OT- Childproof Fan??

[jennilouwho]

Can anyone give me any ideas? We have a window air conditioner in our kitchen and need to have fans in the dining room and livingroom to bring the cool air into those rooms. (The windows in those rooms don't open.) My infant will be crawling/walking by next summer and I'm a bit worried about the fans on the floor. Do they make child-proof fans? I googled it, but couldn't find much. Does anyone have any other ideas, other than central air?? We just can't afford that right now and it seems the way the vents in this house are set up, that even if we could, we would still need fans! Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[tmt martins]

Not sure of where but I remember we had a fan that is shaped like a pizza that sits up on a door sill. So it blends in with one of the upper corners of a doorway. This was before we had CA and it moved the air very nicely and was not a danger to DD as she was just starting to walk and would hold on or pull anything in arms reach.

.Door fan.

 

[NotUrsula]

Back when I was a kid, electric fans were very dangerous things, and kids often lost fingers in them: the blades were metal and the grates were large enough to put a hand through. Starting in the early 70's, standards for safe mfr. were developed, and nowadays almost all household fans in the US are fairly childproof. I think that the primary kid safety issues now are hair; (especially if a child knocks over a box fan and then stands over the back of it), and water, in terms of electrocution. Of course, fire is always the most common danger of all with fans, but that's universal -- fan motors can easily overheat, so you have to be vigilant about them, and also make sure that the cords do not get damaged. You shouldn't leave a small child unattended in the same room with a fan that is low enough to reach, even by climbing.

Ceiling fans are your best bet. If you have to have portable fans, I think that the tower-shaped fans may be a bit safer, as they don't have that mesmerizing vortex look that kids find so attractive, and the covers are usually screwed on rather than latched. Fans that are on stands are usually harder to tip than box fans, though really tall/heavy ones should be anchored with a toddler around. Be sure that whatever fan you choose has really small crosshatches on the covers; I'd say that if you can't get an ink pen in they won't be able to get small fingers in (though it won't help you if she decides to throw rice into it, as one child I know memorably did. Raw rice thrown at a fan scatters like buckshot.) For a fan with a more or less permanent placement, I'd consider bolting it down.

BTW, have you considered moving your A/C out of your kitchen and perhaps cutting a wall hole for it if you only have picture windows? Putting a room unit in a kitchen when you need it to cool other rooms is usually the least energy-efficient thing you can do, because the heat from cooking makes it work several times as hard. Most folks I know who use window units either don't bother to try to cool the kitchen, or they put a separate smaller unit in that room.

 

[tmt martins]

They also sell Small portable Air units now as well that you could move from room to room as needed.You just dump the waste water every once in a while.

 

[GraysMom]

My mom and dad have about 5 floor fans of various makes and models to move the air conditioned air around their downstairs. Since my son is 17 mo and would quickly put his fingers in the slats they had to come up with a plan to keep him safe. What they did was take tulle and wrap it around the outside of the fans like a pouch (think of the pouches of sand they use to keep balloons in one place) then tie it very securely at the top of the fan. So far my little strong man hasn't been able to get in to the fan blades. Tulle is available at any fabric store like JoAnn's. Just make sure to get a heavy weight kind so it doesn't puncture very easily. HTH

GraysMom

 

[jennilouwho]

Thanks everyone! I will have to print this off and then discuss it with my husband. I appreciate the input!

 

[briarberry]

I don't know about where you live but I live in Ontario, Canada and tower fans are very popular here this year. They look like those air ionizer things but are fans. I just bought one last month and love it. It is about 3 feet tall and sits on the floor. It doesn't have blades but it does oscillate and blows the air around really well. It even has a timer on it if you want it to shut off after you are in bed. I saw one that had a remote if can believe it! The best thing about them is that they are quieter than other floor fans. Mine was only about $30. If I had a baby/toddler around I would definitely go with one of these.