Have USA Regulations made Fans terrible?!? (No good low speed, only high speeds!

[Fried Chicken]

I am currently looking for a fan to mount to the ceiling of the garage on a yoke mount, like this:


However what I am looking for is three distinct speed settings, most importantly a very good (borderline silent) low speed.
I have already bought two fans (including the one pictured above), and spoken to at least 5 different fan manufacturer's/suppliers, and all of them are "high", "higher," and "highest" in their fan speeds.  ALL of them.  I have looked across the spectrum of pricing, already purchased two fans (including the one pictured above) that are getting returned.

To give an idea of how deep down this rabbit hole I've gone, I have found and subscribed to TWO separate fan enthusiast youtube channels:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheSuperFanMan/videos
and
https://www.youtube.com/@whoisthisguy724/videos

Someone has suggested this is an issue of cost: to make a fan that has a discreet low speed, medium speed, and high speed costs too much.  I don't believe this is true.

What finally clued me in that something fishy is going on here is when I spoke with a representative from Airmaster, and she in her advertising pitch said "meets OSHA and UL certifications and all that" to which I rolled my eyes and didn't think anything of it.  I frankly don't care... until later that evening when it hit me like a brick.  I've encountered a situation like this before where the whole gamut of and industry sucks and doesn't meet my needs.  It's because of some fucking stupid government regulation trying to achieve some nonsense goal...

I think this might be the case here, but I wouldn't know what it is.  I have a not-yet-vintage but still old fan that has those three distinct speeds (and it has a capacitor) acquired from sears ~10 years ago or so.  It has a distinct low, a distinct medium, and a distinct high.  I like to leave it on low and have it slowly breeze the air around the garage, not disturbing my work or making a lot of noise.  Still if I have a chemical spill or something, I can crank it up on high and clean out the garage.

Does someone know what might be going on here?  PSC motors outlawed?  Efficiency regulations?
There are BLDC fans available that offer this discreet control, but they don't fit my bill for any number of reasons.

[nctnico]

Look for Duux Whisper fans.

[Kleinstein]

Getting 3 speeds from a PSC or similar AC motor is tricky or comes with poor efficiency. 2 Speeds are reasonable possible: switch to half the speed is possible by switching the winding configuration (double to poles), but it need a multi pole switch and thus quite some cables between the motor and switch.
A larger step is possible, but not common and may require additional switching between capacitors.

Split pole motors could get more speed steps, but with poor efficiency and this may collide with regulations.

BDC motors would be the way to go, if variable speed and good efficiency is needed.

[David Hess]

Drive the fan with a variac to get adjustable speeds lower than the fixed settings.

[Bud]

Cant you insert a diode to drop power in half?

[Gyro]

There are speed control designs that reduce speed by skipping entire mains cycles. They will only skip a certain proportion of cycles before things get noisy though. Also, the motor probably doesn't work any more efficiently than the traditional 3-speed.

[David Hess]

Cant you insert a diode to drop power in half?

It is an AC motor, so running it on DC would be bad.

A large capacitor could be used in series, but with motors this large, it is better to use a variac.

[ejeffrey]

There are BLDC fans available that offer this discreet control, but they don't fit my bill for any number of reasons.

I don't know where the industry is for these type of fans or what your particular requirements are but this probably your issue.

Inverter drive, either VFDs and BLDC motors have moved dramatically down market in the last 15 years and the market gap between "cheapest and nastiest thing we can get away with" and "inverter drive is the best option" has shrunk to close to zero.  And at the same time the continuing move of manufactiring to China and other Asian manufacturers means that legacy designs are getting cancelled and replaced with new products made in new factories.

So basically you can either stop expecting entire industries to cater to exactly what you want the way you want it, look for obscure products that still work exactly like you expect (and be prepared to pay for it) or find used products on eBay and roll the dice.

[floobydust]

china uses the absolute minimum of materials. For fans, that is minimum copper so the low speed setting is still a mild hurricane. Minimum steel so the motor laminations always run hot, but hey it's fan cooled lol. Minimum plastic so the blades are skinny and useless other than making noise.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) had created fan and blower efficiency and standarized tests setting the bar higher, to stop the el cheapo chinese fan products from wasting so much energy.
But the Trump administration axed all that withdrawing. {Today a hilarious webpage though} portion of it:
-In May 2025, the Energy Department announced the largest deregulatory effort in the department’s history, proposing the elimination of 47 regulations driving up costs for consumers, estimated to save Americans $11 billion in costs.
-In March 2025, the Energy Department withdrew four conservation standards, including standards on electric motors, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers and external power supplies, cutting red tape, restoring consumer choice and lowering costs for the American people.
-Since January 2025, the Energy Department has completed 27 deregulatory actions related to appliance and equipment standards that represent approximately $254 million annually in avoided future first costs to consumers and businesses."

[Kleinstein]

Cant you insert a diode to drop power in half?

It is an AC motor, so running it on DC would be bad.

A large capacitor could be used in series, but with motors this large, it is better to use a variac.

With an AC induction motor a variac is not working well - to run slow it would need a lower frequency, not just a low voltage. With a reduced voltage the motor will eventuelly run slower, but at the cost of horrible efficiency and possibly overheating.

Most of the cheap computer fans are technically BLDC motors, though a rather cheap type.

[floobydust]

With fan motors, I find they they are high slip using taps or PSC for speed control.

I use a variac to slow down window box fans. I was using triac phase control but the buzz is noisy and apparently that can cause motors to overheat.
Lasko Fan Fires I was sent a 1A inline mains fuse but that was the defective thermal fuse, and now they don't allow the use of triac phase control.

[thm_w]

Getting 3 speeds from a PSC or similar AC motor is tricky or comes with poor efficiency. 2 Speeds are reasonable possible: switch to half the speed is possible by switching the winding configuration (double to poles), but it need a multi pole switch and thus quite some cables between the motor and switch.
A larger step is possible, but not common and may require additional switching between capacitors.

Split pole motors could get more speed steps, but with poor efficiency and this may collide with regulations.

BDC motors would be the way to go, if variable speed and good efficiency is needed.

yes, DC is superior.

[David Hess]

With an AC induction motor a variac is not working well - to run slow it would need a lower frequency, not just a low voltage. With a reduced voltage the motor will eventuelly run slower, but at the cost of horrible efficiency and possibly overheating.

They commonly use low power permanent split capacitor motors so a variac works fine to adjust their speed.

[ejeffrey]

With an AC induction motor a variac is not working well - to run slow it would need a lower frequency, not just a low voltage. With a reduced voltage the motor will eventuelly run slower, but at the cost of horrible efficiency and possibly overheating.

They commonly use low power permanent split capacitor motors so a variac works fine to adjust their speed.

How much can you practically reduce the speed like that?  I've always heard it was limited, but I'm not sure how much.

The OPs fans already have three speeds, they just complain that even the slowest speed is "too loud".  The fan featured in the photo proudly proclaims "high velocity"

So it may be that the problematic fans are already configured to slow down as much as practical for their particular motor, and they are still too loud.

[David Hess]

With an AC induction motor a variac is not working well - to run slow it would need a lower frequency, not just a low voltage. With a reduced voltage the motor will eventuelly run slower, but at the cost of horrible efficiency and possibly overheating.

They commonly use low power permanent split capacitor motors so a variac works fine to adjust their speed.

How much can you practically reduce the speed like that?  I've always heard it was limited, but I'm not sure how much.

The OPs fans already have three speeds, they just complain that even the slowest speed is "too loud".  The fan featured in the photo proudly proclaims "high velocity"

So it may be that the problematic fans are already configured to slow down as much as practical for their particular motor, and they are still too loud.

I have yet to find a fan like this which cannot be slowed down to be completely silent while still moving some air.  In practice they can be slowed down to a crawl, limited only by friction in the motor shaft.  At low speeds the worn bearings will make noise depending on how the fan is tilted.

This works with shaded pole motors and split capacitor motors, which are essentially the same thing with the phase shift created by a second winding and capacitor for phase shift.  Efficiency is of course poor, however this loses relevance when operating at such low power.

[Fried Chicken]

Yes the proper way to slow fans down is run a motor with multiple coils, and maybe there's only one motor supplier or something that no longer runs the windings properly, and/or has them set to where they're all "high".


The old fans have very low low speeds.  My old craftsman does, although I haven't opened it to see how it achieves this.

Everything in 2026 sucks.

[floobydust]

I'm using a 45 year old Sanyo Superior fan, you know the ones with transparent blue blades - whisper quiet on low speed. From an era where splurging on more copper turns and bigger PSC capacitor was just about good product.

Had to laugh the cheap shit Lasco window fan is selling at Home Depot almost $50 CAD here. Where are the motor and fan blades made... USA nope it's from china.
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/lasko-20-inch-box-fan/1000682449

[Simmed]

i have a old panasonic induction motor type konked out (typical 16inch table fans)
i went and got a replacement
and it was horrific
once it warms up, it emits terrible chemical odors
the usual government approved decals are shit
i had to junk it
i got another which went quite well
then the DC fan hype came along
i was sort of given 1 for free

to give you guys some idea
the panasonic on max is rated at 56w @ 84cu.m/min
the new fan i got (BDLC motor) is rated 30w @ 67cu.m/min (also 16inch but 7 blades)
and it has a strange blade which i have never seen before, super quiet even at full speed
the blade has a kind of anti curve at last third
i measured the low setting #9 (32 = max) and it only consumes about 9w (equivalent breeze like panasonic low)

someone has spent some serious time on the blade design!

the approx cost of this BDLC fan i think was about us$75
converting the units, this fan is about 80CFM/W (think could be higher at low speed ?)

[NiHaoMike]

Have you considered mounting a 120mm or 200mm PC case fan below the big fan?

[Fried Chicken]

Have you considered mounting a 120mm or 200mm PC case fan below the big fan?

No.

[cunningfellow]

In the land of Oz at least all the BLDC fans regardless of brand (Kambrook, Ronson, Aldi, Kogan) all have the fan/motor part made by the same factory.

I believe the original manufacturer is Midea.

I guess the base/controller is probably also made by Midea but they actually differ somewhat and the vendor just chooses tick box options.  The Kambrook remembers last setting when switch off/on.  The Kogan ultra bright blue LEDs don't dim/sleep after idle user input.  The Ronson has less "speeds" BUT all three IR remotes are interchangeable.

BUT they are all great compared to an old AC motor fan.  Fancy blades that are quite at high speed.  Almost silent at low speed.

My only complaint is they only sell them in pedestal format.  No desk or wall mounts.  Which is OPs problem they don't come with Yoke mount.

[Whales]

Whatever you go for, as a general rule, go for the biggest fan you can fit.  Aerodynamic drag & noise go up in correlation with speed cubed.  Bigger fans can spin slower to move the same amount of air as smaller, faster fans.

[TizianoHV]

I'm using a fan from a microwave oven, feed by a variac and I can get it down to silent easily (it is an induction motor).
Being orrible lossy induction motors (and the fan having zero initial torque) they respond well to voltage reduction.
You can get a small variac (or a tap transformer) for cheap or free.

Usually you need around 40% of nominal voltage (with less it will stop).

[Fried Chicken]

I got an old Lakewood shop fan from the dumpster that doesn't power on.  I tested the capacitor and it's good, I'm hoping it's the rotary encoder.

Regardless, this fan is built like a TANK in EVERY aspect...

[edit]

Dug in, I think I found out why it's not working:



I think that's a thermal fuse that blew, and I think it blew b/c someone mishandled the rotary dial.

[Fried Chicken]

I have a replacement thermal fuse ordered.
While digging into the fan, I noticed 1. the rotor rides on bushings not bearings, 2. what I thought was dirt/accumulated dust is actually some sort of cork/sponge material (now disintegrated) around where the bushing mounts.





Does anyone know what that might be, and a suitable replacement?

The zinc-plated outer housing is rusted, I think I'm going to paint it in a three step process: 1. rust converter, 2. metal primer, 3. paint.  I'm thinking green.