done here. It's cool to take a look at the gallery on their website and at the wide selection of blade colors! I would be curious to try one!
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Post by Cole S. on Apr 11, 2019 23:00:48 GMT -5
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Post by fancollector12 on Apr 12, 2019 2:06:20 GMT -5
Star Fans is a neat manufacturer... absolutely LOVE these "Up-and-Coming" fan manufacturers such as them.  |
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Post by Noah C on Apr 13, 2019 5:39:42 GMT -5
It's about time these got someone talking about them; totally agree with you now that I have one and have experienced it. Just looking at that Artemis-esque thing in your provided photos, I actually prefer its proportions over those of the Artemis. It would be interesting to find out what motor type is used for that fan given it cranks out that much air. I hope it gets released in the US market at some point in the near future; Lightovation presence is a good sign in that respect. As you were likely able to tell by my review of the Propeller, I too was a little shook; I expected the same mediocre performance from it that you'd see from a Fanimation Spitfire or pretty much anything else designed similarly. But then I turned it on and I'm like "Woah...." because I got a fan that does like 230 RPM on high and moves a ton of air....this is the only fan I have personally owned that literally blows the door of the room it's in when it's on. Now if I had a curved-blade (or powerful straight blade) industrial in this downstairs office/bedroom, I'd be far less surprised. But for a residential fan, I was a little shocked. "All of my fans are like that".... LOL this statement is too good. I'm glad to hear that too, if I ever buy another product from Star Fans or am recommending something to somebody. Interesting to find that they are originally out of Israel; their US website claims that they have been operating since the '40s manufacturing table fans, though a specific location/country of origin was not listed. I'm totally going to agree with everything you said, Cole, in that I definitely have more respect for this brand than I did when I first saw their products on Amazon. Actually the first thing I saw made by them was their "7", the DC motor fan, and then I looked up the brand and saw the Propeller. I'm going to have to try the 7 one day; it's a quirky design but it doesn't look bad IMO. I also wonder whether they are manufacturing/sourcing DC motors specifically for that fan or whether it's something off the shelf. But yeah, they are definitely a company to watch in the fan space; given what the daughter said when you talked to her and what I know from using the Propeller, they seem to prioritize performance more than many other brands out there, and their stuff seems to have fantastic (no pun intended) build quality. I hope more people begin to hear about them, their products deserve more notoriety. Also, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment here; I know this forum has less popularity than Facebook fan groups do currently, but somebody will see this sooner or later. |
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Post by Cole S. on Apr 16, 2019 23:47:39 GMT -5
I try to stop in here as often as I can!! It gets harder all the time with how exponentially my brand projects have grown in just the past year, there's always something to work on. I quite liked that Artemis lookalike as well, it's very in the same realm but I kinda like it better. As much of an impact and precedent the Artemis has set, and as much as I like a lot of what Minka has done with it, detail-wise it's never been one of my favorites. They look great in a lot of settings I see, but it's not really one I'd choose. Designs with the blades sort of "wrapping" to envelope the motor have been coming super strong from other brands now, and I prefer a lot of them for greater design flexibility. The Modern Forms Nirvana is one of my top notch new faves, but it's an overall different shape than the Artemis. The Star one maintained some of the contours while improving the overall proportions. I think it must be DC, honestly I was so shook when she turned it on that I kinda lost my mind and didn't ask any real questions about it. I figured since it was on display it'd be coming to market soon, but I haven't seen anything of it since.
Truly, I loved her so much. Very confident in her product, I liked that. One of my favorite people I got to talk with, between her and the Razzetti brothers it was pretty magical in the Spectrum showroom, and I did finally get to meet Tom Frampton in person so it was pretty iconic. Very young girl, I mean I think she had to be around my age in her mid-20s or so at very oldest. That, or she hasn't aged a day since she was that old. Rare to find someone like that heading up anything in the lighting industry, everyone I talk to is always so impressed with my age and how I've already been involved for the better part of a decade. What got me first about Star was when I saw that Propeller motor, it caught my attention immediately. I looked at the closeups. It is such a BEAUTIFUL motor. I could tell it wasn't junk, and it wasn't a stock component off the shelf. That immediately tells me they care, that they're a serious player, and even if performance didn't totally blow me out of the water (it totally does, now!), they were going with some quality materials that put them a measure above being simply a "designer ceiling fan". I absolutely loved that they were at Lightovation, they deserve that exposure, and it further shows me that they want some market share. I'd very much like to work with them, but she never indicated any proposition and I didn't ask on our first encounter. Evidently they still do the majority of business out of Israel, they have a separate Instagram account for it. Not only do they sell their own products, but it looks like they distribute some North American stuff from Minka Aire, Fanimation, Hunter.
I really like the 7 now. I didn't at first, the design is quirky like you said, but seeing more of it has really made it grow on me. And after seeing it in person, get out of here. I like how truly minimalistic it is. Super small and slim proportions, it's the kind of fan that can disappear into a room but still make a statement when you catch sight of it. There's nothing else like it, and it performed well. I, too, am wondering what the motor is like. They've gotta be tiny based on that housing size, the only other thing I've seen that could be remotely similar is the Modern Forms motor, but they developed that exclusively on their own so it's not like it's the exact same one. I've not seen any other really small, narrow motors like that from anybody else so it kinda makes me think it's more proprietary. There's not a lot on any of their fans that looks stock or off the shelf. Next closest motor I can think of is what's in most Matthews/Atlas products which are also mostly minimalist and slim, a very narrow version of what's more typically off-the-shelf, but I think even that would be too big to fit in the 7. The remote controls were different than anything I remember seeing from elsewhere, but that doesn't say much since a lot of brands have their own controls for the same motors and electronics now.
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Post by Noah C on Apr 21, 2019 15:23:05 GMT -5
I try to stop in here as often as I can!! It gets harder all the time with how exponentially my brand projects have grown in just the past year, there's always something to work on. I quite liked that Artemis lookalike as well, it's very in the same realm but I kinda like it better. As much of an impact and precedent the Artemis has set, and as much as I like a lot of what Minka has done with it, detail-wise it's never been one of my favorites. They look great in a lot of settings I see, but it's not really one I'd choose. Designs with the blades sort of "wrapping" to envelope the motor have been coming super strong from other brands now, and I prefer a lot of them for greater design flexibility. The Modern Forms Nirvana is one of my top notch new faves, but it's an overall different shape than the Artemis. The Star one maintained some of the contours while improving the overall proportions. I think it must be DC, honestly I was so shook when she turned it on that I kinda lost my mind and didn't ask any real questions about it. I figured since it was on display it'd be coming to market soon, but I haven't seen anything of it since. Truly, I loved her so much. Very confident in her product, I liked that. One of my favorite people I got to talk with, between her and the Razzetti brothers it was pretty magical in the Spectrum showroom, and I did finally get to meet Tom Frampton in person so it was pretty iconic. Very young girl, I mean I think she had to be around my age in her mid-20s or so at very oldest. That, or she hasn't aged a day since she was that old. Rare to find someone like that heading up anything in the lighting industry, everyone I talk to is always so impressed with my age and how I've already been involved for the better part of a decade. What got me first about Star was when I saw that Propeller motor, it caught my attention immediately. I looked at the closeups. It is such a BEAUTIFUL motor. I could tell it wasn't junk, and it wasn't a stock component off the shelf. That immediately tells me they care, that they're a serious player, and even if performance didn't totally blow me out of the water (it totally does, now!), they were going with some quality materials that put them a measure above being simply a "designer ceiling fan". I absolutely loved that they were at Lightovation, they deserve that exposure, and it further shows me that they want some market share. I'd very much like to work with them, but she never indicated any proposition and I didn't ask on our first encounter. Evidently they still do the majority of business out of Israel, they have a separate Instagram account for it. Not only do they sell their own products, but it looks like they distribute some North American stuff from Minka Aire, Fanimation, Hunter. I really like the 7 now. I didn't at first, the design is quirky like you said, but seeing more of it has really made it grow on me. And after seeing it in person, get out of here. I like how truly minimalistic it is. Super small and slim proportions, it's the kind of fan that can disappear into a room but still make a statement when you catch sight of it. There's nothing else like it, and it performed well. I, too, am wondering what the motor is like. They've gotta be tiny based on that housing size, the only other thing I've seen that could be remotely similar is the Modern Forms motor, but they developed that exclusively on their own so it's not like it's the exact same one. I've not seen any other really small, narrow motors like that from anybody else so it kinda makes me think it's more proprietary. There's not a lot on any of their fans that looks stock or off the shelf. Next closest motor I can think of is what's in most Matthews/Atlas products which are also mostly minimalist and slim, a very narrow version of what's more typically off-the-shelf, but I think even that would be too big to fit in the 7. The remote controls were different than anything I remember seeing from elsewhere, but that doesn't say much since a lot of brands have their own controls for the same motors and electronics now. I did go and take a look at the Nirvana from Modern Forms; it looks proportionally similar to the Star fans wrap around fan and I quite like that. Also notable is Fanimation's Wrap series of fans, which I know you saw in person at the January Lightovation. I am really intrigued by Fanimation's decision to start releasing fans ranging from 44" all the way up in 4" increments; I hope to see them use this technique for other fans in their lineup, like the Subtle, some of the custom options available to the Distinction series, and maybe another size option for the Ascension. Given the design involving contours from extremely high pitch to low pitch, I'd guess that the Star Fans thing is DC; it would be interesting to find out what size DC it is when the fan actually gets released. I can imagine; the girl seems like a vibrant individual who is confident in the product she has; perfect for someone who runs the New York office for Star Fans and what is likely a decent piece of their US operations. Getting to talk to Tom Frampton is icing on the cake that was your experience at Lightovation, I can only guess. When I looked at the motor Star Fans is using for the Propeller, I was amazed at how nice of a motor it is; holding the thing in person, it's like "Wow, this is on another level". The only unfortunate thing is that while I know the motor is definitely large and estimate it to be in the ballpark of 188mm by 20mm, I don't know exactly how powerful it is. I know the motor is tuned more for speed than torque, kind of like cast imported motors of the '80s, but this motor has what seems to be a low current draw gauging off of the amount of watts the Propeller draws (about 60), and I don't know the motor's power factor at full speed; then again, there isn't a lot of load on the motor since there are three relatively lightweight blades. The performance on it almost blew me out of the water; it's pretty insane for a residential fan, no doubt. I did look at their Israeli website, and it has a mix of their own products and all the other brands you mentioned. I think they even ship Fanimation stuff, but I don't remember. The 7's design grew on me a good deal. I now believe they are using a custom motor for that one similar to what Modern Forms is using in size, likely in the ballpark of 125mm in diameter given the dimensions of the motor housing. There have been more motors like the smallest Modern Forms motor (for their lineup) coming out size wise; Emerson has some fans with these slim proportions and likely small DC motors, and all of the fans that used to have GE K55-type motors from Modern Fan Co, like the Industry, Cirrus, Velo, and Pensi, now have 125×20mm DC motors identical in size to Modern Forms' motor. I'm curious to find the RPM for the 7, because I know the blades contour to a relatively high pitch, but if it's slow I don't think it will do much. The motors that Modern Forms, Modern Fan Co. and Star Fans are using for their fans are of the new "sensorless" variety like the motors Fanimation is using for some of their DC fans; they don't require the receiver/driver board directly on top of the motor since they aren't using Hall-effect sensors that require more connections between the driver board and the motor, so sensorless DC motors can use traditional style RC/WC canopy-mount receivers and can therefore have "smaller" designs due to less space taken up at the motor; sensorless DC motors are extremely reliable due to a near total lack of components that can fail other than in extreme cases; this may be why manufacturers like Modern Fan Co. that were not rushing to implement DC motor fans waited out the problems of sensored (usually off the shelf) DC motors that have more components that can fail; more sensorless systems are being implemented as of now. |
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Post by Noah C on May 12, 2019 12:28:55 GMT -5
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Post by Noah C on May 16, 2019 20:47:47 GMT -5
Update: the fan linked above is now below $200! I can now recommend this to anyone looking for a high-quality, solid contemporary offering for a better price for what it offers than most everything in the $200 price bracket.
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Post by Cole S. on Jun 11, 2019 20:20:38 GMT -5
Wanted to pop back in here and update that the new Star fan is called Star X. It's up for a Market Choice Award this June, which is neat to see amongst some of the bigger players. But it's also the only reason I know what it's called lol. It's crazy to me that there were so many products "out" last January at the show, but evidently they weren't/aren't all in production because they haven't shown up anywhere else yet. Matthews/Atlas had so much new stuff, but haven't seen any of it on their site or for sale yet.  |
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Post by Noah C on Jun 12, 2019 0:34:45 GMT -5
Wanted to pop back in here and update that the new Star fan is called Star X. It's up for a Market Choice Award this June, which is neat to see amongst some of the bigger players. But it's also the only reason I know what it's called lol. It's crazy to me that there were so many products "out" last January at the show, but evidently they weren't/aren't all in production because they haven't shown up anywhere else yet. Matthews/Atlas had so much new stuff, but haven't seen any of it on their site or for sale yet. That is cool...also, the name suits the fan. I haven't seen this on their website yet, but I imagine you found it somewhere. Given the airflow efficiency "flex" in the fan's description, I surmise this fan is DC. It would be interesting if they found a way to make something with that design as an AC motor fan, but realistically a DC motor is likely better in that application. The X seems to be bigger than 52"; I'm thinking maybe 56" or 60" (you've seen it in person so you know more of the fan's dimensions). I want one  Also, I'm gonna take this opportunity to post a link to another deal that has popped up for a Star Propeller ceiling fan; this one is for the Graphite motor and "natural3" (natural walnut-stained wood) blade finish. The price has dropped all the way down to $184 on this one (these retail at $489). Link: www.amazon.com/dp/B0758KF7Y9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_h5iaDbFXX52GV |
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Post by Cole S. on Jun 18, 2019 19:46:27 GMT -5
Yeah, not on their site. The Market Choice Awards listing is the only documentation I've seen anywhere. I was pretty sure it was DC after seeing it, I'm neither here nor there on that from anyone at this point. What I do like is the proportions DC makes possible for this kind of design concept, compared to the Artemis for example. I'm truly not sure how big it is, I find it's one of those designs like the Super Janet where it probably is big, but plays tricks as to how big it actually is. Looking at my pictures in comparison with the surrounding fans, I could hazard a guess at 56" but it's impossible to say for sure.
Keep those deals coming. If another drops crazy low, I want it.
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, these are great fans.
