Does anyone use a high velocity fan in the house?

[Mai72]

I was in Walmart last week and I made an impulse buy. I bought a high velocity fan without even checking out the print. It says that these type of fans are best used in garages and workshops. A place with large space.

I got home, set this baby up and wow! It blows some air. I'm actually going to keep it. The issue is it's so strong that I need to keep it at a far distance when I'm sleeping. I like to have my fan on me when I'm in bed.

So, my question is what should I expect my energy bill to look like? The reason I bought the fan was to save money. I have an new air conditioner, but if I can use this fan for most of the summer that would be great.

The fan is 120V 60Hz 1.35A 162W

I have this fan running when I'm home. I'll have it on when I'm sleeping as well. This fan could be on 10 hours a day. Maybe more or less depending on my schedule. I do leave it on low speed as well. Thanks.

 

[lxskllr]

It'll cost about 10¢ for every six hours of operation.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I do the same thing. I have an ancient Panasonic 16" fan that I use, most often blowing out of the bedroom trying to suck some cool air through the window, under which is the head of my bed. When the air is coming in that window, it's like being under a cool waterfall. On really warm nights I direct the fan along the wall adjacent to the bed, which results in a somewhat 'random' breeze from the reflected air. A fan blowing directly on me becomes annoying after a short while.

A couple years ago I bought a Lasko 20" Wind Machine, but it's too loud for the bedroom, even on the lowest speed. I use it sometimes at night to exhaust warm air by putting it in front of the back door.

 

[Elixer]

My biggest issue with these kinds of fans is, they are way too loud, even on the lowest setting, when trying to fall asleep.

That is why I installed a ceiling fan.

 

[Charmonium]

IIRC, a 5k btu a/c pulls around 700watts. So your fan is drawing less than a quarter of that. Of course the a/c isn't on 24/7 since it cycles whereas the fan is. So figure on average maybe, just guessing, the fan would be half of a 5k a/c.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have two, one I treat more as an industrial fan (ex: basement, garage stuff, it's more dirty due to the environment it's in) and another I keep around to blow directly on me as needed. Like after I come in the house on a really hot day and I'm all sweaty I'll just have it blow directly on me to cool off faster. I normally don't leave it on for extended time though as it's quite loud, but it sure moves a lot of air! For a bedroom fan a standard desk fan is probably the best bet. Some of those have a decent velocity to them on the high setting too if you need that.

As far as high velocity fans the Honeywell ones are actually quite nice. The other one I have is called Turboaire and I find the build quality is not as good, a lot of the plastic vibrates. I had to hot glue all the edges to dappen it.

 

[Mai72]

I have two, one I treat more as an industrial fan (ex: basement, garage stuff, it's more dirty due to the environment it's in) and another I keep around to blow directly on me as needed. Like after I come in the house on a really hot day and I'm all sweaty I'll just have it blow directly on me to cool off faster. I normally don't leave it on for extended time though as it's quite loud, but it sure moves a lot of air! For a bedroom fan a standard desk fan is probably the best bet. Some of those have a decent velocity to them on the high setting too if you need that.

As far as high velocity fans the Honeywell ones are actually quite nice. The other one I have is called Turboaire and I find the build quality is not as good, a lot of the plastic vibrates. I had to hot glue all the edges to dappen it.

Hey Red,

How much is your electric bill when you have these fans running? Is it expensive?

Thanks.

 

[angminas]

I use the Wind Machines that are about $10 less than that HV fan. The WM on high is about as strong as the HV on medium, so you only need the HV if you're going to use it on high. I considered getting a HV, but it's just overkill for my applications. Also, it doesn't have the convenient handle at the top. I grew up poor, so I'm used to the noise and feel of a fan blowing on me all summer. White noise is a great cushion against neighbor noise.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I was in Walmart last week and I made an impulse buy. I bought a high velocity fan without even checking out the print. It says that these type of fans are best used in garages and workshops. A place with large space.

I got home, set this baby up and wow! It blows some air. I'm actually going to keep it. The issue is it's so strong that I need to keep it at a far distance when I'm sleeping. I like to have my fan on me when I'm in bed.

So, my question is what should I expect my energy bill to look like? The reason I bought the fan was to save money. I have an new air conditioner, but if I can use this fan for most of the summer that would be great.

The fan is 120V 60Hz 1.35A 162W

I have this fan running when I'm home. I'll have it on when I'm sleeping as well. This fan could be on 10 hours a day. Maybe more or less depending on my schedule. I do leave it on low speed as well. Thanks.

For what it's worth, my small-ish townhome has a single AC unit in the wall in the living room, I use a decent sized drum 'shop fan' that I got for like 60 bucks from Lowes to push air from the relatively cool parts of the house into our warmer bedroom (2x computers in there). Awkward to have it in a weird place to move that air but it's cheaper than buying/running another A/C. It's not quiet but it moves a lot of air, and having it in another room helps a lot.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Hey Red,

How much is your electric bill when you have these fans running? Is it expensive?

Thanks.

I never measured and we get anally raped for hydro here whether we use it or we don't due to all the fixed fees, so it would barely make a dent. I can measure it later though. My guess is that it draws maybe a bit over an amp.

Edit: Just tested mine, 0.7 amps on lowest setting, and 1 amp on highest, middle setting is barely no difference. Interesting, actually. So as far as energy usage it seems it's more efficient on the higher settings. Ex: more CFM / watt.

So at 1 amp we'll say about 120 watts. Or 2.88kwh per day. Here that is about 52 cents per day.

 

[Pulsar]

Look up 'whole house' fan. You can make the house extremely cool with nice breezes if you set the fan up to exhaust into the attic through the ceiling in a room. That will pull air through the whole house, plus force the hot attic air out and act as a thermal barrier between the roof and the ceiling.

 

[Fir]

Look up 'whole house' fan. You can make the house extremely cool with nice breezes if you set the fan up to exhaust into the attic through the ceiling in a room. That will pull air through the whole house, plus force the hot attic air out and act as a thermal barrier between the roof and the ceiling.

Yeah we have one and you're basically correct on all points but from experience it definitely has its downfalls.
If anyone in the house suffers from allergies, you will be sorry.
If you live in a rural area like on a farm or ranch you will be dusting a lot. (or living in a house that looks like the Munsters!)
If you have any lights on in rooms with screens, the air flowing in will bring every bug that can fit through a screen inside. Doesn't sound bad until you realize those can be the most annoying. Especially those damn noseeums!

And high velocity fan? Haven't heard that term used for a while. I remember those made in USA fans with blue blades. Patton and Lakewood were the most popular brands. Big motors with steeply pitched aluminum blades on those. Put them in a 8x10 bedroom, turning switch on high and you got treated with blacklight posters getting ripped off the wall.

If you want to move a torrent of air and not feel like you're sleeping on a damn Cessna, try one of those squirrel cage blower fans they use to dry floors. Probably no one has blacklight posters (or remembers them hehe) so no fear if you want to crank it up to 11.

They don't chop your voice like the four bladed box fans either so you'll have to find another way to sound like Lord Vader if the mood arises.