Let's Talk About That Other Way Of Keeping Cool - Fans!

[launderess]

Though purchased last year didn't get much time to use my Patton fan before cooler weather made it not necessary.

Got the old girl out during lock down, took it apart to clean blades and blow dust off motor, but as thing had no oiling port didn't do anything along those lines. Buttoned things up and put here into service.

This Patton "Air Circulator" isn't powerful as the newer Honeywell (that died after about several years of near constant summer use), but still moves a good amount of air.

The Honeywell when angled right would actually pull enough air to move the drapes!

Like using fans when possible instead of AC for fresh air circulation and of course cooling.

 

[hobbyapocalypse]

My old Patton with the rotating grill, probably from the 1980's, is running right now. It's quiet and just enough to keep a little air moving in the office. My elderly parents gave it to me a few years ago because it quit running, but it was just a stuck motor shaft that needed oiling. They didn't want it back so it became mine.

I also have a big pedestal floor fan that someone threw to the curb because part of one of the 3 plastic blades was broken off and it was totally unbalanced. Well I just broke the other 2 blades the same way and it worked fine. But it too develops a stuck motor shaft every few years and needs to be disassembled and oiled.

Then there's the ceiling fan, also saved from the curb, which I hung from the end of a 2x4 in my bedroom in the last apartment I was renting. Saved cutting into the ceiling and wiring and all that which the landlord wouldn't like anyway.

I also have a nice vintage GE Vortalex. Got it with bent blades and a broken guard for practically nothing at an auction . I straightened the blades so it runs with no wobble but there's more work to do to get it looking nice as it should.

 

[DADoES]

 
I have three Windmaker fans.

-- A 10" that I bought 40-ish years ago.  It runs but the bearings are bad and the chrome finish is deteriorated.  RJ used it for a few years on the puppy-patio before it was closed-in as a puppy-room so it had some exposure to weather.

-- A 10" that I bought NIB from the long-closed Whirlpool dealer where I worked for several years when their son had an estate auction a few years ago.  I use it daily in the summer to blow at my front door when I open it in the evening to minimize exposure to the west setting sun.

-- Also a larger one from the sale (not NIB), maybe 16" (I don't recall all the sizes that Windmaker offered).  The chrome grill/cage is slightly pitted but it runs nicely.

Ceiling fans in the family room, office room, three bedrooms, master bathroom, and on the patio.  Family room runs 24/7.  Office room mostly 24/7.  Bedroom(s) (whichever one I choose) for nighty.  Master bath for assisting dispersal of moisture after a shower, and to assist when occasionally hanger-drying shirts.  Patio no longer works the last time I tried it.

A tiny desktop fan that I have blowing into one of the computers (with the case side-panel off) to assist cooling the video card on which the onboard fan is suffering questionable bearings.

 

[rp2813]

I have five fans going right now.  Just a little while ago the outside temperature equalized with inside so windows are open and fans have been placed in four of them.

 

Living room:  I have a large turquoise '50s Kenmore box fan with omni-directional grille, 3 knob-adusted speeds, and a three-bladed fan so well balanced that it takes 45 seconds or so to finally come to a stop after switching it off.  Super quiet on lowest speed, and it moves serious air, even on low.  $5 at a yard sale about ten years ago.

 

Master bedroom:  A "DVE" rotating louver fan from the '80s, black and silver, 3 buttons for speed, and grille's rotation speed is adjusted by a knob in the center of the grille that increases or decreases friction.  Still runs quiet.  I have no idea who the manufacturer is.  I've had to JB Weld the rear grille in spots due to breakage, but otherwise it looks good.  I belonged to my parents.

 

Side entrance/kitchen:  A DeLonghi rotating lover fan, white with gray buttions for 3 speeds and grille on/off, but the gears for the rotating grille stripped last year and it spins way too fast and makes an annoying not-meshing sound, so I stuffed a wedge in it to keep the grille stationary.  Not long for my particular world since "no user accessible parts inside" is the key term here.  $25 with free shipping from Macy's Santa Rosa in 1988 or so.  I got my money's worth.

 

Deserving only a mention is a vertical cylinder fan we got from Dave's daughter and SIL when they bought a house with central AC a few years ago.  It just finally stopped oscillating the other day.  It lasted longer than I expected.  For now it's in front of a dining room window, but it's headed for the curb soon.

 

Office/guest room:   My latest aquisition.  A medium size Lakewood box fan in almond.  Two speeds controlled by a knob on top, metal surround that's as thick/deep as a full size box fan, with plastic elongated egg crate grilles front and rear.  3-bladed plastic fan.  It's a nice size and does move air, but the distribution is weird.  It blows it way out to the extreme sides, top, and bottom of the grille and it's calm in the center.  Maybe it's an air circulator?  It also makes a rumbling sound like distant thunder, which I assume is a design flaw.  It had to have been under $10 at a thrift store or I wouldn't have bought it.

 

My small '30s Emerson oscillating fan sits atop my 1950 Admiral consolette TV in the office room too.  That's just for a bit of cooling on days that aren't so hot that the AC is needed.  It moves air well.  I think I got it for $10 on CL. 

 

My '48 Vortalex 12" oscillating fan is in the basement, and sometimes I do use it down there, but usually it's cool enough for no fan.  $5 at a thrift store back in the '70s.

 

I have pictures of some of them if anyone wants to see, and I can takes pix of others if there's interest.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

I have a couple 70's vintage Panasonics with Lexan blades but havent pulled them out this year. Instead Im using a late 40's 12" Emerson govt issue fan for the comp room thats been running days and is still cold to the touch. A late 40's GE Vorty pedestal fan I restored in my front room that runs a little warm after a few days but should be fine. And a 30's R&M 8" in my bedroom soon to replaced by a 1940 Emerson 12". The kitchen has a 20 year old tall Lasko squirrel cage style fan that runs weeks on end and is whisper quiet. I just bought a couple of rare Gilbert Windstreamer fans that look like diving helmets and push some serious air but are extremely quiet and may rotate them into service although I wouldnt trust them like an old Emerson. Seems those were the best pre 1950 fans of all time and built like battleships.

 

[supersuds]

1917 (latest patent date) 12-in.Westinghouse with six brass blades and a brass cage, supposed to be three-speed but really only works on one now. There's a little rumble indicating a worn bearing but nothing bad. The oscillator works great.

Late 1940s 10-in Emerson, which my parents bought when they were married. It lost its oscillator years ago but has held up beautifully otherwise, and gives the impression it would run indefinitely.

Late 1940s 10-in GE Vortalex with low miles. Cool design, but clearly flimsier than the Emerson and despite the fancy blades doesn't seem to either produce more of a breeze or be significantly quieter. So if you were buying one or the other back then, I'd take the Emerson. It has an oscillator but using it tends to cause a rattle.

A newish, small, all-plastic Vornado which is near-silent on the lowest speed, great for producing a little unobtrusive air circulation if you don't need a ferocious blast.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I love Westinghouse Mobilaire fans of all sizes with the steeply pitched blades and Vornado fans. I use a Vornado fan year round to supply white noise at night in my bedroom and, when the window AC units are operating, I use a second one in the kitchen to move cold air out of the room with the window unit. I wish we had known about these two great fans in the 50s and 60s when they would have been helpful in moving cold air around our house.

 

[philcobendixduo]

Patton Whole House Exhaust Fan

Here is my 1980's Patton Whole House Exhaust window fan.
I ordered it from the Montgomery Ward catalog and then picked it up at the store.
It does an excellent job of bringing cool air in overnight so I can keep the air conditioner off most of the day.
I used to leave it in the window and close the door to the room it's in during the day so hot outside air wouldn't permeate the house.
Now I have central A/C, I take the fan out of the window during the day and only put it in the window at night when needed.
It is VERY heavy!
I took the outside grill off because it got very rusty and it's really not needed anyway since there is a screen on the window and it's on the 2nd floor.
3 speeds and a thermostat (which I don't use - just turn it down all the way and let it run all night).
I also have two "Galaxy" oscillating fans in a beige color with brown/amber blades.

 

[rp2813]

Bill, I never thought of it, but my Kenmore box fan would probably work as a whole house exhaust fan if I turned it around in the window.  I might try that during the next warm spell.

 

[sudsmaster]

I've been practicing fanning for many years here.

Usually even on the hottest days, the ocean breezes move in at night and cool things down 10, 20 even 30 degrees. Then I open the windows and doors and use fans to suck the cool night air into the house. In the morning, the windows and doors get closed, shades drawn to try to minimize heating.

A few days each summer a true heat wave hits. That's when the ocean breezes reverse and the offshore breezes suck hot interior valley air out to the coast. For those few days I have a DeLonghi portable AC unit. But most of the time the fans do the trick.

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) is said to have remarked: The coldest winter I ever experienced was a summer in San Francisco"...

 

[perc-o-prince]

Thread timing

Funny- I literally just finished re-wiring a ca 1936 Heinz rubber fan. The base and blades are a rubber-like compound! Boy does she push some air! Now all I need to do is clean her up.

Nightly we have a cheap Honeywell plastic 3-speed in the bedroom window for pulling in cooler air as well as white-noise for Rich's tinitis. I have one of the same in my office.

Generally I prefer our Vornados. The largest is a 3-speed B28C1-1, and we use it in the lowest level to move air when the a/c is on. Does a nice job! The next one down is a B24C1-1 but I need to put a new switch on it. We have a smaller desk model (don't know the number) that we use on the screened porch.

We have a square wood-framed 3-speed hassock fan that we also use on the porch along with the little metal McKay that, again, really pushes a lot for it's size!

I cleaned up and re-wired an old 4-blade brass GE years ago that we use from time to time, but not that often.

Oh, and the whole-house fan that's mounted in the ceiling of the flower room at the end of the house. It sucks the drapes in several rooms over! LOL!

Chuck

 

[justjunque]

I have a few, because I like them, but they don't get used often.
I have allergies, so we rarely open the windows. In the warm weather, the a/c is on.
In the cold weather, the heat is on.
The in-between times, we play it by ear.
We have a couple of those bladeless Dyson oscillating fans that also function as heaters. One of those gets more use than anything else; more often in the winter, when we use it for a little extra heat in the tv room.

I have a couple of Westinghouse Mobilaires, because I think they're beautiful. But I never really use them.

Two Westinghouse Livelyaires. One was my paternal grandparents'. It was passed down to my parents in my childhood, and now I have it. I have a second one that I trash picked, because it was turquoise. It just caught my eye. However, the person who discarded it also cut off the power cord. So, it's just a piece of eye candy.

A Holmes three-speed box fan. Metal body, but plastic grilles and blades.
An Eskimo box fan. Sort of turquoise. Another trash pick. It required a thorough cleaning, because it was used in a restaurant kitchen, but it works perfectly. That one is all metal. I think it's made by McGraw Edison.

We've had a couple of newer, plastic bladed oscillating fans, but they never seem to live more than a couple/few years. I think our latest one still works, but we haven't used it in years.

I have wished that our house had a whole-house exhaust fan, for times when the pollen count isn't too high.
Ralph;
Bill's window-mounted exhaust fan has me thinking too! We're in a cape style house. I wonder if a powerful box fan in an upstairs window would move enough air to make a difference. Hmmm.

Barry
[this post was last edited: 6/11/2020-18:50]

 

[cfz2882]

clear blade fans...

...seem to have been common around 1969-87,starting with Sanyo,Toshiba,Panasonic and some other Japanese brands around 1969 and then US mfg:Galaxy,Lasco etc,started with the clear blades about 1977-blue,sometimes green up to ~1982,then "smoke" or bronze blades~1983 to the last.Usually 3 blades,but a ~1969 Toshiba "cool splinter" I had around 1980 had 4 blades in blue.I am sure japs meant "cool sprinter" Just got a ~1981 Galaxy with blue blade last week

 

[launderess]

Find if you keep things buttoned up with humidity and heat out (heavy dark drapes, shakes pulled, windows not wide open during heat of day), a place cooled down by AC running say at night will stay chilly enough most of next day.

Am running fan since late afternoon with AC turned off upon waking in morning. Thing are reasonably cool despite it being very humid and warm outdoors.

State of fans sold today in USA is a shame. Guess manufactuers think with AC so cheap these days (you can find junk ones from China good for a year or two at convenience stores), the need for good fans has died.

 

[philcobendixduo]

More on the Patton Whole House Window Fan

I pulled the manual for the Patton.
It is a 24" fan.
It has a 1/3 H.P. motor
3 deep pitch fan blades move a LOT of air even on low speed.
At high speed, if you don't open other windows, the walls could be sucked in (well, not really but it's powerful!)
I used to try the "box fan in a window" idea when I was younger but it was largely ineffective at moving much air.
Made in U.S.A. and all metal construction. Built to last.

 

[bradfordwhite]

It's got to be natural air flow or AC for me.

But when a fan is needed and it isn't built in like a rangehood or bath fan, a baby box fan from the 80s is preferred.

 

[bradfordwhite]

I have foil on nearly all the west facing windows here. That's when the sun, heat and humidity is worst.
What a difference it makes it keeping things cool.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I have 24 inch wide quilted foil that is sold as a radiant heat barrier for attics when installed just under the roof, that I have used on the outside of various windows, especially the 6 south-facing French Doors to really block heat from the sun.  Keeping the sun from striking the glass is the most efficient way to prevent heat from getting into the room because it keeps the glass cool. I also use the woven sun screen material made in frames like regular window screens to cut solar gain and to anchor the radiant foil on the French Doors.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

My place is small enough that my one-pipe American Standard air handlers provide enough circulation. Dehumidifiers handle the humidity........

Anyway, I saw this and have to say I'm impressed with how the text makes it into something it's not... without actually lying.

So is this breaking some laws of physics or is this just a gussied up swamp cooler?

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