Ceiling fans are popular for providing air mixing, destratification, and cooling effects in residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural settings.
The U.S. Department of Energy defines large-diameter ceiling fans (LDCF) as having a blade span greater than 7 feet (2.1 meters). It's important to note that not all LDCF are high-velocity, low-speed (HVLS) fans.
DOE Actions
December 27, 2020: The Federal Omnibus Bill contained the Ceiling Fan Improvement Act from Energy Act 2020 Section 1008 changing the cfm/W regulatory metric for LDCF to Ceiling Fan Energy Index (CFEI).
May 5, 2021: A “Technical Erratum Notification” was issued by AMCA International for ANSI/AMCA Standard 230-23 with errata: Laboratory Methods of Testing Air-Circulating Fans for Rating and Certification, which is referenced in the DOE test procedure for LDCF. The erratum corrects the electrical input power measurement to standard air density.
May 7, 2021: The DOE conducts an early assessment review for the amended Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Products; Early Assessment Review; Ceiling Fans. They are seeking data and input from industry stakeholders to evaluate the need to amend the standards, based on energy savings, feasibility, and economic justification.
May 27, 2021: DOE published the CFEI codification of the Ceiling Fan Improvement Act in Federal Register, thereby integrating CFEI Codification Federal Register Rules and Regulations and removing cfm/W for LDCF.
June 3, 2021: DOE extends the CFEI Codification Federal Register Rules and Regulations RFI deadline to June 28, 2021, following requests from AMCA International and the American Lighting Association, and with a letter of support from the Appliance Standards Awareness Project and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.
Certified Ratings Program
The AMCA Certified Ratings Program (CRP) was instituted to provide assurance that manufacturers’ product ratings are accurate and enable comparisons of like products across manufacturers. The AMCA CRP currently covers more than 4,000 product lines worldwide.
AMCA tests per ANSI/AMCA Standard 230-23 with errata | Laboratory Methods of Testing Air Circulating Fans for Rating and Certification and certifies LDCF ratings per AMCA Publication 211-22 (Rev. 01-23):Product Rating Manual for Fan Air Performance .
Search for AMCA Certified Product Lines and type-large diameter ceiling fan. Click on any of the resulting manufacturers to obtain links to catalogs of certified LDCF models.
Find out more about testing Large Diameter Ceiling Fans with the AMCA laboratory.
Industry Team
Michael Ivanovich |
Senior Director, Global Relations |
AMCA International |
Eddie Boyd |
President and CEO |
MacroAir Technologies |
Marc Brandt |
Director, Domestic Industrial Business |
Hunter Industrial |
Thomas Catania, Esq. |
Board Member |
Institute for Energy Innovation |
Aaron Gunzner |
Senior manager, advocacy |
AMCA International |
Mark Stevens |
Executive director |
AMCA International |
Christian Taber |
Principal engineer, codes, and standards |
Big Ass Fans |
Mike Wolf |
Director, regulatory business development |
Greenheck Fan Corp. |
AMCA insite Webinar- U.S. Codes, Standards, & Regulations for Large Diameter Ceiling Fans
The Impact of LDCF on COVID-19 Exposure in Warehouses
AMCA International, in collaboration with Concordia University and a team of engineers and scientists, have published the results of a year-long study that investigates the impact of LDCF on COVID-19 exposures in warehouses in the United States.
The findings are applicable to large open indoor spaces with low occupancy, in addition to warehouses. They are based on over 220 parametric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. These simulations varied worker and packing-line locations, fan speed (ranging from 20% to 100%), and with and without racking. The fans used in the project are certified by AMCA International for air performance.
AMCA
inmotion AMCA COVID-19 Guidance for Large-Diameter Ceiling Fans
Concordia University AMCA Covid-19 Guidance for Large-Diameter Ceiling Fans
AMCA
Covid Guidance for UNDUCTED Fans- Modeling Ceiling Fans
Project Contributors
AMCA wishes to thank Liangzhu (Leon) Wang, PhD, P.Eng., and his team at Concordia University for the modeling and the science and industry teams for their contributions to the study design and the review of the results and guidance.
To promote integrity in the design and execution of the research and ensure the conclusions drawn from the study are valid and useful, AMCA International assembled industry and science teams. Consisting of representatives of AMCA International member companies and members of the AMCA International staff, the industry team provided expertise in the application and performance of products, while the science team, made up of authorities on infectious diseases, indoor-air quality, fans, and computer modeling, advised on the project setup and reviewed the intermediate and final results. The table below identifies the rosters of the science and industry teams.
AMCA Member Companies
Thank you to the following AMCA member companies for co-funding this study:
Science Team
Liangzhu Wang, PhD |
Associate professor, Department of Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering |
Concordia University |
William P. Bahnfleth, PhD, PE, FASHRAE |
Professor, architectural engineering, Chair, ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force |
The Pennsylvania State University |
Edward. Nardell, PhD |
Professor, departments of Environmental Health and Immunology and Infectious Diseases |
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health |
Jovan Pantelic, PhD |
Research scientist, building science |
Well Living Lab Inc. |
Paul Raftery, PhD |
Professional researcher |
Center for the Built Environment University of California, Berkeley |
Geoffrey Sheard, PhD |
President |
AGS Consulting |
Pawel Wargocki, PhD |
Associate Professor, departments of Civil Engineering and Indoor Environment Chair, ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force Science Applications Committee |
Technical University of Denmark |
Air Movement and Control Association International, Inc.