Noise from cooling fan

The hot weather has made me look for a cooling fan. I thought a pedestal fan would be quieter than a tower fan but this site says the opposite:

"Noise can also be a factor. In this category, tower fans win hands down."

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Is he right?

Reply to
pamela
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I think it can depend on makes and models.

For the least amount of noise, intrusion and the best effect in use I think the ceiling fans take a lot of beating. We have one in the lounge and one in our bedroom and it can feel very oppressive if we go somewhere where there isn't such a thing.

For low noise and a good (noticeable) air flow you need a big fan turning slowly or the fan somewhere else and ducting taking the air where you want it.

If you are using a conventional floor / table mounted fan I would tend to try to get air circulating within a (smaller / square) room and so position the fan to blow along one wall, rather than have it oscillating around the middle.

OOI we have a split unit aircon in the middle bedroom and have experimented with screening off the landing from the rest of the house (polythene sheet on a batten) and leaving all 3 bedroom doors ajar and on the hottest of nights waking up to a chilly 20 degrees. The realisation of how warm it may have been otherwise was when you walked though the 'curtain' into the heat of the rest of the house! ;-(

Maybe with all this global warming we (in the UK) might start to consider the routine fitment of housewide coverage of aircon (as we do heating) and then at least there would be some direct justification for also having solar panels. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

Have you looked at, or more specifically listened to, the Dyson fan? Doesn't rely on rotating blades in the same way as most fans do, but uses some sort of venturi effect AFAICS. I've never come across one so can't recommend it from experience, and I know Dyson doesn't always engender the best opinions about his stuff, but at least worth a listen, I should think.

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Reply to
Chris Hogg

100% agreed.

We have four. We might be about to buy another.

On higher speeds, even they are noisier than I would like, but at low speed they are far more acceptable than any other sort I have used.

Reply to
polygonum

And for me I'd go as far as to say the gentle sound of the slow speed actually helps me with my Tinnitus. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

Mine is quieter in the room but downstairs I can hear it through the floor. I imagine it depends on the coupling to the floor and how well ballanced the fan is. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

I've not heard one in the flesh either but a mate bought one (possibly an early model) and he said it was pretty noisy?

It must have been if the new version is 75% quieter! ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

Make one.

BladeLess Fan - How to Make it - Dyson Fan DIY

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I have used the real thing in a very warm office. Works well, but given the cost may as well purchase a portable air conditioner thing.

Reply to
Adrian Caspersz

An elderly almost chair bound relative bought one last month. More money than I would have considered for a fan and like some the name Dyson almost puts me off but I have to admit the fan is very effective and didn't seem noisy, she has the AM06 which is the round shaped desk one. One think she likes is the lack of blades which she found in her situation of being stuck in an armchair for hours became a visual irritant whirring round just in her vision for hours on end. Without any she can position the fan closer so that it can be run slower so that could be helping the quietness. And the remote control is ideal for someone with limited mobility who has no one else around to adjust things, before the visiting carer would set up a conventional fan on the morning visit and our relative was stuck with it for the rest of day until her daughter or neighbour dropped in late afternoon for the daily visit.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

Yess it does. standard ducted fan. Just buried in the woodwork

but

Scroll down to see the impeller arrangement

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I use big 110V US ceiling fans.\, the slower speeds makes them quieter and they are much cheaper, even when the PUS costs are included.

Aircon units are useful, but mainly for cheap heating in winter.

Reply to
Capitol

Those Dysons aren't cheap. No wonder the NHS is short of money.

Reply to
pamela

The Natural Philosopher a écrit :

Well that's blown all the theories on how they work. I was guessing at some fancy electrostatic method of operation lol

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Basically, the larger the fan, the slower it needs to turn for a given air flow. So hopefully quieter too.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

That's what is universally used in the hotter parts of the world where aircon is to expensive to buy or run. A big slow ceiling fan just enough to get the air slowly moving makes a huge difference to the comfort of a room and is barel audible.

The standard 8' ceiling height of a UK house means that a ceiling fan may well have to rather to close to the ceiling but it'll still be better than the draft from a convential relatively high speed desk/pedistal fan.

Or just have a house with high thermal mass, was well above 25 C outside yesterday, the didn't get much above 20 C.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

When my aunt was in hospital during a _very_ hot summer, there were no fans available for the patients - her son-in-law (a consultant at the same hospital) provided the one from his office for her.

Reply to
S Viemeister

I hadn't thought of using a ceiling fan but it seems like a good idea especially its slow moving quieter operation.

I will also get a floor fan but am not sure which type tends to be quietest. I already have a good pedestal fan which is quiet and a cheap Tesco tower fan which is noisy. But the article I quoted suggests tower fans should be quieter so I'm not sure what to get and I can't manage to hear the thing first.

Reply to
pamela

Once upon a time I understood a little bit (or so I thought) about radial and cross flow fans, static air pressure and all that but now my mind is almost a total blank and what I do recall seems incorrect. Oh dear.

My very imperfect recall tells me the axial fan (pedestal type) is quieter and also has a better "throw" for the moving air column. The web pages tell me different. I'm not sure what to believe!

Reply to
pamela

Well, you could look at expensive cars. They all need efficient fans that are as quiet as possible. Both for cooling the radiator and heating or cooling the interior.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Reply to
Brain Gaff

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