Sup PrepHole, I live in a very small rented room and have been trying to keep cool during hot days. Unfortunately, I've realized that even with the quietest air conditioner I brought from my parents place, the sound pressure from it in this dinky room is too much for me to fall asleep.
I also have this box fan from Home Depot to use, the only problem is the fan spins too fast and is too loud even on its lowest setting (out of three available speeds).
If I opened up the box fan and replaced the stepwise dial control for a rheostat / continuously variable resistor thingy so that I can the fan to spin even slower, again I just want *some* air flow into this tiny room, will this produce any electrical or fire hazards messing with its factory wiring?
Also, should I consider evaporative coolers? I've heard they can cause respiratory illness and are a b***h to clean
>I've realized that even with the quietest air conditioner I brought from my parents place, the sound pressure from it in this dinky room is too much for me to fall asleep
Are you telling me you can't handle the consistent white noise of an air conditioner?
Have you considered ear plugs or more importantly, buying a window AC unit from not your parents that is specifically tailored for princess ears?
I mean yeah you can do that, but nothing will be as good as a proper air conditioner.
just use earplugs
sounds like you need earplugs to be honest. If you want good answers, try asking in /ohm/.
>If I opened up the box fan and replaced the stepwise dial control for a rheostat / continuously variable resistor thingy so that I can the fan to spin even slower, again I just want *some* air flow into this tiny room, will this produce any electrical or fire hazards messing with its factory wiring?
It can create fire hazards if your rheostat cannot handle the power to the motors. Check the rated current of the motor and make sure that your rheostat can handle that much current, otherwise It could go up in smoke or catch on fire if unlucky. Also I don't know the type of motor in the fan, so I can't tell you if a rheostat will work to control the speed at all, although most fans use rheostats to do so.
>Also, should I consider evaporative coolers? I've heard they can cause respiratory illness and are a b***h to clean
try to put the fan on your window if you can so it blows air from your room outside. It might be worth it to see if it cools your room enough beforem oving to something else.
on israeliteazon there's headbands you can wear at night that provide decent sound isolation instead of ear plugs which can get irritating or fall out
I wouldnt frick around with the fan like that, definitely creating a fire hazard if you don't understand what you are doing, even slowing the fan down enough can make it overheat
Are you certain you can’t just get a proper air conditioner setup? Anything where the compressor is installed outside of the house will be very quiet.
cool house during the day with the AC
then if your nights are cool just open windows and turn off AC at night
if they are hot then use the timer to turn it on an hour after you fall asleep if you can't fall asleep with the noise
What you need is called a variac. I have the same box fan and plug it into a variac and run it at like 70 volts and it's perfect. I hate how they made those fans spin too fast, they're way too fricking loud.
i run that same fan on 2 every night for white noise or i can't fall asleep
So, you want to spend a hundred bucks to make a $20 fan go slower? Yup, you belong here. Just get some earplugs you fricking autist.
Another frickin genius.
The problem with all these ideas is the motor won't last long tuned down slower. It needs a minimum amount of power to overcome the weight of the fan blade and air resistance when it starts and runs. Turning it down will cause it to struggle and overheat until the windongs cook.
>Turning it down will cause it to struggle and overheat until the windongs cook.
From what I've found as long as you keep it within reason, the fan runs much cooler. Obviously if you let it stall out it'll cook but if you keep it running just enough, the windings stay cool. The only real worry is how the fan motor bearings are designed. Most times it's just a cheap brass washer or maybe a shitty ball bearing. However if they take the push of the fan itself into account when designing how the bearing will interact with the shaft, it could be a problem.
how do I find a fan that won't buzz at lower voltage
You either get hearing damage
Or you don't
Just like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum
Its usually large industrial transformers, and its perfectly audible even at mild hearing loss
Buy a bag of ice from McDonald's a day for $1 and request two plastic bags. You now wear those.
You could just try a dimmer. As long as your fan doesn't pull more than 100 watt at full speed. I use one like this to slow down a metal desk fan I have.
Get one or two 12v PC fans and wedge them in your window.
12v is a super common voltage, so you can easily find PWM dimmers to drive the fans and adjust the speed.
Or even just find fans outright with the speed control built-in.
Have you tried running the AC while you're awake then turning it off right before you sleep? If you keep the room sealed it should stay cool, especially if you're the only occupant.
Evaporative coolers puts moisture in the air and the humidity will make you feel hotter than it actually is.
buy a big ass peltier plate and put it in you window, with the hot side outside, and cool side inside. if active cooling is too noisy for you, just attach even bigger ass passive cooler from outside.
>replaced the stepwise dial control for a rheostat / continuously variable resistor thingy
only if you want to heat up the air, sure.. othereise use frequency changer instead