window fan recommendations - any differentiators?

geepondy

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Apr 15, 2001
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This weekend I am going to go looking for a window fan, the dual fan kind. Any recommendations or differentiators? Some time ago I bought a fan that had a variable speed control as opposed to the typical three speed setting. It worked with a slider lever that was very difficult to adjust as there was very little spacing between slow and high. I don't mind the noise providing it is white noise of moving air as opposed to a poorly constructed fan that you hear things clanking around.

Between Walmart, Home Depot and Target, would one of the stores stand out in this department? I'm thinking Target might carry better brands?
 

TedTheLed

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Feb 22, 2006
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Ventura, CA.
I like this one Patton fan
No rattle even at the highest setting, which is like a hurrricane blowing through your house.. I used this one just set on a window sill, it could clear the air out of the entire house in a few seconds set on high, while blowing everything off the desks.. I don't know if they make a window-specific unit, Patton has a 10 year guarantee..(never needed it)
 

SilverFox

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Jan 19, 2003
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Bellingham WA
Hello Geepondy,

Last summer we got a couple of Holmes Blizzard Oscillating fans, model HAPF622R. I believe Bed Bath & Beyond had them for around $30.

We have been very impressed with them.

I wouldn't consider the remote control a "feature," but it is fun to play with.

It has a rotating grill that acts as an oscillator, and it works very well. 3 speeds seem to be the norm, but this one has a timer that runs the fan up to 7.5 hours then it shuts off. It has a simulated breeze mode (2 different settings) that vary the fan speed to simulate a breeze blowing. I was not impressed with the simulated breeze, but my wife enjoys it, once in a while.

We only have one year of service, so far, but so far so good.

Tom
 

Sub_Umbra

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la bonne vie en Amérique
If you're goung to use it in exhaust mode nearly anything will work for a while. We've had fair results with the bigger Pattons but frankly, with heavy use I've never seen a motor on a Patton fan survive the warranty period -- though they seem to be better than anything else that is widely available. If I were a hardcore electrical type I often thought I'd buy a big Patton, run it 'til the motor pooped out and then go to Granger and spend whatever it took to put the best possible motor in to replace the stock one. That should make a pretty good exhaust fan.

For uses other than exhaust we greatly prefer ducted fans. The most famous (and expensive) ducted fan is the Vornado.

Pattons, ceiling fans and garden variety box fans put out a very broad, hollow cone of turbulent air. They are loud and often one must be quite close to one to have it's pattern hit you with a significant amount of air. (Being so close to it will also make it seem louder, too.) None of these factors are important if the fan is used in exhaust mode.

Ducted fans direct their oiutput into a tight, quiet, cohesive column of air that may be precisely directed to a specific point -- a point much farther away than an un-ducted fan may reach. Some of the advantages of ducted fans are that the user may utilize much smaller, cheaper and quieter fans to do the same job and the fan(s) won't have to sit on your lap to be effective. They may also be used 2" above the floor and pointed straight up to destratify the temperature differential between the normally cold floor and hot ceiling during the heating season.

We've been using this little fan for personal cooling for a few years, now. One is needed for each person, but they are very cheap. We keep a few NIP in stock all the time. The greatest weakness of the cheap ducted fans is that the stock base is never adjustable enough for me so I build little bases that allow full pan and tilt and when a fan breaks I just throw it out and put another of the same model on the homemade base.

As I said above, if all you need is an exhaust fan it's pretty hard to beat a Patton.
 
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