12 V fans

peteandthira

peteandthira

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 Jan 2005
Messages
786
Location
On boat
Visit site
Hi all

I'm thinking of ways to cool my 36' yacht when eventually I get her to the Med in a year or two. Has anyone found a good source of 12v fans or similar, to blow a light breeze over your bunk in the night?

Other ideas also very welcome!

Thank you

Pops
 
These are the cheapest that I've found. Once the site opens, do a search for "fan jet".

Note that their prices are in Euros.
 
We've used car/truck type fans but found them noisy(& powerhungry at night - remember the fridge!)

We've used computer fans - the 115mm ones move a lot of air at a minimal current draw but anything below 75mm is too small. We mount them on a large crock. clip through one of the corner holes and make sure that they are suitably padded to prevent furniture damage and clip them onto the edges of the shelves found in most cabins these days. We even sewed two of these to a portlight bugscreen on our last boat but one proved sufficient.

However our most popular and well used fan is a "Ring" make which has two speed ranges, infinately variable by a slide switch and when set to a "gentle flow" is virtually silent. It is a battery powered fold flat unit sold in caravan shops. It runs on 4 D cells which we can make last at least 18 days or we power it via a cheap variable 12V cig. socket power supply as sold in car accessory shops. The power drain here too is negligible and THAT is your major concern in the Med.

Steve Cronin
 
Hella renown as the best cooling capability but not cheapest. I bought cheapy lorry fans at abt £5 each, and they do the job, but are a bit noisy and power hungry.
 
Pops, don't buy the Hella fans here in Gib....£80 each!! Most things are uplifted by 30 to 50% here, so buy in the UK (don't wait as I did /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif)
 
As well as fans,,,also consider getting an airscoop to fit over a hatch..I bought the mailspeed 4 way type and it was absolutely brilliant during our time in Greece last month.it works even in the lightest breeze,no matter which way it blows. well worth the money.fit it round the hatch with a bit of bungee .
 
Even mains powered fans don't cool you enough when it is very hot. I had a small 12v fan designed for a car or van and gave it away as it was useless. I also tried those small total loss air con systems designed for auto use. Again, a useless novelty. I go with the airscoop plan if you are at anchor. Quite effective - and a mains fan if in a marina.
 
Hi Pops,

We use two of those cheap 12v lorry type oscillating fans in the saloon and two 85mm computer fans in the forecabin - the sleeping cabin on our little boat.

Ok, the big fans are a tiny bit noisy and use around 0.8-0.9 amps each, but when it's hot in the Med./Caribbean, it's seriously hot, and messing around with these little 'silent' fans you see advertised is a total waste of time.

To keep cool you need to shift air, therefore the bigger and faster the fan, the better it is. We only use one or both of the big ones during the day (power supplied by the solar panels etc) but have the computer fans on all night.

They only draw milliamps so battery use is really tiny. We clamped ours to a 'bendy' light (like a chart table light) on each side, so that the fans can be orientated to blow where each of us wants it. Fabulous, and transforms sleeping at night. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Final thought. We bought our computer fans in Spain where they were a fraction of the cost in the UK - around £2.00 each IIRC. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hope this helps.

Cheers Jerry
 
Getting about these computer fans. We were on a friend's steamboat the other day and a new inovation is a computer fan he slots into the grate door to boost the draught to raise steam. Of course he's fitted it to a bit of duct so that it doesn't melt.

boiler.jpg


fan.jpg
 
Interesting you should say that, Jerry. I considering buying a mains fan to have in the bedroom at night, kitchen/saloon day/eve and running it from our smaller inverter. We can afford the power as we have a big battery charger and a genny. Might try the computer fan on a bendy stick idea but it's blowing a Levanter here at the moment so movement of air is not a big issue! Lots of heads appeared at 4am.
 
Hi Lemain,

Yep, the computer fans work extremely well and are almost silent. The key thing for us was VERY low amperage and the fact that, with the 'bendy' lamps (used, rather than the fixed lights for personall reading without disturbing the other) we can direct the air flow to suit ourselves. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We have found that even with our Windscoop up, there are many nights with no wind at all. These things are then saviours!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Cheers Jerry
 
Interesting reading from you chaps, thanks. Will probably go with the 12v Hellas, since we don't want to run the genny too often. SWMBO won't want computer fans clamped to things, so I'd better hard-wire some in!

Pops
 
Hi Pops,

Our computer fans are hard-wired in. They are connected via a micro switch fitted to the body of the bendy lamp, and connected to the lamps wiring inside the body casing. The wiring is therefore almost invisible. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

If you don't fit them to something that allows variable positioning, their effectiveness will be severely reduced IMHO as the 'output' isn't that massive, so needs directing more than ordinary, higher volume fans.

For example, sometimes I have mine blowing onto my face, sometimes down the berth to provide more general cooling etc.

A dual angle bracket fitted to a shelf/bulkhead would do a similar job, but then you've got to conceal the wiring! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Just a thought,

Cheers Jerry
 
Hi,

Our boat has been in the Med for about ten years and we have just about sorted our 'cabin cooling systems'.

In marinas we have a 240v revolving 'office fan' with the cover removed to move more air.
In anchorages with any breeze you are head to wind and the wind chute can ventilate the boat nicely.
On quays with no electricity, or nights at anchor, when the wind drops, we could not survive without our computer fans!

We have a wired in 12v system with sockets at the head of each bunk. The fans have their own plugs and we use wedge shaped holders to mount them on the bulkheads. They need to be removable on our relatively small boat.

Each fan pivots vertically in a square metal surround and the bracket which attaches the surround to the wooden wedge swivels also, making them easily adjusted. Running the fans all night takes very little current and they are very quiet. Without them sleep would be impossible some nights.

Of course we have been on boats with air conditioning!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top