battery-powered fans?

[user 19146]

just a fyi fathers day is coming fast. so Home Depot will have Ryobi tools on sale for about a week before the big day.

 

[Morgana]

Yeah, one round of cyber beer, on me.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Ah...cyber beer...virtual wine....imagination libations....its all good.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I have a bag of Craftsman power tools I bought last year to work on my van with. They aren't the Craftsman I grew up with, but for $199 they get the job done. Except the circular saw blew up and made magic smoke the first time I used it.
Well last time I went up in Lowes they had little fans that run off the same 20V batteries for $19.95.
If I didn't already have 4 batteries I'd have skipped it. Not worth $50-100 for the cells by itself.
But man, that little sucker gets the job done. At the lowest setting it's good enough in 90 degree weather.
And it will run all day on a single battery charge.

 

[Steve]

To answer the OP's question, a larger blade will in general be quieter and more efficient than a smaller blade attempting to compensate by spinning at a higher RPM.

Steve

 

[CoyoteG]

Beer?

 

[Editha]

Hi there -

You could use an inverter with a fan with a rechargeable battery as one solution.

I use a Litmor TurboAir Rechargeable fan. It oscillates and has 4 different fan speeds, including an Eco mode. It uses 24wH which is very drain and it is very powerful. On Eco (the lowest) mode, it will run for 12 hours on battery and I can still feel air from one end of my Sprinter to the other. I rarely use the highest setting because it's just too forceful. (A nice added feature is a built in lamp in the handle and a remote control that can control it from across the van. It costs around $100.00 and has a one-year warranty.)

If you don't have solar, etc. in your car, I would recommend getting a small, portable inverter (it allows you to run typical appliances) that will fit in your cigarette lighter holder - and use that to recharge anything that needs to be charged up. You can get them for under $50.00 on Amazon.

I lived off-grid in northern NY and one morning woke up to an issue where I had no electricity. I pulled up my truck, plugged my inverter in and ran my computer and lights (while the truck was running, of course). I've used inverters for years with a variety of devices. They are reliable and SO handy when you don't have a source of accessible electricity - but you do have a car.

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[thebarefootbadger]

I have a little battery-powered fan and I swear I can hold that thing right up to my nose and barely feel a breeze. (The blades are circulating fast enough that I can't see them, so I think it's working as it's meant to, but it's just not moving much air.)

Is it worth investing in a bigger, more expensive version, or would that just be throwing good money after bad?
In other words, do these things ever work?

(As I have probably mentioned ad nauseam already, I'm approaching this whole thing slowly and on a pretty tight budget, so for the moment I'm not interested in a proper air conditioning system, or an electricity generating system to run it, just something hopefully affordable to help a bit with cooling for now.)

Does anybody have a buying tip or favorite brand? or would you say "forget it, those things don't work"?

Thanks as always.

I have a Bravedge fan and I like it a lot. It recharges from the car battery. It's a combination of battery pack, fan and led lights, with a clip. It will last up to 40 hours on low, or overnight on high. It's small but it will circulate the air and provide a nice little breeze close up. I also use it as my middle-of-the-night car light, and it has enough juice to recharge my phone.

If you want a mid-range answer for power that's a lot cheaper than a full electrical system but still provides a good source of power for small things - lights, fan, a little hand warmer, phone, possibly laptop recharge, try a car jumper battery bank. They're about $70-$120 and shockingly small - I have one about the size of my phone and an inch thick. And, of course, it provides the added benefit of being able to jump start your car. I can't find the one I own, but something like this - power pack jump starter