Haiku Fan Review: A premium product with a premium price tag

There is a certain amount of prestige associated with owning a Big Ass Fan. It’s the sort of thing when people see it, they take a step back and soak it in. They look at it as if they’re looking at a piece of artwork.

The Haiku ceiling fan by Big Ass Fans is an industry leader in noise level, efficiency, and style. When I first wrote this review, it was the only ceiling fan with built-in WiFi connectivity. It was THE first smart ceiling fan.

Since then, a number of other smart ceiling fans have been released. Competitors are starting to catch up with smart integration, but the quality and style of the Haiku is still unique to Big Ass Fans.

I’ve done hours of research to make this review the most comprehensive and accurate review out there. So, if you’re in the market for a luxury ceiling fan that seamlessly integrates with your smart home, read on.


Overview

  • Control your fan with your voice using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
  • Connect your Haiku to an ecobee smart thermostat for enhanced energy savings and control.
  • Use Woosh mode to simulate a gentle breeze right in your living room.
  • A luxury item with the highest quality components and a premium price tag.


Kill Airborne Pathogens

Wait…what??

Just in time for the Covid virus, Big Ass Fans introduced an extra option for their Haiku fans.

It turns out, a ceiling fan is located in a great place to use UV lighting as a weapon against airborne pathogens.

The Haiku with UV-C projects a ring of UV light outward at the ceiling level. As the air is slowly sucked towards the fan blades, it is bombarded with the pathogen killing UV-C light.


Haiku Fans Look And Sound Like Luxury

You don’t have to check the price of the Haiku fans to realize they’re a luxury item. Just take one look at it and it screams elegance. The smooth curves of the Haiku’s blades slice through the air swiftly and silently and look great doing it.

No more nights lying awake in bed while your ceiling fan whines and shakes above you. The superior aerodynamics of the Haiku translate to more efficient airflow. Efficient airflow and light-weight parts combine to create quieter operation and less power consumption.


What Makes It A Smart Fan?

You’ve probably never had a smart ceiling fan before so you might be asking yourself, “what can a ‘smart’ ceiling fan do?”

Haiku fans have two levels of smart capability:

First, there is the WiFi adapter which enables app control and voice control (see below for more info). It is available on all models.

The next level up is SenseMe technology. The SenseMe technology incorporates a temperature, humidity, and motion sensor in the fan housing. It uses the data collected from the sensors to help determine whether a room is occupied and what the current “feels like” temperature is in the room.

NOTE: SenseMe technology is only available on the Haiku models (not Haiku L). That means that occupancy detection, smarter cooling/heating, and smart thermostat integration are not available with the Haiku L.

Senses When A Room Is Occupied

Set up your fan and your lights to come on automatically when you enter the room. Then, after a set period of inactivity, the lights and fan will shut off. You can adjust the time it takes to shut off inside the app.

Smarter Cooling

During the steamy summer months, the smarter cooling feature can help reduce your air conditioning bill. The wall control senses temperature and humidity and SenseMe can use this data to calculate the optimal fan speed to keep you cool. This will allow you to set your thermostat a couple degrees higher and still feel comfortable.

The Haiku fan is an extremely efficient fan. It will always be cheaper to set the thermostat a few degrees higher and make up the difference with a cooling draft from your ceiling fan.

More efficient heating

What smarter heating does is keep the fan at a slow โ€œno draftโ€ speed while you are in the room in order to provide a slight mixing effect. Then it speeds up when you leave the room. This thoroughly mixes the air which helps save on heating costs.

During heating periods, natural convection causes warm air to rise and leaves the lower parts of a room feeling much cooler than the air near the ceiling. The role of a ceiling fan is to push that warm air back down to where it can be felt by you. However, you don’t want the fan to be pushing the air so hard that it causes a draft because that will probably end up giving you the chills.

With other ceiling fans, the standard solution is to reverse the fan blades so that it is sucking air towards the ceiling during heating periods. This still has the desired effect of mixing up the air and it minimizes the chance that you will feel a draft.

The Haiku is not designed to work like this. The airfoil design of the blades is meant to operate only in one direction. The Haiku can achieve the same air mixing effect (destratification is the scientific word) operating in the forward direction without creating a draft. There’s even a fancy Harvard study to back up their claims.

Smart thermostat integration

The SenseMe technology allows your Haiku fan to connect with ecobee smart thermostats. This integration allows you to automate the smarter heating and smarter cooling features mentioned above.

Here is an example:

Let’s say it’s summer time and your desired “feels like” temperature is 75F. Without a smart thermostat, you set your Haiku app to 75F. Then you walk over to your thermostat and raise the set point to 76F or 77F. The fan will provide the extra cooling necessary to make your 77F room feel like its 75.

With the smart thermostat, the step where you walk over to your thermostat is eliminated. Instead, the fan automatically tells the thermostat to raise the set point a bit.

My initial concern was that the fan would just set the thermostat 5 degrees higher and crank itself up to high to make up the difference. If that were the case, you would be living in a perpetual windstorm during the summer.

Thankfully, the maximum and minimum allowable fan speeds can be set in the app.

So, all you have to do is set your desired temperature and your max and min fans speeds. The fan will figure out the rest.

Simulate a natural breeze

The Woosh setting is designed to simulate a gentle breeze flowing through your living room. You can use the app to set the maximum speed of the โ€œbreezeโ€ and the Haiku will provide you with intermittent gusts of wind to keep you comfortable.

With any other fan, I could see this being impractical and annoying as the fan noisily ramps up its speed over and over. But, the quiet operation of the Haiku makes it possible and quite pleasant.

Keeps You Comfortable At Night

Haiku’s sleep mode helps you stay comfortable at night by adjusting the fan speed while you sleep. You choose the temperature that makes you the most comfortable while sleeping, and the fan will adjust its speed to keep it there.


Installing The Haiku Ceiling Fan

If you have installed a ceiling fan before, these fans will be similar. It requires feats of strength that should be familiar to any homeowner with a DIY spirit. Basic electrician skills and using a screwdriver while standing on a ladder are a couple things that come to mind.

The fans can be ordered for either indoor or outdoor use. The outdoor version can be installed in covered outdoor areas with temperatures ranging from -4 F to 122 F.

outdoor install of haiku fan

For effective air circulation in indoor areas, the manufacturer suggests a maximum of a 15′ x 15′ room size (for a 52″ fan). It can be installed on sloped ceilings up to 33-degree pitch.

The standard package includes down rods for 11.4 in or 16.4 in (measured from the ceiling to the lowest point of the fan). However, if you have extra tall ceilings and want some longer down rods, they are available to order.

Don’t worry about the specifics right now. It’s easy to make sure you get all the necessary options for your installation by using this link:

Click Here to design your Haiku fan


Using The Haiku Fans

The fan has 8 different speeds and the light has 16 different brightness settings. There’s no pull-chain on this ceiling fan, so how do you operate it?

Big Ass Fans has included several ways to control your Haiku fans so you can choose the one that is most convenient for you.

Haiku by BAF App Control

The fan and light can be controlled using your mobile phone if you purchase a package that includes the WiFi module. The module connects your fan to your home WiFi router. The Haiku app is free and is available for Android or iOS. You will be able to use the app to:

  • Turn the fan on/off and adjust the speed
  • Turn the light on/off and adjust the brightness
  • Use the Woosh feature
  • Set up schedules to control these functions

I wouldn’t plan on using the app as your main fan controller. The purpose of the app is to program the necessary schedule and settings. Then use one of the other methods for the day to day to control.

Voice Control With Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo with Haiku fan

The Haiku with the WiFi module can be paired with the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control. You can control both the fan speed and light intensity with several simple voice commands.

Here are a few of the currently available commands:

“Alexa, turn Bedroom light on.””Alexa, set Garage fan to 50%.””Alexa, turn Living Room fan off.”

Haiku SenseMe

The coolest way to control the fan is to do nothing at all.

The Haiku SenseMe technology uses a built-in motion sensor to automatically turn the fan and light on or off when you enter or leave the room. It can also interact with your ecobee thermostat using the built-in humidity and temperature sensors.

SenseMe is not available on the Haiku L. It is only available on the more expensive Haiku and i6 fans.

Conventional Control

For more conventional control of your luxury fan, the Haiku comes with a remote control. The remote has buttons to control fan speed, lighting intensity, Woosh mode, sleep mode, and a timer. It also comes with a mounting bracket that allows you to mount the remote on the wall.

For the โ€œultimateโ€ in conventional control, you can still use a good, old-fashioned wall switch to turn your fan on and off.


Drawbacks

It’s Expensive

The Haiku fans are clearly luxury items and priced accordingly. A nice, but considerably more modest ceiling fan can be purchased for one-fourth the price of a Haiku. Considering some homes could have upwards of 5 ceiling fans, the extra cost can add up in a hurry.

If you’re looking for something a little more affordable,ย you may want to take a look at the Modern Forms line of smart fans. They have a wide variety of styles to choose from at about half the cost of the Haiku fans.

Limited design choices

The Haiku L and the Haiku fans look very similar. You can choose different colors and materials, but the shape is the same.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the look of the Haiku fans. The smooth lines and modern, minimalist look are great. But, they’re not for everybody and they’re not for every situation.

If you’re looking for something a bit different, the only other option Big Ass Fans offers is the industrial looking i6.

If neither design fits your purpose, you may have to look elsewhere. Again, I recommend looking at the Modern Forms fans. They offer over 20 different styles each available in multiple colors.

You can’t change the light bulb

If you buy a Haiku fan with a light, the light is actually an accessory kit. If you ever needed to replace the light, instead of changing a bulb, you replace the entire light kit. The light kit is a sealed LED unit that is designed to easily last for the lifetime of the fan, so you shouldn’t ever have to worry about replacing it due to failure.

However, I love color changing lights (or at the very least tunable white lights). The Haiku light kits are dimmable, but don’t change color or temperature. So, you are kind of “locked in” to the standard light color (2700K).

The Big Ass Fans i6 model comes with an adjustable color temperature (2200K to 6500K) light kit. I hope at some point the light kits for Haiku fans will have the same option. But, for now, they don’t.


Where to buy Haiku fans?

If you know you want a Big Ass fan, I recommend buying from the Big Ass Fans website. Their website let’s you “build” your own fan so you can be sure you get the exact features you want. You’ll also get live chat with sales reps that can immediately answer any questions.

However, if you’re still shopping around, I recommend lumens.com. They have an incredible selection of ceiling fans. They also have a big selection of modern lighting and home decor so you can find the perfect items to match your fan. Plus, they have a price match guarantee so you won’t ever pay too much.

Finally, if you want to get it quickly, Amazon has some of the Haiku fans available with Prime shipping.


Final Thoughts

The hardware of the Big Ass Fans is outstanding. The motor, the blades, the look, and the sound (or lack thereof) are all top of the line and befitting of a luxury fan. Plus, they are made in the USA.

I don’t believe there’s anything else like it on the market right now. Therefore, if you like what you see, and you’re willing to fork over the cash, you can expect to get an amazing ceiling fan.


Do you have any experience with Haiku fans? Do you have any questions I didn’t answer? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll be happy to respond!

29 thoughts on “Haiku Fan Review: A premium product with a premium price tag”

  1. These are great, i am currently renovating my house, and these will look great. i like that you can have them connected via wifi, and the motion sensor capability. plus they carry a style and sophistication that you do not normally see in a ceiling fan. Cheers

  2. I love Big Ass fans! The lowly ceiling fan was a long neglected item that needed some innovation. The Haiku seems like a really great model, I can’t afford one yet but it is definitely on my wish list.

  3. These big fans are so cool. I really like all the wi fi features. I have a friend that’s remodeling his home and I’ll definitely be turning him on to your website. Thanks for the great post! Do you think it’s better to order from the manufacturer or from Amazon?

    1. Well, if you are looking to buy both the fan and the wall control, it is currently cheaper to order it all from the manufacturer. However, if you just want to get the fan with the built-in WiFi unit, Amazon is a little cheaper right now.
      But, it’s probably best to check both places since prices do change especially on a product that is as new as this one.

  4. What a great review! These are such great looking fans. I love the idea of motion sensors. My family are always switching these on and forgetting to switch them off when they leave. How long do they remain ON for before switching themselves off?

    Do they only come with 3 blades only or are there 4 blade models available also?

    1. Haiku fans are very energy efficient. They exceed energy efficiency standards by 450%. So even if you run your fan 100% of the time, the annual cost would only be $10-15. That said, the timer for the motion sensor is adjustable.
      The Haiku fans only come with 3 blades. If a blade is designed well aerodynamically, that is all that is needed.

  5. The streamlined and fresh look of these fans is pretty impressive! But honestly, the fantastic features like being able to adjust humidity and temperature automatically with the wall unit is what sells them to me. We live in an area of the country where a ceiling fan in each room is the norm even with air conditioning. I see us investing in these in the very near future. Beautiful, functional, and life changing. Thanks for the in-depth review

    1. Keep in mind that the fan cannot actually adjust humidity or temperature. It does sense humidity and temperature if you have the wall control. It uses this information to adjust the fan speed. For example, if it senses that it is warmer or more humid than your preferred settings, it will increase the speed of the fan to cool you off. This wouldn’t change the air temperature or humidity but it would make you feel cooler.

  6. Beautiful fans with such options. Sense Me technology is quite innovative. I can see how this would save on both heating and cooling costs over time. I would put these fans in my house as they serve a good purpose and are great looking. Most ceiling fans seem inefficient and ugly. 3 blades is perfect for air flow and easier to keep clean.

  7. How well does the L Series fan work on its lowest speed setting? My application is for the fan in a study where it is mounted close to my desk. I don’t want papers to be blowing around the desk.

    1. On its lowest speed, the L Series operates at 60 rpm. Assuming the surface of the desk is 4′-5′ below the fan, any draft should be barely noticeable.
      You may have heard that for winter operation, ceiling fans should be reversed during winter. The idea is that it’s the best way to mix the air without also causing a draft from the fan blowing directly on you. The makers of the L Series don’t recommend reversing it during winter because, at its lowest speeds, the Haiku is designed specifically to provide desirable air mixing effects without creating a draft.
      Hope this helps and thanks for reading!

  8. Love that someone has finally put effort into a fan. But it’s idiotic that they sell the fan with the wall switch as an option. Who in their right mind wants to use an app or find a remote to turn the light on every time you walk into a room. They need to include the wall switch as standard. Oh, and their website is a confusing mess. That’s all.

    1. Sam, the fan comes with the remote and a remote holder that can be mounted on the wall. So if you want, you could mount the holder wherever you would normally have a wall switch. The separate (optional) wall control is required only if you want automated control of the fan. It includes sensors for motion and temperature which allow it automatically turn on/off when you enter/leave the room or control fan speed based on the temperature.

  9. I am planning to place them in an outdoor porch. I live in south Florida where it’s hot and humid pretty much all year long. My concrrn is how much air can it move or how much cooler can a patio feel on it’s highest setting. I have gobe through 3 different fand already and they don’t seem to do the work, this is the reason to consider a higher price range. All fans talk aboul air movement in CFPM, I do not see Hauku mention this anywhere, how can I compare them?

    Thank you for the informative review.

    1. According to this link, the Haiku L Series puts out 5216 CFPM on its highest setting. How much you can feel the air movement will depend a lot on the height of the fan. If your porch ceiling is higher than 8 feet you may want to look into (if you haven’t already) using downrods.

  10. HI The fans look amazing and covering a range of worthwhile control options. Using with Amazon Echo might be my choice does this require a higher bandwidth of wifi to accommodate this new device?
    How long is the warranty period?
    Does the manufacturer offer trade deals and if so what is minimum order number for Haiku L series
    What is delivery time?
    Thanks Bill

    1. Hi Bill,
      -This won’t require any significant amount of extra WiFi bandwidth. However, any time you add more devices to your WiFi network it slowly becomes more congested.
      -The L-series comes with a limited lifetime warranty. Go here for the specifics: http://guides.haikuhome.com/warranties/Warranty_HaikuCeilingFans.pdf?_ga=1.101330503.756728427.1474725401
      -I don’t know about any deals. You’d have to talk directly to the manufacturer about that.
      -If you order from Amazon, you can get free 2-day shipping with a subscription to Amazon Prime.

  11. I installed three of these in my new home. Two of them had a high speed wobble. Haiku was great about assessing and fixing the problem. One was caused by furniture creating uneven air currents. The other was cause by a warped air foil. They replaced the fan immediately. The only down side was because they balance them as a unit, they won’t just replace the airfoils the whole unit will be replaced.
    We love them

    1. Thanks for your comment. Glad to hear BAF made it right.
      Did you purchase the wall control, too? What do you think of the Haiku Home app (here have been some complaints about the Android version)?

  12. Hi Just wondering if I have 2 fans in different rooms do I have to buy 2 wall mounted controls? Couldnt find this anywhere. thanks

    1. The system is mostly designed to have a wall control in each room. But it’s not 100% required.
      The motion sensor for the L series fans is inside the wall control. If you have 2 fans in separate rooms, but a wall control in only one room, you won’t get accurate motion sensing for each fan and light. Therefore, the automatic on/off control of the fan and lights would only work for the room with the wall control.

  13. Iโ€™ve had 2 Haiku fans for about 5-7 years – love them and the company customer service!

    I see they now have up lighting and UV lighting. Can either of these be retrofitted to my existing fans?

  14. Very sleek interesting fan. What is this MFGโ€™ s country of origin? Where are Haiku fans manufactured, hopefully not China?

  15. I bought a home with 5 Haiku fans and they are the bane of my existence. Over engineered smart fans are simply an unnecessary way for the rich to spend more. And when they break, itโ€™s a nightmare to fix. One of the fans in my home has been beeping relentlessly for 5 days and counting. Itโ€™s too complicated for local electricians and the app Big Ass Fans say they have for these fans isnโ€™t on the apple store. Rather than spending thousands on a n over engineered smart fan, just buy a simple fan that works

  16. Iโ€™m looking to buying a haiku L series but also exploring the original haiku version. Other than the sense me technology, would you say the performance are the same for both? Or said differently, what are the difference in the two series?

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