Maybe you have seen our article about mini-coolers and thought that they are good. However, perhaps you are thinking that you want something even more portable, such as a personal fan. Well, luckily for you, today, we are going to focus on the small but cool ideas that are personal fans. However, we won’t be going into specific products too much. Instead, we will look through the features that you can get, and why you should take advantage, or avoid each.
Contents
Personal Fan – What To Look For
Although the majority of these handy fans are pretty cheap, you still need to know what to look for in order to get the best deal out of your purchase. Gone are the days of the only personal fan that you could buy being one of the foam bladed AA powered, weak items that couldn’t blow a skin off custard. Now, there are so many options that you can choose from, with many different features that you can take advantage of.
Clips
The first thing that you should think about is if you want a personal fan with a clip or not. Having a clip on a fan can help you if you are at a desk a lot, but they can get in the way if you are wanting to carry it around with you. However, not all of the clip fans will only hold on to a desk or similar. There are varieties of clip fans that will clip onto the peak of a cap meaning that you can use it hands-free.
Others have a flexible stem on the clip for easy positioning of the fan, no matter where you clip it. Although, that type of fan is not going to look very good on a cap!
Handheld Personal Fan
The only other alternative to a clip fan is to have one that is handheld. However, do not think that handheld fans are all generic and boring. There are so many styles that you can get of the handheld variant that you could be left not knowing which you want.
Of course, the main advantage of a handheld personal fan is that you can carry them with you no matter where you are.
Wearable
There are not many wearable personal fans on the market, but they do exist. While the clip fan that clips onto your baseball cap is technically “wearable,” it is only wearable in conjunction with a cap: You take the cap off, you are no longer cooled by the fan.
One of, if not the best wearable personal fans that we have ever seen is the Blaux Wearable AC. It is a little like a collar that goes around the neck and directs cool air onto your face and neck. However, there are also cheaper alternatives that are more like conventional fans that you also wear around your neck.
Power Sources
Of course, you are not going to find a personal fan that is powered by the mains outlet. That limits the power source to almost completely batteries. But, there are still some other considerations that you need to think about when you look at how the fan is powered. Here are some of the primary options:
- Replaceable batteries
- Internal, non-replaceable batteries
- Solar-powered
- Hand-powered
There are advantages and disadvantages to each of the power options, though. For example, replaceable batteries will need changing if you have the fan operating for a long time, but it is easy enough to keep a spare set with you. Furthermore, you can use rechargeable batteries so that you can charge them while you are not using them.
Internal, non-replaceable batteries are a good option if you find one with a long life. However, once the battery is flat, there is no way of replacing them but manufacturers often use Li-ion batteries that will charge quickly. Some of the personal fans with internal batteries will also have charging stations which can make it look nicer than having a USB lead plugged in.
Solar-powered personal fans obviously do not need batteries, so there is no requirement to change them. However, there are days that it is not bright enough to operate the fan, but it is too hot to not have a fan. Some may have solar charging capabilities, but the size of the solar panels will mean that it will take a long time to charge.
Hand powered fans are pretty cool as they will not run out of battery. However, you have to squeeze the handle to make them work, which, in my opinion, defeats the object a little.
Blade Type
The type of blade may not be your first consideration, but it certainly should be one of them. All personal fans will need safety features, and most of the safety revolves around the fan blades. There are often three options that you have for blades:
- Foam
- Caged
- Bladeless
Foam blades are the most common for any persona fan that you see. However, there are times that there just is not enough breeze made by them as they bend while rotating, and flatten out somewhat. Having said that though, they are the safest choice for children, as they won’t hurt little fingers, even if they get a fright by touching them!
Caged, although relatively safe, are a bit of a hit or miss as to whether they are entirely childproof. The reason for that is the size of the mesh used for the cage. If it is a small enough cage, then you are probably safe to give it to a child, but make sure to use your discretion and always keep an eye on them.
Bladeless fans, invented by Dyson, are becoming more popular because of the safety and the quietness of them – they are both huge benefits. That is another plus point of the Blaux Wearable AC that we mentioned earlier in the article.
Alternative Accessories
There is not a huge amount of accessories that you can have with a personal fan, but there are some. Therefore, you should take your time to look through the options and see what you have available to you before making the purchase. I will try to run through all of the ones that there are, but I imagine that there will be more by the time you are reading this.
We have already mentioned some of these options throughout the article, but I will still list them here.
- Clips
- Straps (wrist or neck)
- Charging docks
- Misting
- Foldable handle. – These handles can sometimes allow you to stand the fan up and point it towards you while you are at a desk.
- Foldable blades for storage
- Flexible stems
- Nightlight
- Novelty appearance
- Wearable (usually around the neck)
- Dual fan blades
- Flexible tripod for gripping or standing
While it is likely that there are more options on the market now, this list is the majority of useful accessories that we have come across in our time reviewing fans. You should think about everywhere that you are likely to use the fan, and think about how each of these will help you, or not.
Conclusion
There are so many personal fans on the market that it is difficult for anyone to give a complete overview of the available options. However, we think that we have covered the majority of the worthwhile options in this article. Throughout our testing and research of fans, there has been a clear winner so far. That is the Blaux Wearable AC. If you would like to find out more about it, then click on the link.
Other than that, I personally would opt for one of the bladeless variants that have a folding handle so that you can stand it up on your desk. I would also suggest one that utilizes a docking station so that you can use it at work and then on the way home, too. However, you have to weigh up the pros and cons of having a built-in battery over the changeability of fans that use AA batteries, and the like.
