I like my Minka Aire. It's inaudible on low and medium, and the only thing you hear when it's on high is the rushing of air.

I have a Hunter---over 15 years old---still so quiet I cannot hear it. Just bought three more for house we just bought.

Hunter has been around forever and has an excellent reputation. We have an old-fashioned Hunter with a motor that occasionally needs to be oiled. It's over 25 years old and still going strong.

The Hunter website is worth looking at. Most or all of their fans now have sealed motors that never need oiling. Their customer service 800 # is excellent. They are very helpful even with very old products of theirs.

But I think that any name brand with a sealed motor will be quiet. We also have fans in our bedrooms by a different manufacturer -- I forgot who. They are 15 years old and still going strong. Another point: We usually run our fans at the slowest speed. Sometimes, especially at the begining of the warm season, when the fan hasn't been used for a few months, it will make an annoying sound at the preferred slow speed. To deal with this, we turn it on high speed for a few minutes. That causes the motor to warm up and distributed the oil throughout the mechanism. Then we turn it back to our preferred slow speed and it's silent again.

Make sure your ceiling is equipped with the wiring and the weight-bearing joists at the place where you want to do the installation.

Good luck with your decisions.

What I have found is that most fans motors are quiet, It's the light bulbs vibrating loose that rattle and make noise.
Also the glass fan shades loosen and rattle.

Thanks for the help. There are currently no ceiling lights in any of the rooms other than the kitchen and dining room so the wiring for this will have to be done. This is something we have been meaning to do for almost as long as we have had the house, 20 years. The rooms have wall switches that lead to outlets. No matter how many lamps you turn on, the light is always inadequate (I wonder whose "bright idea" this concept was: but it seems like all houses of this era and area are similar). If there had been wiring in place it would have been done long ago; and we could have done it ourselves too. Fortunately there is a full attic above the ceilings.

IÂm looking forward to the extra light as much as the fans: maybe I wonÂt have to have a sunny morning to pair my clean socks from the laundry anymore (and DH will have no more excuses for mismatching his shirt and pants when he gets dressedÂ) IÂm looking for the dome-style lights, rather than the bell-shaped ones that point down. It looks like many take 2 60 watt candelabra bulbs: I hope that will be enough. DonÂt want to get halogen either.

Excellent question. I bought a Hunter and padded all the points of contact with rubber padding. BUT, the thing puts out a pulsing electric hum, with a period of about one second, though varies with the speed setting. It's almost inaudible on the lowest setting. I'm not sure if this pulse sound is being amplified by the drywall ceiling, despite the rubber padding or if it's directly from the unit, though I've been meaning to test it out, because I hate the sound.

What type of switch do you have the fan connected to? When we moved into this house all the ceiling fans were connected to dimmer switches, but they were the wrong type. They were the ones meant for lighting not fan motors. This caused all the fans to emit an annoying hum. Dimmer switches that are designed for fans are readily available. Once we replaced them with the proper dimmers all the fan motors are silent. A very easy fix! These are older no name brand fans too. I've always liked Hunter fans, but any new fan should be quiet if on the proper switch.

Nothing compares to a Casablanca, in function or price. We have one in our great room. There is a Hunter in our master bedroom. The Hunter is ok, I'd use it again. But it doesn't compare to the Casablanca.

We installed 3 Casablanca ceiling fans with the 3 globe lighting a few years ago. I never hear the fans run. Each one is on a variable speed switch designed for ceiling fans. The other is a dimmer designed for the lights.

A word of caution. When you turn on the fan it should be on the high speed. This allows the fan to properly warm the motor. After a couple of minutes you can turn it down to low.

Enjoy the journey.
eal51 in western CT

We have Casablanca fans throughout our home including the master bedroom. We absolutly cannot hear them running or even moving the air. As an electrician, I charge extra to install Hunters. They are a real pain to install and they are difficult to balance. Casablancas also have beautiful lighting options. Go to a lighting supply house and look at the options.

We put Hunters in our home - all 4 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and on our two screened porches - 18 years ago. We keep them running year round, reversing the blade direction each winter/summer, and never hear a sound from them.

The old Hunters were/are excellent, the new Hunters I think are hit or miss. The pulsing hum is definitely a problem (and no, mine are hooked to regular 110 no dimmers). Based on the performance of the fans I installed 3 years ago, I would not buy another Hunter. The Minka Aire in my master also has a pulsing hum, although tolerable. I am an ultra-light sleeper like the OP, the thermostat clicking can wake me up. If I was doing fans again I would get Casablancas on the theory that they are 'most likely to succeed and satisfy on all counts with least hassle'.

I just installed the Hunter Savoy in the family room and Hunter Low Profile in a bonus room. I got them for a good price on Amazon. You can't hear a sound out of them. They seem pretty solid. Time will tell.

When I first moved into my house - 13 years ago, I did what most would do - go to home depot and find some fans and install. I bought Hampton bays. They all hum now. Now I'm replacing them all. Lessoned learned.

btw - I looked up casablanca and couldn't find anything that was reasonable in price. They are also pretty ornate. With a 3, 4, 6 and 10 year olds running around the house - style isn't at the top of my list

I forgot to mention. I researched both the Hunter Savoy and Hunter Low Profile. The reviews I found on those were positive.

I do remember seeing reviews of other Hunters where the reviews weren't good so I tend to agree with the previous poster where its a hit or miss. Like anything else - you need to do your homework.

I sleep very lightly, and originally had inexpensive Harbor Bay fans in the bedrooms. When I switched them out for Hunter fans, the lack of noise was truly impressive.

What's the point in ceiling fans? They're ugly, like a bunch of moose antlers flapping around in the middle of the ceiling. I'd pay money not to have one. If you need to circulate air, why not just turn on your HVAC system fan?

Hunter Fans are now very cheaply made. Ever since they bought Casablanca Brand. I bought 3 for my new home. All different models and sizes. All three are very noisy. The motors are cheap and have a continuous electrical hum. Hunter is not for residential use. I am going to replace them with Emerson using a DC motor.