It seems like every couple I know has the same problem. One likes the room hot, the other cool. My wife sleeps under multiple blankets, while I have at least two fans on. My home is full of fans of all sizes and speeds. Not only do I like it cooler, but I like moving air. For this reason, I have found that traveling with small portable fans makes my life more comfortable. Whether on an airplane with poor circulation, on a hot bus, or in my cabin, the breeze from a fan helps me enjoy the setting. As you could guess, not all fans are created equal. I have some good ones and some bad ones. Here are some tips that I hope help you select the right fan.
What should you look for in a portable fan? Here are my criteria:
Size. Yes, the fan must be small – in all three dimensions. I made the mistake in some of my earlier fans by selecting units that were fat. They are harder to fit in bags and to carry. My recommended dimensions are no larger than 8” tall x 6” wide x 2” deep. I bought fan #2 thinking it would be great for travel. While it is a great fan (I use it at my desk), it was just too thick to be easily carried.
Weight. Consider the weight. I have one fan (#3) that required 2 D-cell batteries. Needless to say, that is heavy and not very practical for travelling. My recommended maximum weight is 8-10 ounces. All the fans, except #3, meet that criteria.
Stability. Many of the fans I reviewed have small bases. While these are fine for an office environment, they do not work well on your airplane tray or in any moving environment.
Noise. Read the reviews. Many of the fans are noisy. I have found several that put out a lot of air and are not noisy. Generally, these also have more vanes on the fan.
Air Flow. The obvious reason for getting getting a fan is to move air. Some are better than others. Read the reviews, but, in the end, it is at best a crap shoot until you get the fan. Remember that higher speeds will also be noisier.
Ability to Direct Air Flow. Many fans are fixed and cannot be adjusted to put the air where you wish. Consider the construction to see how you can point the air in the direction you wish.
Durability. You will be carrying this fan in your bags where it will receive rough treatment. While it is difficult to determine the durability of a fan from online descriptions (they all say they are durable).
Power Sources. I like fans with rechargeable batteries, although not all my fans meet this criteria. At the very least, they must support a USB power source so that I can use them attached to my power brick when I am not near a conventional power source. I accidentally bought a fan that only uses batteries (#3) and, needless to say, it has limited value for me, although I does have a gently and quiet air flow. My latest fans will run on a full charge from 6-8 hours on a charge which gets me through most of the night. Or I can keep them plugged in to run continuously.
Of particular note is the first travel fan I purchased, which is not shown above. It had a rechargeable battery, common C-cell batteries, and a USB power source. On a flight to Venice via Frankfurt, I learned that Frankfurt has a bomb room. This fan confused the security agents, who thought it might contain explosive materials (it is not common to have both replaceable and internal rechargeable batteries). I had to demonstrate its functionality in this bomb room. Not only was my wife worried (she loves to watch movies where someone is whisked off at a foreign airport never to be seen again), but we were concerned about making our tight connection.
My Preferred Fan for Travel
The fan pictured to the right is my absolute favorite fan (#4 in the photo above). I have purchased two of them, one which I keep in by my reading chair, the other in my bedroom – and I travel with this fan on all my trips. It has a rechargeable battery that will run the fan for 6-8 hours on low setting, which is the only one I need. I can also run it from by charger brick, a wall-powered USB, or the USB port on my laptop. On top of that, it has a standard USB output port that can be used to charge your phone in an emergency. What I especially like is that is it stable with a stand that can be angled however you wish or used to hang on a peg. I use this fan at home, as well as on my travels. It has been durable – one of the fans has been used daily for over a year. And, as an added bonus, the packaging is some of the funniest translation I have ever seen.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, this fan is no longer available at a decent price (you can still get them for $29, which I believe is more than they are worth) and I do not have a good recommendation yet for an alternative. I have two of these fans and have run them daily for over a year with no problems. I am not sure why they are no longer available, but will review other fans to see if I can find something comparable.
If you are the one who is always feeling hot and stuffy, consider purchasing a travel fan. They are not expensive and will greatly improve the quality of your travel.
