12v fan

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Swift Suntor 590RL
Does anyone use a 12v fan in the Hab that will move a fair amount of air in hot weather ?
If so which one do you use ?
 
Obviously I don"t have air con :cry:
When on EHU I sometimes use a standard 240v fan but was wondering if any 12v fans moved enough air to make them worthwhile when not on hook up.
 
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We have the all ride or air ride I can’t remember. It’s a double fan that’s adjustable in direction and the fan speed, I got it from a shell service station on the motorway. We also have the maxx air fan in the roof, that’s quite good it can blow air in or out at high and low speeds, it keeps swimbo comfortable at night.
 
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Obviously I don"t have air con :cry:
When on EHU I sometimes use a standard 240v fan but was wondering if any 12v fans moved enough air to make them worthwhile when not on hook up.
If you have a Truma Ultraheat (or similar) Blown Air Heating System, you can use the fan (that runs on the 12V habitation system) without having the heating on.
Combining that with an open roof vent or ideally a roof-mounted extraction fan will give a reasonable air flow and the benefit is as the heater vents are at floor level you are moving air at all levels.

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And if you are able to fit a Maxxair fan like DaveKerry below, I don't think you could do any better without a full-blown air-con system! I had one in my last camper and they are fantastic (MUCH better than the 'fantastic' fan), very energy efficient and I am very sad that I cannot fit one in my current motorhome due to roof-top protrusions :(
We have the all ride or air ride I can’t remember. It’s a double fan that’s adjustable in direction and the fan speed, I got it from a shell service station on the motorway. We also have the maxx air fan in the roof, that’s quite good it can blow air in or out at high and low speeds, it keeps swimbo comfortable at night.
 
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I have put fiamma turbo vent fan in roof light my MoHo and it works treat. It is very powerful on the highest settings. Will extract and blow and can be used relatively silently on hot nights. It works well when cooking on the blow function and opening a window by the hob so pushes out cooking smells.

I also put the smaller one in my toilet/shower. It's directly above the shower so can will actually help you dry on the blow function (if it's not too cold)

Fiamma also do fans that stand alone or can be temporarily mounted on a window, which if uses the same motors should work just as well.
 
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Bought one of these from Amazon last year and two turned up so there's a spare going cheap (I did pay for it, honest chap that I am). :angel:

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Any idea what the power drain is from the Truma fan ?
 
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Another Maxxair fan. Run it on 10% power at night. Currently 30c ish. Uses 3A. Creates a cooling flow. As long as you have windows open. Absolutely silent. Great kit.
 
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Another Maxxair fan. Run it on 10% power at night. Currently 30c ish. Uses 3A. Creates a cooling flow. As long as you have windows open. Absolutely silent. Great kit.
For those into power consumption data like I am (and bordering on the obsessive :) ), this is a plot of power consumption for a MaxxAir 7500 Deluxe at each of the 10 speeds. Changed the speed setting every 15 minutes ...

Maxxair Power Consumption by David, on Flickr


Any idea what the power drain is from the Truma fan ?
I'll try to do a similar plot for the Truma at each of the speeds. Now I don't have a Maxxair fan anymore ( :cry: ) , I would be interested in that info myself :)
 
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We have a road pro 12v fan . Not bad for moving the air around .
70C1493A-CE88-424F-B9CE-FDCFB9038C90.png

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Computer fans will be your best bet.
Amazon sell a very fancy pair a fridge cooler fans. About £50 but they would work a treat
415Ei-EkveS._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
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We have the all ride or air ride I can’t remember. It’s a double fan that’s adjustable in direction and the fan speed, I got it from a shell service station on the motorway. We also have the maxx air fan in the roof, that’s quite good it can blow air in or out at high and low speeds, it keeps swimbo comfortable at night.
Oooooh, what does swimbo stamd for 🙄
 
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'Endless Breeze' 12 volt fan can shift a serious amount of air, but you'd need to think how to rig it for cooling whilst travelling.


Amazon product ASIN B00EIU9FRC
As far as I know these are unavailable anywhere in the U.K. . Please let me know if you find one in stock anywhere .

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I have two of these Caframo Sirocco fans, made by a Canadian company.

I had searched high and low for a real quality fan for some time as I struggle sleeping in hot weather in the motorhome.

These fans are primarily aimed at the marine market, along with RV’s. They are also suitable for motorhomes and campervans.

They are sold by a number of outlets in the UK.

They are extremely easy to fit. I mounted one above each bed. They mount on to a base plate with securing screws which allow for ease of removal if using the van in cooler weather for protracted periods.

I have wired ours into a 12V cigarette socket, but they can also be wired directly into the appropriate wiring circuit.

In use they are extremely efficient, and also very quiet with varying speeds to choose from. They are multi positional, so fold out to any desired position on a gimbal, and fold away conveniently when not in use.

They run on minimal power. The current draw on low setting is 0.06A, on high 0.35A

I was attracted to these after ruling out air-con. My wife did not like the prospect of fitting a Maxxfan as it would have filled the bedroom roof vent.

I originally heard about these being used by some RV’ers in Australia on YouTube. I thought if they were good enough in Australia they should be fine for us in France and Spain. I wasn’t wrong.
 

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As far as I know these are unavailable anywhere in the U.K. . Please let me know if you find one in stock anywhere .
Hmm, yes, I think you might be right. :unsure:

I recall we bought our Endless Breeze some years ago on Amazon - can't remember if it was .com or .co.uk, but recall it was shipped from the US and obviously quite expensive... :whistle:
 
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Plenty rechargeable by USB fans around. They will run for hours or longer if left plugged in.
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
My thoughts with regards to fans are -
USB and computer fans won't move anywhere near enough air to make a noticeable difference to the HAB.
Small 12v fans meant for cars likewise.
I have Truma heating so could use the blower but that doesn't actually move that much air through the 3 X 2 inch outlets I have ( 1 in the bathroom and 2 in the lounge).
So my thinking is this -
The coolest part of my MH is the cab (with the thermal blinds in place).
I tried putting the 3 speed 35 watt (on full) mains house fan I have on the floor between the cab seats pointing rearwards.
On the middle setting, with both the sky lights open, the air movement was noticeable and it brought the HAB temperature down.
I don't really want to run that when off grid through my inverter but a 12v fan that would move similar air volume would be ideal.
Two of the suggestions, namely the Scirocco and Road Pro, look like they could be what I'm looking for and I will look into the specs of them further.
Thanks again for the suggestions so far.

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With the ‘sky lights’ open, cool air will flow into the ‘van due to colder air sinking as it’s denser than warm air. What sort of ambient temperatures are you hoping to use the fan for cooling in….? :unsure:
 
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With the ‘sky lights’ open, cool air will flow into the ‘van due to colder air sinking as it’s denser than warm air. What sort of ambient temperatures are you hoping to use the fan for cooling in….? :unsure:
Warm air rises.
Coupled with a fan moving air from the CAB, sucking in through the dash vents, and pushing it to the rear it exits through the roof vents, one in the kitchen area and a much bigger one in the lounge.
In the warm sunny weather we had a while back outside temp was 21c.
Inside the HAB with the van in full sunlight it was nearly 30c (no noticeable breeze).
With the 240v fan on the temp went down to 23c.
At that point I turned the fan off as we were going out.
On a hot sunny summer's day, even in the UK, I can see HAB temps getting up to high 30's without any cooling.
 
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We have the fan in the ceiling at night to bring cool air in, then in the daytime the roof is hot so I move the fan to the window. I fitted a big resistor on it to slow it right down at night...

20210904_122038.jpg


It's mains powered though, uses 2 amps via the inverter running at daytime speed, doesn't matter because the solar panel makes 9 amps.

The 12v one I made is good for nighttime in the ceiling but noisy if turned up during the day, plus it doesn't fit in the window anyway...


20210909_153635.jpg


PS 👆 only runs at 0.5 amps on slow 😍
 
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Fitting a 12v car radiator fan in the big roof vent is a possibility, although getting power to it neatly might be awkward.
I've looked at the RoadPro specs and it also runs on 8 X D batteries besides the 12v feed.
The specs say it uses 1 amp an hour.
I have a large number of quality 18650 and 26650 li-ion cells from one of my hobbies.
3 of these in series would give 12.6v so spot on.
I could make a battery pack for it.
If I used 5ah 26650's then 3 in series 3 in parallel would give 12.6v and 10ah.
This fan would only be used for the odd day or 2 off-grid as most of the time I am on EHU so in theory I could use a li-ion battery pack and not use my leisure batteries.
I can see a plan coming together 😃
 
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