Rechargeable Fan

KoliTech

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday May 29, 2015 at 11:52:5:

What is a rechargeable fan? It's basically an electric fan that can work with rechargeable batteries. Traditional electric fans work only when there is electricity supply to the socket and they have to be plugged into the wall using a wire attached to it. They normally go off when there is no electricity supply and so might not be suitable for people living in third world countries or countries with inefficient power supply. How about using a fan that doesn't really need a constant supply of electricity before it can work? This is what a rechargeable fan is like. It can work with batteries as well as with power from the grid.

In the older days in Nigeria, people had to cool themselves during the heat in several ways such as swimming in water, staying in sheds or just having their slaves fan them using palm fronds but nowadays, people have become used to electric fans but they need constant electricity to keep the fans working and their homes or offices cooler. Having an electric fan is something a lot of Nigerians can do themselves quite easily but having reliable electricity supply for most times of the day especially during the dry season is something the power company and government has not been able to achieve for a long time. Sure, electricity supply does happen at times and randomly too as it's normally rationed to several homes for a few hours of the day or weeks and so it's not constant. Having something like a battery bank that can store the little electricity supplied so that you can use it for extended periods of time is what smart people would do. A battery carrying electric fan seems to be a much better product than just an electric fan.

Many people who live in Nigeria are already used to making use of electronic devices like a torchlight and rechargeable lanterns because of the inefficient power supply system. Those devices really come in handy because they work with batteries that can power them irrespective of whether there is electricity supply or not from the power company. For a long time however, many of them have been sleeping at night in the heat as a result of the fact that their fans don't always work as a result of the epileptic power supply. Well, now, here is something that can make the lives of ordinary Nigerians a bit more comfortable and it's called a rechargeable fan.

There are now more rechargeable fans in the Nigerian market as at 2015 that they were in the past. Major importers and retail companies seem to be bringing it in large units as the products have already flooded the market and there come in different brands and capacities. The common thing about all of them however is that they come with rechargeable batteries which are basically the heart beat of the fan.

For someone looking to buy a rechargeable fan in Nigeria, it can be hard to choose which one to buy since there are several brands and several designs but I think it will ultimately depend on how much you have aS your budget.

Several brands of rechargeable fans already in Nigeria includes names like Andrakk, Redlion, Yoko, Bluecell, Alfana, Lucky, Sonitec, Lontor, Panasonic, QASA, Binatone, Linsan, DOLBIB, Prince, Century, Polystar, Sonik, Homeequip, Ellington, 2TM and Qlink. Most of the brands I've seen available in the Nigerian marekt seem to have been made in Asia, particularly in China.

In terms of installation, the rechargeable fans can be installed as ceiling fans, table fans, standing fans or just fans hanging on the wall.

One thing I noticed about the rechargeable fans is that they are designed to use less electricity than regular fans as their parts are mostly made up of light plastic and this helps save their power consumption. So, you are more likely to see that their parts are made of plastic than of metal.

In terms of hours of operation, I also noticed that some rechargeable fans can work for more hours than others. Some are designed to work for just 1 or 2 hours without AC power while some can go for as long as 6 hours. The hours of operation of the rechargeable fans also depends on factors such as the speed(low or high), the battery capacity and how long it is used. I think you could even use an external battery to increase the hours of operation to even 24 hrs. It all mostly depends on the battery bank capacity and they are designed not to use too much power.

Things to consider before buying a rechargeable fan
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Cost: How much will it cost you? What is the selling price. It will be a considerable factor when deciding on which fan to buy.

Space: How much space does the buyer have in his home or office to install the fan. Space is a considerable factor but personally, I would prefer buying a standing fan even though they tend to cost more because of their longer hours of operation. Ceiling and hanging fans tend to use less space since they are off the ground.

Hours of operation: How long to you intend using it. If you live in a place where there are only few hours of electricity a day, then you should consider spending more to buy the ones with more battery power to last for longer hours. Some of them can work for just 1 hr while some can work for up to 6 hours.

Quality: They also come in different quality and I don't want to start mentioning which is best since I've not used all of them. I think however that this would be based on user's experience about them. Their quality is not the same though as some work better than others. Higher quality rechargeable fans are also normally priced more than others and that's why you may see some selling at a higher price to others.

Brand: As I've already said, they come in different brands and you should just stick with a brand you trust most.

Before using your rechargeable fan, you need to first recharge it's battery and this you can do by plugging it's wire into an A/C socket for charging and it takes a few hours depending on the instructions printed on the manual. There would normally be a light indicator to show that it has been fully charged or not such as a green or red light. After it has been fully charged, you can then start using it as a regular fan when there is power supply and as a battery powered fan when the A/C power goes off.

I recently bought a rechargeable 16 inch Andrakk fan for my dad and he really loved it since it worked most of the time and especially during the hot afternoons irrespective of whether NEPA gave power or not.

Where to buy rechargeable fans in Nigeria?
Well, there are many places you can do it such as any of the major retail stores as well as online shopping websites like Jumia, Konga or Dealdey