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Smart Ass Fans (No, really. That's the name)

By: Matt Grocoff , Contributing Writer
In: Green Renovations

smart fan
Photo by Smart Ass Fans

Need to stay cool without turning on the air conditioning? Just turn on a ceiling fan. But what if you're asleep and the humidity goes up before you begin to feel uncomfortable? Then you've got to get up out of bed, stumble to the switch, and turn on your dumb fan. Or what if you leave the room and forget to turn off the ceiling fan? Then you end up wasting energy all day long by circulating air in empty rooms. The ceiling fan then becomes an energy waster rather than an energy saver.

We've heard of smart thermostats, like Ecobee, and smart lightbulbs, like Philips Hue. Now from the makers of the Big Ass Fan comes the long awaited Smart Ass Fan.

This may sound like a gimmick. But a Smart Ass Fan makes a lot of sense. It's designed with an on-board computer and array of sensors. Adding these sensors to a ceiling fan revolutionizes a home fixture that hadn't changed for decades.

Fans that are left on in an empty room don't do anything to make you more comfortable. Fans work by moving air across your skin. If your skin isn't in the room . . . Well, then that spinning fan won't help you. The Haiku fan has SenseMe technology that knows when you enter and leave the room. Using occupancy, humidity and temperature sensors it activates and adjusts the fan before you get uncomfortable. Dumb fans sit there uselessly and wait for you to get hot and sweaty.

smart ceiling fan

Here's a few ways that Big Ass Fans say that their Smart Ass Fan is not your grandma's ceiling fan:

  • Automatically turns on and off when you enter or leave a room
  • Monitors the room's temperature and humidity, adjusting fan speed when conditions change
  • Intuitive smart phone app features unique modes and manual control options
  • Remembers manual speed adjustments to make smarter, personalized decisions
  • Sleep Mode gradually lowers Haiku's speed until it shuts off entirely, so you never waste energy while you sleep

It also has an option for an LED light fixture that you can control from your smart phone. "Use the app to set schedules for both the fan and light or select from several unique control modes. Among them is Gradual Awake that gently increases the fan's speed and light for a more pleasant wakeup, which research has proven reduces that can't-get-out-of-bed feeling. Farewell, clock radio."

Now for the reality check. Yes, this is the greatest fan ever made since the advent of electricity. But this innovation and hyper energy efficiency comes at a cost. Price varies with options - but one indicator of the premium price: financing is available.

Check out this video to see some of the new smart features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtvN_udjOHk

Photos via Big Ass Fans

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