Customer Reviews

O2-Cool 1053 10" Battery / AC Powered In/Out Fan

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Having suffered terribly in the tropical heat in the aftermath of a couple of hurricanes last year, where it took from one to three weeks before power was restored, when I found this fan on sale at a local store, I purchased it and what seemed to be a large supply of D cells. I really was surprised, however, when I actually ended up needing to use it for just that purpose. We were without power for a full week (and that was lucky!) and was grateful to have the fan (some others in the region will be without for as much as three weeks! and the weather is warming back up a little... they will be wishing they'd bought one of these). It's simply amazing the amount of pure joy and relief one gets when the power comes back on!

It seems to be a fairly good quality fan, though not particularly robust (in some ways it seems a little delicate, such as the plastic switch and battery compartment cover--but nothing has failed in any way). It provides a fairly full breeze, though perhaps considerably less than half what an AC powered fan of similar size would provide (still it was easily enough to allow me to sleep, even on low setting). It makes a reasonable hum on low with fresh batteries, almost a little noisy on high--however, before long the batteries will weaken and the hum is hardly noticeable). It opens like a book with one side, the base, heavy with batteries, so it's quite stable where it sits. This fan in some ways though, is not a small one. It's around a foot wide (11.5in)--so the U shaped base will require a modest open space (11.5x8in) (probably only packrats like me would even notice that) to put it. The way it folds opens allows you to adjust the angle (up/down), which I did find useful.

The only real problem with the fan is that it is not cheap to run. I found battery prices on store brand D cells to run around a dollar each (give or take, and your mileage may vary). It may indeed still be running after the quoted 24 hours, but just barely. While using it somehwere around half the day (and night), I did have to change out the batteries on the second day--so the claim isn't far off). However, when you actually change EIGHT D cells, you realize how much battery that really is. Plus, if you find yourself without power for an indefinite period of time (such as following a natural disaster), you'll be trying to use it sparingly as you look at your now precious and limited supply of batteries (say 4 sets at $32). After several days, you'll think it really eats batteries and you might find, as I did, that even once most stores have reopened, there isn't a single D cell battery to be found. My usage ended up being about $4 to $6 a day, and when doing without power that doesn't seem so bad (however, had it been hot like last year, I'd have been using twice that running it all the time--possibly on high--and I would have run out of batteries... such a stock would have required at least $80, and more likely $120 or more--just for 10 days).

I considered rechargeable D cell batteries and a solar charger, but found the prices in the neighborhood of $10 each, which would be an $80 option--without the charger. However, very conveniently, it does have an external power socket for 12V--so if you get an adapter cord and have a spare car battery or portable battery package it could be a handy way to run it for longer periods (of course, it would easily work fine in the car with the appropriate lighter plug adapter cord, except that it's relatively large and would really need it's own open seat). I wish they had a rechargeable version with an external battery pack option.

Overall, I think a single person could probably get by with a smaller, less powerful (and consumptive) fan--but it did provide a very comfortable amount of air (useful even when the temperatures didn't reach uncomfortable levels--and seemed well worth the cost). To provide a light breeze for a larger area such as for a whole sofa or queen bed, this is a good way to go (just buy a considerably stock of batteries). Alas, I can't imagine much use for it short of power outages or camping. The best bet would be to have both this fan and a smaller one and use them as required.

This fan performs well and is reasonably quiet when on its low speed. An advantage not mentioned in the product description is that it has a 12VDC power input jack. Add a 12V cable (available from Radio Shack) and you can run it from an 12V cigarette lighter jack instead of the built-in D batteries. This makes it ideal for RVers. It also has both a folding handle and a hook, so you can hang it up if you like.

The next step up from this fan is a Fan-Tastic "Endless Breeze" 14" box fan. The Endless Breeze moves more air and does it even more quietly, but it costs five times as much as this fan--in the neighborhood of $75. For $13-$17, the O2Cool 10" box fan is an exceptional value. I own three.

This fan is great! I use it on the desktop, operated with batteries.It puts out a good airflow.It's great because you can fold it up and down, and angle it.It comes with an adapter(plug in), which is another great option.
I know the anytime we have a summer "blackout" this battery operated fan will do the trick just fine!

As another reviewer commented, hinges broke immediately upon removing fan from the box (whole thing is held together by 2 dime-sized pices of paper-thin plastic). Fan is useless without them. Additionally, fan is advertised as battery or AC operated, however an AC adapter power cord is not included. Whole thing is typical of the quality I should have expected from a cheap plastic chinese-made item, I suppose.

I got this item about 3 weeks ago. I am using it to cool the LCD TV light engine in the back of the TV, that give off enough heat to fry an egg. Does it cool the inners of the TV? Sure does!!! I can actually touch the back side of the TV without feeling like I am going to burn my hand. It is not quiet at first, but once the TV is on, you cannot hear it.

Yes, this is O 2 Cool!

Update 12-23-08: After using this fan for only 11 months, not everyday, the noise level is now unbearable. It is a rattling/vibrating noise. It is now going in the dump. I do not recommend such a fan. Find something else.

We just went thru hurricane Ike here in Houston. We were without power for 6 days. Luckily we had a cool spell come in for the last three days but the first three would have been a heck of a lot more miserable had we not had this fan. We plan to buy two more and keep in our emergency stash. Our two German shepherds hogged the fan but they are our kids and we were glad to be able to give them some comfort.

The fan we got didn't have an ac/dc input so make sure you know what you are buying. And yes, the construction is fragile. The hinges broke on ours almost immediately but I propped it up using a gallon water bottle behind it and it worked much much better than nothing. Even though the construction is a bit fragile, I'm SOOOOOooo glad that such a device was even available to us. Knowing more about the hinges, I plan to be much more careful next time (after we buy new ones) when I open it up.

Luckily, our home was never without water. So in order of priority of things we were glad about in the storm, no. 1 was water, no. 2 was cell phones and no. 3 was this fan.

FYI - We also had a battery operated lantern that operated on d batteries as well and put out a huge amount of light. That probably would be no.4 on our list.

OK, I actually bought this fan last year for a july camping trip and did'nt come back to write a recomendation. Now just back from camping in RI and there was a heat wave, I got home to a bad storm and power outage lasting 12 hours! This fan has been worth its weight in gold! I slept good both hot nights with the fan on low blowing across me. Battery life is good too! Now my Mother wants one for her next power outage. Thanks O2 cool!! Bob- Mahopac, NY

As soon as I opened the fan (not with undue force), the hinges broke. They appear to have been over-tightened in the factory. I sent two messages to the seller who never acknowledged them. I had to file a claim with Amazon to get my money refunded.

If you need a great little fan that runs off AC and/or DC power this is a great little unit. It moves plenty of air and battery life is not bad at all. If you will only be using it on battery power pick up some rechargeable batteries and you will save $$$$$$.

It worked quietly for 2 weeks, then it started making noise. The noise got louder, and I had to replace it.