Casablanca 83U11D Four Seasons III Outsider Ceiling Fan
Although suitable for an outdoor (damp) installation, this fan can be mounted inside, which is what we did. The screws and other hardware are stainless steel and the fan blades are white ABS plastic with an embossed wood-grain. The blades are the same on both sides, but for some reason, "this side up" is printed on one side. There are no openings on the top of the fan motor, which presumably means it could withstand some amount of direct rain...
If my Customer Image doesn't show, choose Snow White for it to appear my installation includes a Casablanca 36" down-rod (PL1136) and K4K-11 lamp kit. That lamp kit is not for a damp location.
The 83U11D fan comes with two pull chain switches. One controls fan speed (off, low, medium, high). The other is the blade reversing switch (clockwise or counter-clockwise). The optional K4K-11 lamp, which requires candelabra bulbs, adds a pull chain & switch for the lamp. Inexpensive lamp-chain extensions are typically available at Lowes, Home Depot, or any hardware store, in their lamp department. An optional remote control (called the Adapt Touch) is available at extra cost. In our case, with the 3' down-rod, the bottom of the lamps are 9' 6" off the floor in a room with a 14' high cathedral ceiling. Since this was a newly constructed room, I wired the fan-box in the ceiling with 14/3 NM cable, which allowed for one wall switch for the fan and another for the fan lamps. We didn't want a remote.
I first bought a [more costly] Hampton Bay model for that room, but returned it to Home Depot before completing the installation. After that experience, I appreciated the clever ceiling mounting hardware of the Casablanca. Hampton Bay fans require the fan ceiling box to be perfectly flush with the surrounding surface (e.g., drywall). If that box is recessed or pokes out, by even 1/16", you have to shim or otherwise modify the Hampton Bay fan holder bracket, on one or both sides; or the canopy cover won't be flush against the ceiling. The Casablanca hardware, by contrast, includes a bracket that mounts flush against the drywall resulting in the canopy always being flat against the ceiling, by design; with no extra effort on your part. Simplicity itself.
This Casablanca is not particularly heavy for a ceiling fan; only 22 pounds with the lamp. Even at that weight, you MUST mount it to a ceiling electrical box that is fan-rated at 50 pounds or more. Mounting any fan to a plastic ceiling box won't work, as the support screws will simply pull out over time due to the lamp weight. Even a standard steel box is a disaster waiting to happen. I.e., the fan could fall to the floor, or worse, land on someone.
Any ceiling fan can have an out-of-balance wobble on the higher speeds, and doubly so if it's on a long down-rod. The bottom of the lamps on this fan oscillated by about 1/8" on high speed. Not too bad, but it was noticeable if you watched it for long. Fortunately, Casablanca provides a "dynamic balancing" kit with instructions on how to resolve a wobble. Step by step instructions are provided, for finding which blade, and where on that blade, a weight is needed. Weights are provided. I was skeptical, but it worked the wobble is gone.
At the lowest speed, the fan creates a very gentle breeze. At the mid-speed, you can definitely feel the breeze, and on a hot day, you'll feel cooler. High speed puts out significant air volume, which is way too much if you're in its path.. Turn the fan off from high speed, and it takes 100 seconds for the blades to come to a complete stop.
The fan industry has standardized on 3/4 inside diameter steel pipe (same size used for natural gas lines in some houses) for down rods. Of course, the rods are polished and finished to the fan color. Unfortunately, the industry hasn't standardized on how the bottom of the down rod attaches to the fan motor assembly, or how the top connects. The better designs, used by Casablanca and others, use a threaded rod screwed into a heavy receiving bracket on top of the motor assembly, with a lock screw to prevent the rod from unscrewing an approach that has the motor rigidly fixed at a right angle to the pipe (down-rod), i.e., parallel to the floor. Other brands, such as the Hampton Bay, use a pin through the bracket and pipe, which allows the motor to pivot slightly a clearly inferior design, since the fan may not stay level.
The motor and lamp wires are sufficiently long to use a down-rod of up to six feet. Simply cut the wires to the length you need.
This Casablanca product demonstrates a well-thought-out design, refined over decades of fan building experience. It's easy to install, is silent on low speed, and has a lifetime warranty on the motor (one year on finish, component parts, accessories, and electronics). The whooshing of air is heard on the higher speeds, but the motor is silent. There's even a 120-day in-home service warranty if something goes wrong, although if properly installed, it's unlikely you'd need that.
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Do not buy this model fan. It is comprable to a Hampton Bay at half the cost. It may have the Casablanca name but that's it. It makes noise, ratles, and humms right out of the box new. I feel as though I was ripped off.
