ncphototrekker's Full Review: Coleman Cool Zephyr Window Fan
When it came to the Coleman Cool Zephyr Window Fan, I was doubtful as to its usefulness while camping. My wife and I had seen this item on the shelf in several local stores and she had always expressed an interest in it. I dismissed it saying that it was a small fan (about a 6 or 7 inch in blade diameter), and ran off of batteries. I mean really, who needs a fan while in the woods?
Well, I lost the vote, and we bought one. I was not all that excited about the prospect of dragging yet one more thing along with us as we already had amassed quite a number of items. The first trip that we took it on was in the summer and it was hot. We went ahead and loaded the controller up with batteries and set the fan by the vent flap along the rear of the tent using the supplied floor prop. After turning it on, I have to say, I noticed a comfort difference in the tent. It was a windless day, and the air was stagnant and quite warm. The fan was able to move an impressive amount of air through the tent, cooling things down a good bit.
The effects of this small fan are much more apparent at night when the evening air is muggy. It will keep a constant supply of fresh air coming in the tent all night long. This is really nice on rainy evenings when you are forced to close most of the windows to stay dry.
This fan has a magnetic plate on the back of the actual fan body that allows you to mount the fan to a window in the tent, or the vent sections along the top of a dome tent. This is a mixed blessing though. The first problem is that you might need two people to mount the fan in this manner as you have to be careful not to tear the screen with the plate. The plate, being on the outside of the tent, and the fan being on the inside, chances are your arms wont be long enough to complete the assembly alone. Another drawback is the length of the power cord. This may not be a problem in smaller tents, but in a tent that stands near six feet tall, you will have a difficult time mounting the fan to the roof vents, in the case of rain.
The controller is a simple unit with a three position switch (off, low, high). for most applications the controller can be placed close by your sleeping location allowing you to be able to turn the fan on and off as you need throughout the night.
On a later camping trip, I found out a new use for this fan....the morning drying session. After a solid day and night of rainy weather, fog, and high humidity, the sleeping bags and air mattress were quite damp. We happened to be in a small tent on that trip and it was a logistical nightmare to take the air bed out without deflating it. I opened up the tent and mounted the fan on a window and let it blow for about 3 hours. This successfully dried out everything inside the tent while the sleeping bags were outside in the sun drying out.
Final Thoughts...
I started out very skeptical about this product, but after many uses, I actually really like it. There are some issues that prevent me from giving it a five star rating however. Mainly, the sharp edges of the backing plate will tear the screen on a window if you are not very careful mounting it. Because of this, I normally just set the fan on the floor by a vent hole. The fan is also a little heavy and will pull the tent wall down slightly if mounted on a window. I don't see this as being any undue stress on a quality tent, but I would like to see the fan a bit lighter.
However, I can recommend this product without question.
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