Quality Control
At the Neon Fan Company, we consider YOUR experience using our products to be the most important factor in our success.
If you're disappointed, you won't buy from us again. You also won't recommend us to your friends.
We designed our flagship product, the Delray™ Art Deco ceiling fan, from the ground up with your enthusiastic approval in mind.
With our reputation staked on it, we took a markedly different approach to ceiling fan design than a corporate chain buyer who is looking for the lowest-cost product.
BORN FOR AIRFLOW
Priority Number One was airflow. We live in Florida, where we know heat. When you need a fan around here, you need one that really moves air.
Unfortunately most ceiling fans today are mainly decorative, and move air as an afterthought. They use inexpensive, weak motors to help cut production costs.
We designed the Delray™ to move air like an industrial fan wearing a residential fan's clothing.
The blades on the Delray™ are pitched at an angle of 15 degrees - much steeper than the 10 to 13 degree pitches commonly found on cheap fans. By taking a bigger "bite" out of the air, the Delray™ is able to push a greater volume of air with each turn of its blades.
15 degrees is the blade pitch found on most antique cast iron ceiling fans from the 20th century, as well as high-performance industrial ceiling fans such as the Emerson Heat Fan.
Of course, this increased pitch means more work for the motor - too much work for the small, inexpensive motors found in home improvement store fans. We upgraded our motor to the largest size that fits into the housing.
- The average inexpensive 52"-size fan has a 153mm-diameter motor.
- The average showroom fan, of the same size, has a 172mm-diameter motor.
- The Delray™ is a 50"-size fan and has a 188mm-diameter motor. Larger motor size means more power, and more airflow.
The acrylic blades of the Delray™ are much wider than most DIY-store fans' blades. With a larger surface area, the Delray's blades are able to move more air than the skinny blades found on cheap fans.
With its powerful 188mm motor, steep 15-degree blade pitch, and large surface-area blades, the Delray™ is engineered to move "a Florida amount of air".
The Delray™ is the fan you want to have when your air conditioner breaks!
Proudly NOT Energy Star listed, the Delray is designed to move air. Lots and lots of air.
QUALITY BUILT IN
It's no secret that the Delray™ fan base, without neon, is assembled in China before we add our neon to it here in the USA.
We wish it were an option for us to manufacture the Delray™ fan entirely in the USA. Unfortunately the last American ceiling fan manufacturing facility closed its doors circa 2008.
The Chinese fan manufacturers will build exactly what you pay them to. Most of their customers are corporate buyers representing big-box chains, who compete with each other on lowest price. But the same Chinese fan OEMs can (and happily will) build you a much higher-quality product if you're willing to pay for it.
The Neon Fan Company's priority is to build the best fan, not the least expensive fan. We worked closely with our OEM partner to design a superior product, where cost was not the driving concern.
Some of the dozens of changes we made to the "standard" features found on most fans include:
- ±3% capacitor tolerance, instead of the less stable ±5% or ±10% found on most fans.
- Metallized 3M film inside of capacitor, instead of metallized paper. The film is more stable over time, allowing us to offer you a 20 year limited warranty on the Delray's custom-made capacitor.
- Tinned wire ends at all switches, for improved reliability and electrical safety.
- More quantity AND variety of wire nuts, to support installation in a wide array of buildings (especially older American homes).
- Longer pull chains, for easy reach when your fan is mounted over furniture or on a high ceiling.
- Spin-reversing function is controlled by a pull-chain, instead of the standard slider switch found on most fans. This makes it easier to reverse a fan mounted on a high ceiling, or over a piece of furniture. It's also safer, keeping your hands away from the blades.
- Cast aluminum blade irons cost more than zinc, especially when chrome-plated, but they are more rigid in order to keep your fan aligned and wobble-free. They are also lighter weight, allowing your Delray™ fan to spin faster and move more air.
- Two downrods are included, so that the sizable percentage of customers who have taller-than-8' ceilings can reap the benefit of increased airflow produced by a longer downrod - without having to buy anything extra.
- Lower canopy provided for improved aesthetics. The difference is noticeable.
- Four speeds instead of the standard three, giving you a greater range of airflow options.
- The four speeds were specifically chosen to meet a diverse variety of demands:
- Speed #1 (Turbo) moves an industrial volume of air. Designed to compete with the airflow of vintage American-made fans such as the Emerson Heat Fan and Hunter Original. Most people will find this is actually too much airflow for sustained use, but you'll love it when your air conditioner breaks. When we say "Engineered in Florida for hot climates", this is what we mean.
- Speed #2 (High) moves the same amount of air as a normal big-box store fan on its fastest speed. Great for when you want a lot of air movement, but not quite a whole jet engine's worth.
- Speed #3 (Medium) moves a comfortable amount of air for an evening watching TV in the living room, or cuddling in bed. It's enough air to feel, but not so much it's annoying.
- Speed #4 (Low) is an aesthetically-pleasing "old timey" speed, slow enough to watch the individual fan blades spin. Ideal for restaurants and retail shops where visual interest is desired, without creating a draft. Also great for winter heat recirculation.
- Our remote control and wall control are special four-speed models. Both were custom manufactured with identical capacitor values to the Delray™ fan's pull-chain, so that you can enjoy the same four speeds regardless of whether your fan is operated by pull-chains, remote control, or wall control.
BEST NEON CEILING FAN
The Delray™ is the only new, currently-in-production, neon ceiling fan anywhere in the world.
It's also the best neon ceiling fan ever made.
Compare the Delray™ to the Quorum Neon Prizzm:
- Delray™ motor is 188x20mm, versus Prizzm motor is 172x14mm.
- Delray™ blade pitch is 15 degrees, versus Prizzm pitch is 13 degrees.
- Delray™ motor is chrome electroplated, versus Prizzm motor is painted silver.
- Delray™ is 4 speeds, versus Prizzm is 3 speeds.
- Delray™ is light kit adaptable, versus Neon Prizzm is not.
- Delray™ is flush-mountable, versus Prizzm is not.
- Delray™ capacitor tolerance is ±3%, versus Prizzm is ±5%.
The Delray™ offers three choices of control system, at no cost to you: pull-chains, wireless remote control, or wired wall control. No other neon ceiling fan can make this claim.
TRUST BUT VERIFY
Your experience owning your Delray™ fan is the largest factor in our success.
If your fan arrives defective, you will have a bad day - and so will we.
The Neon Fan Company opens, inspects, and tests every one of our Delray™ ceiling fans at our USA-based quality control facilities.
We have had excellent experiences with the products that our OEM partner has manufactured for us. However we are realistic about the limitations of mass manufacturing, and we are aware of peoples' experiences that have lead to the negative reputation of "made in China" products.
To ensure that you, our customer, get to enjoy the experience you pay us for, we inspect and verify all of our fans. This is a labor-intensive, time-consuming step that no other fan company takes. However the buck stops with us. The Delray™ is our product.
Most fan companies assume a small percentage of fans in each batch will be defective. They don't bother to test and find out which ones. They'll let you buy a defective fan, blame their OEM, and pay to send you a free warranty replacement.
At the Neon Fan Company, we do the extra work to make sure every fan is perfect before we ship it, so no one gets a defective fan. A free replacement doesn't make up for your disappointment, your cost of having your electrician come out a second time, or your wasted time.
Each Delray™ fan is unpacked and bench tested. We don't just test the first couple of units from a batch, or 10% of the units. We test every single fan, every time, no exceptions.
We verify that all the parts were included, and that nothing is scratched, cracked, or dented.
We measure all four capacitor values, as well as the resistance of both motor windings, to ensure adherence to specified tolerances (±3% on capacitor, ±5% on windings).
We apply power and test your motor on all four speeds, in both directions, to make sure it's quiet and running smoothly.
The results of these and other checks are recorded on a handwritten quality control inspection certificate, a signed copy of which is included inside the box with your Delray™ fan.