One of the searches I see a lot for products not made in China is for ceiling fans. That’s not surprising. Ceiling fans are not one of those things you want to skimp on.
The last thing you need is to spend hours and hours installing a ceiling fan, only to have its motor burn out in a week, it start wobbling, or realizing that the design doesn’t even work. Which is exactly what you can expect if you go with a cheap, made in China ceiling fan.
You can probably guess what I’ll say next. There are virtually zero options for residential ceiling fans not made in China, as all the brands you’re familiar with like Honeywell and Westinghouse that have gone all-in on China manufacturing, and new consumer-oriented brands like “Hampton Bay” were made in China from the beginning. Almost all of the brands that had their start in the US, like Hunter, Monte Carlo, Craftmade, Fanimation, Emerson, and Casablanca, ALL of whom went to China to take advantage of the cost savings of slave labor and poor environmental regulations.
I’m frankly embarrassed for sites like “Dave Burroughs” and Google who rank for searches on “ceiling fans made in the USA” and list a page full of brands ALL of which are made in China. It’s one of the reason I started this site.
In a pattern I’m sure you’ve noticed in other categories, we generally have to look to commercial brands to find models that aren’t made in China. Consumer brands have long ago adapted to the principles of American consumerism—buy a cheap one now, have it break in a year, throw it into a landfill, buy another cheap one. Commercial brands don’t have that luxury; they need to build things that last.
Just remember the old adage–you get what you pay for.
Best Ceiling Fans Not Made in China
1. Matthews Fans “America” Fan
Most of The Matthews Fan Company’s most popular models are outsourced to China.
But there is one model that they choose to continue to make using Taiwanese parts. It’s called the “America Fan”. And it’s shockingly affordable.
It can get confusing and it took me a while to figure it out. But I’ll walk you through the options.
Here’s how you shop for each on Amazon:
- 52 inch – Assembled in the USA with Taiwanese parts (AM-USA-WH-52)
- 42 inch – Assembled in the USA with Taiwanese parts (AM-USA-WH-42)
- 52 inch – Assembled in Taiwan with Taiwanese parts (AM-TW-WH-52)
- 42 inch – Assembled in Taiwan with Taiwanese parts (AM-TW-WH-42)
You can also choose to have a light kit added for certain models.
If you prefer shopping on Home Depot, here’s how they list them.
- 52 inch – Assembled in the USA with Taiwanese parts (AM-USA-WH-52)
- 42 inch – Assembled in Taiwan with Taiwanese parts (AM-TW-WH-52)
- 52 inch – Assembled in the Taiwan with Taiwanese parts (AM-TW-WH-42)
1StopLighting also offers these models for sale.
If you’d like to read more about this model you can download an information sheet here.
It’s fantastic the Matthews Fan Company has chosen to provide the option of fans made in the USA with parts from a free country. It’s clear that they did this in order to sell to Federal agencies under the Buy American Act, but as a civilian you can send a message to them that yes, there are consumers who care.
A reviewer states that the model she bought that was described on Amazon as “made in the USA using components from Taiwan” came from China. This was almost certainly because she bought it from a third party seller who just sent her whatever they had in stock, regardless of what the product listings says. Be sure you buy directly from Amazon.com, or from Home Depot or 1StopLighting and make sure you document the model number you purchased.
2. Big Ass Fans – Haiku 52″ Indoor White Ceiling Fan
Big Ass Fans started their business, and still does most of it, in the commercial and industrial space selling fans that cost well into the thousands of dollars. But they introduced a line for residential use called “Haiku” which is as stylish as it is functional. It offer options like this 52″ ceiling fan for home use. If you don’t need something that big, you can always step down to their 44″ model of the same fan.
This model comes with LED lights built in that you can dim to sixteen settings, and its fan can be controlled by a remote, Bluetooth, or even your Alexa device. Unlike cheap fans that are just simple blades whirling around, Big Ass Fans uses all of the innovation it learned from making commercial fans and packs them into these consumer models, resulting in cooler and more efficient air flow.
As with all of their fans, these are assembled in their factory in Lexington, Kentucky with parts reportedly sourced from Malaysia and Mexico.
Buy at Amazon or Home Depot.
3. Big Air 72″ Indoor 6-Speed Ceiling Fan
Amazon also sells this model from Big Air, which also does business as Maxx Air and USFanCo (and also desperately needs someone who understands marketing). At 72 inches, it’s technically considered an industrial fan, but as you can see from the photo on their product page it’s perfectly suited for large living rooms.
Annoyingly the Amazon product page doesn’t list the country of origin, and Amazon reviewers wildly speculate where the fans are made. But I was able to find on the manufacturer’s site that it is assembled in Taiwan.
USFanCo makes the same mistake on its Amazon pages that so many other brands do. If you’re made in Taiwan, say it. Taiwan manufacturing, like Japan manufacturing, may have had a bad name in the 1970s, but today it represents some of the best. Why hide it?
4. Modern Fan Company – Arbor Flush Ceiling Fan
The Modern Fan Company also seems to be another brand that is holding on to some manufacturing in Taiwan. This lovely Arbor Flush Ceiling Fan is listed as made in Taiwan on Design Within Reach, as are a number of other models:
From what I can tell, these fans are still being made in Taiwan, but call the store you’re buying it to make sure the one you’re being sent is.
I linked to Design Within Reach because they were the only ones to put country of origin on the listing, but if you prefer these fans are also available at speciality stores like Lamps Plus, Lightopia, Houzz, Build.com, and Lumens.
5. Modern Forms Fans
Modern Forms makes many of their cheaper models out of China, but the following fans are still listed as being Made in Taiwan
- Axis Smart Ceiling Fan
- Aviator Smart Ceiling Fan
- Vortex Smart Ceiling Fan
- Morpheus III Smart Ceiling Fan
Unfortunately by the time you see manufacturing split like this it’s usually only a matter of time before Taiwanese factory workers are put out of a job at the expense of their cheaper China counterparts, as US-based executives get lulled into the promise of cheap labor that increases their bonuses at the expense of their customers.
But there’s still a chance to send a message by contacting them and insisting on a Taiwan-made model.
Conclusion
Sadly, even as I was writing this I saw options from brands like Visual Comfort, Hinkley Lighting, and others that practically seemed to change country of manufacture in front of my eyes. The siren song of China manufacturing is indeed strong.
But support the brands you see above (verify first that it’s still not made in China) and hopefully we can send a message that we care about quality and about human rights. Plus, you’ll get a ceiling fan that’ll last forever.
Do you know of other ceiling fans that are not made in China? Let us know in the comments!
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- ceiling fans
