Direct Drive Vs Belt Driven Fans

Direct driven fans mount the motor to the fan shaft in order to directly transmit energy.

Direct drive vs belt driven fans.

On both direct drive and belt drive fans the motor has two bearings. Either of these motor mount options can typically be found in wall mount exhaust and supply fans roof mount exhaust and supply fans inline duct fans and air circulation products our goal with this post is to cover some of the main differences advantages and dis. Direct drive or belt drive. Deciding between a direct drive fan and a belt drive fan is fairly straightforward once you know all of your other variables like fan size application space fan speed needs and likely wear and tear in your application.

Greater efficiency is the biggest pro of direct drive fan configurations. The second pulley is connected to a shaft that drives the fan propeller. Direct drive fans have no power transmission loss since the propeller is directly connected to the motor shaft. Where on a belt drive fan the fan motor shaft has a pulley connected by a belt to a second pulley.

Unlike belt driven fans there s less energy loss because there s a reduced amount of friction as the fan operates. As energy costs increase it has become desirable to transition to a more efficient means of driving fan systems. In the former the motor connects to the fan wheel with nothing in between. Unlike the belt driven fans in case of a direct drive fan there is lesser energy loss.

This is because of the fact that the amount of friction is greatly reduced in case of this fan when the fan is operating. In the later there is a belt sometimes more than one connecting the motor to move the fan. On a direct drive fan as implied by the name the fan propeller is connected directly to the shaft of the motor. There s also no belt residue and these fans cost less to maintain generally speaking because belts don t wear down and break.

Belt drive fans have two additional bearings. The two bearings on direct drive fan motors which are 7 horsepower and larger are typically regreaseable. There are some advantages and dis advantages direct drive and belt drive exhaust fans and supply fans have over each other. It s a motor connected to your fan in one of only two ways.

Direct drive fans configure the overall fan and motor assembly in a narrower more straight line footprint than belt drive fans which tend to have shorter and wider footprints. Direct drive fans should be designed for acceptable bearing life.