Saving energy and resources using fans

How modifying a simple device can make a major contribution to reducing carbon emissions, cost of manufacturing and your energy bills.

As it’s now 2023 and after 3 years we would rather forget, I thought I would share something I discovered 20 years ago that has the potential to radically change a simple device and hopefully make a small, but significant contribution to a better world.

I only ask that if you use this idea that you acknowledge where you got it by adding (CG2001) to any product label or documentation.  There are no royalty fees or charges.

Fans.

Think about fans.

Everyday you use fans whether you are aware of it or not.

• Cooling fans, ceiling fans, ventilation fans, split systems and heat pumps
• Computer and appliance cooling or circulation fans – refrigerators, ovens
• Renewable energy – inverters, batteries, enclosures
• Vehicle radiators and ventilation fans
• Safety zones – mining, construction, tunnels, tanks where fresh air circulation is critical
• Building HVAC systems
• Farming especially with livestock such as chickens

Every year there are hundreds of millions of new fans manufactured and installed.  This is on top of the billions of fans already in use.

And almost every one of them is inefficient in its design and amount of energy it consumes.

It’s possible to reduce their size, reduce their energy consumption or increase their output and efficiency by 10-50%.

It’s also possible to retrofit many of these existing fans and thereby make significant energy savings to existing products.

This has the following implications.

1. It’s cheaper to make the fan as it can be smaller and use less resources
   1. Benefit to manufacturer and consumer
2. It’s cheaper to ship and install the fans as they are smaller and lighter for the same capacity
   1. Benefit to distribution logistics and reduces other on costs
3. It’s cheaper to run the fans as the fan and associated products are more energy efficient, so they use less energy
   1. Benefit to consumer
4. Less resources wasted and less energy consumed
   1. Benefit to the planet and world economy

As an example, Drones can have longer battery life so longer flight times and greater lifting power by incorporating these changes.

Why isn’t this already being done? 

I don’t know.

I have shown this to engineers and they have all agreed this makes a significant improvement and yet the traditional designs persist.  I can only assume it is the inertia of this mass of products and no one has bothered to challenge this.  Consumer product fans are cheap so why put too much effort into making it better.  Easier to just go with what you know.

So without wasting any more of your time watch the video which demonstrates the principle using axial or radial fans.

For more information or help email me at info2@sunlizard.com.au and put CG2001 in the subject.