Unless you live in an igloo frozen onto the tundra of Antarctica, you probably can benefit from the soothing breezes produced by fans. Even your office, home theatre, and pro audio equipment need cooling fans. Fans are beneficial for obvious reasons like human comfort and lower AC bills but are used wisely for several less obvious reasons. For example, maintaining optimal temperatures for equipment, cooling fans are required. Surprising pro tip: by using a ceiling fan switched to blow upwards, you actually move heat around the room and will lower your heating bill. Moving air in a room also reduces the level of allergens in the air. This often under-publicized benefit prevents asthma and allergies from getting out of control.
The property experts at Utopia Management work with all sorts of homes and offices throughout their years in real estate and share these insights on choosing fans for various benefits.
Know the Features and Type That You Want
Not all cooling fans come with the same features. However, most cooling fans include blades, a power source, a housing unit, and a structure that keeps the fan upright like legs or a stand. Not all fans have the same basic features, which means you should research the following different types of fans to help you decide on which type to select for your home or business.
Cooling Fan
Overheating is a common issue with servers, hi-fi and audio equipment, and other electronics. Choose cooling fans for a specific type of equipment, and consult with an electronics expert on which fan will maintain your equipment. You may need a single piece for just one amplifier, or a system to cool an entire server rack, for example. This certainly applies in most offices and commercial settings, but even home theatre systems can benefit from cooling fans.
Tower Fan
A long vertically designed housing unit fits in tight spaces, which makes a tower fan ideal for placement in areas such as a basement or a garage. The cooling mechanism is set along most of the height of a tower fan. This means a tower fan works best in cooling areas that have plenty of space between the floor and the ceiling.
Table Fan
A smaller fan than most, a table fan produces air that directly cools the body. This type of fan is designed to work best while sitting on top of a desk, coffee table, or kitchen countertop. Many consumers that buy a table fan place it in the kitchen to cool down the heat source that is used for cooking meals.
Centrifugal Fan
Designed with blades arranged perpendicularly to the airflow, a centrifugal fan shoots out cool air on a flat plane, as opposed to dispersing air in a broader area. This is the type of fan that you want to buy for drying up moist areas of a damp location in your home or business.
Freestanding Fan
As the most portable type of fan, a freestanding fan cools smaller areas than the typical cooling fan. Attach the fan to an upright support material like a pole or a wooden beam to keep cool while you work on a home improvement project.
Location, Location, Location
Where you want to place a fan determines many of the specifications of the fan, such as size, type, power source, and cooling capacity. Some brands of fans come with wheels and handles that give users plenty of mobility when deciding where to place a fan. Other brands of cooling fans include attachments that allow you to mount a fan on a wall or to the side of a table.
You also have to consider the length of the cord that gives a fan the juice it needs to works its cooling magic.
How Much Power Do You Need?
The amount of cooling power for a fan is an important consideration. Fan airflow measures in cubic feet per minute coverage, which is about the amount of cool air flowing past a given area every 60 seconds. Power is all about air push, which means that if you have to cool a relatively large area, you want a fan that possesses the power to get the job done. Too much power can create uncomfortable environments that diminish effectiveness.
Ease of Cleaning & Maintenance
How easy it is to remove the dust that accumulates on a cooling fan’s blades can make the difference in the brand and type of cooling fan you decide to purchase, comments professional office hygienist Dmitri Kara. You do not want to own a cooling fan that requires an engineering degree to clean and sanitize. A cooling fan that is easy to disassemble and re-assemble allows you to wipe down the blades quickly by using a damp microfiber cloth, the expert ads.
The last factor to consider for buying a cooling fan is the noise level. Some cooling fans-especially those used for commercial purposes-emit loud noises that can be distracting. If you want a cooling fan to keep you comfortable while you sleep, you certainly want to avoid the larger, faster-rotating types that produce loud noises.