Here’s the story of how my household acquired a bladeless fan for free and by accident, and why we love it. It’s a lighter topic after heavy subjects like donating peanut butter and nutrients in peanut butter. This is what we got. Thank you, Amazon!
A Mistakenly Delivered Package
One afternoon, my son and I found a package from Amazon in front of our door. I opened it without thinking because we’re always getting packages from Amazon, and I don’t keep track very well of what I’m expecting to come and when I’m expecting it to come. It was a bladeless fan.
I admit several things.
- I hadn’t even known what a bladeless fan was.
- My son told me as I was opening the package that the address was not ours. (In my defense, he also told me many other things, ranging from sense to nonsense, and probably hadn’t stopped talking in the last 24 hours, so I may not have been listening to every word).
- It took me a day to phone Amazon about the package. (In my defense, I immediately tried to inform them of their mistake over chat, but couldn’t figure out how to tell the chat bot what the issue was or how to get to a live person).
A Gift from Amazon
The next day, I phoned Amazon using their direct number. I found it online on a very useful website. After a minimum of interaction with the automated system, I was able to speak with a friendly customer service rep who claimed it was his first day on the job. After I explained that Amazon had mistakenly delivered the fan to me instead of to a different address, the rep looked into it.
He found that the intended recipient had reported the package as lost. He had requested and received a refund. Therefore, according to the rep’s logic, I could keep or donate the bladeless fan. Hooray! My son loves anything electronic or electric, and I am happy to have a fan.
So…here are the details!
What’s a Bladeless Fan?
First, for those of you who were like me and didn’t know what a bladeless fan is, but are too shy to ask. A bladeless fan is a fan without blades. That is, it blows air without the potential for you or your children or pets to get your fingers injured by spinning blades. Air comes out through slots that are narrower than if blades were spinning around.
Getting Started
Thankfully, there wasn’t much to do. We took the fan out of the box and plugged it in. It came with a USB cable that we plugged into the outlet and the back of the fan. We put the fan on a table and turned it on. It looks like it’s about a $30 fan.
Family, Child, and Household-Friendly
The fan seems sturdy. It’s easy to pick up and carry around. It balances nicely on the tabletop, making me feel as though I don’t need to be as careful with it as I do with battery-powered desk-top fans. It’s also handsome and neutral. It comes in white or grey – ours is white – and I don’t see how it could be aesthetically displeasing to anyone.
Since it has no blades, it’s theoretically easy to clean just by wiping it. Since everything else in our household is dirty or sticky, I assume our fan will end up that way, too. Hopefully it’ll work for a while.
Lights and Sound – Unobtrusive
The fan has a light at the back so you can see that it’s plugged in. When you turn it on using the power button on the front, a small light lights up. It’s pale on level 1, a mild green on level 2, and a bright green color when the fan is at its top level, level 3.
A neat thing about this fan is that it’s designed to be unobtrusive. The lights only light for a few seconds when you turn on the fan or change the power level. Then they turn off; the purpose is for sleeping to be more comfortable. The sound is very quiet, nearly inaudible at level 1. That is good news for someone like me who’s sensitive to noise. I even used it while giving a talk on a call for work, and it was quiet quiet.
Effectiveness and Other Benefits
It’s quite effective for a small fan. It cools a larger area than a small, battery-powered desktop fan. When I left it running overnight near an open window, I could tell that it circulated more air to cool down our home compared to when I leave a smaller fan running overnight. It’s midsummer, but our place isn’t that hot and the nights have been cool.
Apparently other customers are happy. Amazon claims that over 4,000 customers have purchased this fan in the past month. The average rating is over 4 stars, with nearly 3,000 reviews.
Drawbacks
The only drawbacks I see are clearly stated in the product description. For example, the fan doesn’t run on batteries. You can only use it while it is plugged in. This greatly reduces the range of places you can use it.
Similarly clearly stated, it doesn’t have a remote control. I could see this being inconvenient if you’re using it overnight and it’s out of reach of your bed. A timer could also be useful for overnight use.
Final Thoughts and Recommendation
As a way to stay cool without using expensive air conditioning, this fan is fabulous. If I were looking for one to purchase, I’d probably check for one with a battery, but as a free gift, this is something I’m grateful for and that makes my lift better.
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