I've installed quite a few ceiling fans in my time in several houses, both for myself and for others (ceiling fan installation seems to be one of those skills that are sought after). I've owned mostly Hunters myself, with a couple of Hampton Bays and Casa Blanca fans thrown in the mix, so I'm used to quiet, attractive, quality fans.

We live in the Southwest, and the fans in all our rooms tend to go nonstop for about 8-9 months of the year. After 15 years of this, the Hunters in our house had begun to exhibit some behavioural "quirks." You know the ones - blade flutter at high speed as the blade mounts become loosened; motor hum as the windings get tired and heat up, and the worst of all: flaky remote receivers.

In our case, the fan remote controller in our master bedroom, a 52" Hunter, began freaking out. The lights would come on and stay on at 10% brightness for half and hour, then suddenly flare to full luminosity; the fan would produce a ghostly revolution or two without being turned on. Between this and the worsening motor hum, we decided to replace it before it died, and to do all the fans in the house at the same time (we like 'em to match).

For bedrooms, I like flush-mount fans. We set out to Lowes and Home Depot looking for suitable replacements, but it seems that all the attractive fans these days are drop-mount, and the ones that ARE flush mount are fugly :P Finally, we found the Minka Aire units at a boutique lighting store.

I'd never heard of Minka before, but as a fan of modern design, the sleek nickel case and the three-blade configuration caught my eye. The low-profile flush-mount light kit is a nice touch too. It was available in several different blade sizes and three different finishes (Brushed Nickel, White Enamel and Oil-Rubbed Bronze), came with a full-function RF remote and retailed right around $200. My wife and I conferred and decided to buy the Minkas.

This may be the easiest fan I've ever installed! The instructions are extremely clear, well-illustrated and thoughtfully laid out. There are no extraneous pages that do not pertain to my fan, and there is even a wiring diagram in addition to clear, verbose instructions on hooking up the remote receiver.

The fan's base plate mated with our ceiling box like a glove (don't forget to use an approved load-bearing fan box; I like the "super fan" kind with the expanding rod that cleats into adjacent ceiling rafters and can be installed from below without crawling into the attic). The motor case slid into place easily and secures with four screws (two keyed). And the best part - toolless blade installation! The Minka has a very unique spring-loaded blade retaining pin mechanism. All you do is slide the blades into their slots and listen for the retaining pin to slide home and presto! The blades are in. No endless screwing in of bracket screws above your head!

The Concept II comes with a built-in light kit. The fan is supplied with both a heavy milk-glass shade and a convex blanking plate; if you choose not to use the lighting, you can install the metal cover in place of the shade. It's very slick. The light shade/blanking plate pieces screw into the fan body with a 1/2-turn motion from below using the palm of your hand - again, no screws to tweak or rubber bands to eventually dry up and fall apart. Brilliant!

It took me about 1 hour total to remove the old fan and install the Minka. It worked beautifully first time out.

Minka supplies a blade balancing kit, but I tried every position and could not balance the head any better than the factory did. The Minka blades are lightweight injection-molded plastic, not composition.

If you're used to Hunter or Hampton Bay fans that have chain-controlled light and fan speed switches, you might be surprised to find that there are none on the Minka. All control is accomplished with the remote.

Upshot: If you haven't heard of Minka, try them out. There's a lifetime warranty on the motor and a 1-year on the control transmitter/receiver unit. It's a well-made, beautifully designed unit that is easy to install and makes a beautiful breeze while looking good!

Recommended: Yes