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Arlec 40cm DC Pedestal Fan $55 @ Bunnings

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Seems like a good price for a DC pedestal fan with 12 months warranty.

I'm not the biggest fan of purchasing a DC over AC for a fan considering the power saving is around ~15 watts if comparing 40cm pedestal fans. If using it for 8 hours a day a DC fan will save around 120w/hrs a day compared to AC. In 100 days of using it for 8 hours a day that's 12,000 w/hrs, or around $2.16 if paying $0.18 per kW/h. That's less than a $7 saving per year. A cheapo AC fan goes around $15 which is $40 cheaper than this cheap DC fan, which means a DC fan would take many years to pay for itself if caring about efficiency due to cost.

But if you still want a DC fan, $55 is cheaper than the Kogan or Xiaomi DC fans when on special. I don't think I've seen a cheaper DC fan if purchasing new.

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  • +45

    I'm not the biggest fan

    What you did there. 👀

  • +17

    Your sums look good, but this fan comes with a remote control as well, and the DC motor is far quieter, almost silent on lower settings. On higher settings the air flow itself makes noise, rather than the motor.

    But for a warm bedroom, there's nothing like turning on or off the fan without getting out of bed.

    Not sure if the 15 dollar cheapies do that.

    • Ceiling fans are much, much better for when in bed, even a $50 cheapie. ac/dc is a trivial difference in comparison.
      I put a wifi switch on mine. Cannot change speed remotely, but can use voice to turn on/off or set a timer.

      • +2

        Ceiling fans are much, much better for when in bed, even a $50 cheapie.

        Don't forget the installation cost…

        I put a wifi switch on mine. Cannot change speed remotely, but can use voice to turn on/off or set a timer.

        Get one of these?

        • -6

          Don't forget the installation cost…

          I already owned a screwdriver.
          If you have an electrical outlet like this in the roofspace, it is possible to plug your ceiling fan into that, instead of getting electrician to hardwire.
          You'd need the type with the infra-red remote though.

          https://www.schnap.com.au/power-points-switches-sockets-junc…

          Get one of these

          Nice! I did not know they existed. Next time I'll use that, thanks.

          • +3

            @bargaino:

            I already owned a screwdriver.

            And a ceiling that has a joist at the right spot, presumably. :)

            • @eug: Joists are every 18 inches. Is that not good enough?

            • @eug: It`s not hard to add another piece of timber.

              • +5

                @Bargin Boy: yes it is difficult if you aren't a tradie and never done it before.

              • +2

                @Bargin Boy:

                It`s not hard to add another piece of timber.

                This deal is for a pedestal fan. Just pop the base on and switch it on.
                manic then said ceiling fans are much better, even a $50 cheapie.

                They are, but my point was, installing a ceiling fan is much more involved than simply buying a $50 ceiling fan.

                And if you just so happen to have ceiling lights too close to where you want to install the fan, you'll get strobing. You'll then also have to relocate the lights.

                It's similar to the inevitable discussions that pop up when someone posts a portable aircon deal - someone will say a split aircon is more efficient. It is, but it's more expensive to buy and install. Renters also might not be keen in installing a split ac (or ceiling fan in this case) in their landlord's house.

        • I have 5 of these, flashed with tasmota, in Home Assistant, yelling at Siri..

          • @nofate: Oh sweet! Is it relatively easy to open up and flash USB to serial? I've only ever used tuya-convert.

        • will that deta controller work with a pedestal fan?
          As I understand it would need to be spliced into the mains cord but not sure if its just for ceiling fans?

    • +5

      I've always kept a fan within arms reach from the bed. A remote for a pedestal fan for me seems like a waste but I can see how for others it could be good. Also I use a fan partly for the noise it makes to help me sleep. A quieter one would be worse for me.

      • I use mine for white noise as well, I have a previous model DC with wifi and a remote, works great with google assistant, been using it every night about 2 years now with no issues, as well as during wfh days.

        Apart from the arlec app not being that great, its definitely quieter and longer lasting than my ac fan which started giving up not too long after the warranty ran out.

    • +8

      Yeah, the advantage of a DC fan is the quietness, not the energy saving.

      • +3

        and more speed control settings

    • +2

      No remote included with this fan. I bought one this week and the other reviews say the same. However, decent fan for the price, very quite apart from a small ticking noice which you'd get used to.

      Great for people that are sensitive to noises when sleeping.

      • Are the switches physical push in ones? I want to put one of these on a smart plug, so it turns on by itself.

        • +2

          It's an analog dail, so your setup should work.

    • reviews and specs on Bunnies site say no remote included

    • -3

      Yes Only $15 at Kmart and BigW
      That is a much better deal
      But no remote
      But seriously who needs a remote for a fan????

  • are these smart ones?

  • Last year I bought from Aldi for $40. They are doing well so far.
    https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/special-buys-sat-4-d…

    • +2

      That's an AC fan and they can be found for around $15 (without remote control)

  • I was gonna get one but realised there is no remote included. Good for the price though.

    • It says on the product listing that a remote is included, odd.

      • Must be incorrect. This one is a manual fan with a rotary dial.

        More expensive ones are remote and also have wifi connectivity.

      • Yeah. Look at the first review there. The poster clearly mentioned about this. Bit of odd indeed.

  • +10

    There are other benefits to a DC fan than just cost saving. Typically they are quieter and have more range in terms of fan speed.
    Hard pressed to find an AC fan with anything more than 3 speed settings, with the lowest often still being gale force speed.

  • Vote up for detailed analysis!

  • +7

    I like DC fan. The lowest setting on the fan is like a light touch on your skin when blowing at you.

    • +9

      Your description kind of gets me excited. Please do go on…

  • +5

    I have mi fan 2 (100 speeds), old kogan premium (around 50 speeds but gave it to my parents), new kogan premium fan (12 speeds) and cheap AC fan (3 speeds). Purchased all of them during special around $89, $79, $59 and $15.(if I remember correctly)
    Below is my opinions on DC fans,
    Save a bit of energy- which isn’t much
    Speed- sometimes I prefer very low speed, which cheap AC fans can’t provided
    Quiet- DC fans is very quiet during low speed, but it can get as loud as AC fans when you turn up the speed
    Timer- could be good for some people
    Remote or Smart- could be convenient for some people
    Adjust the oscillation angle- very good for me (mi fans over smartphones off/30/60/90/120)

    If you don’t need all of them, just buy cheap AC fan. Otherwise, value the features and additions cost yourself. But this fan only has 5 speeds which pretty low for a DC fan.

    • +2

      I've got a Mi Fan 2 and a 3. Power saving wasn't a reason for buying, but being able to have them on a low speed to just move a little air but be silent.
      Also, don't underestimate the convenience of having a fan with an inbuilt battery. I got these ones over other DC fans for that. (Also agree about the oscillation, the option from 30 to 120 degrees is also pretty useful)

      • I will replace my cheap AC fan with mi fan 3 if it’s price below $100 delivered. How much did you pay?

        • No unfortunately not under $100. It's currently $139 from Kogan if you get the First free shipping trial. It was somewhere around that.

          I think the other one I have is the 2S not the 2 actually. The 3 is a nice improvement over the 2S, has at least some sort of indication of battery life now, settings are more visible on the stem rather than top of fan (maybe not an advantage I guess if you like a cleaner look), not sure if the ioniser does much but it has one, and includes a bluetooth remote (admittedly that I never use, I have it tied in to Home Assistant for remote control but remote is faster than loading the app)

          • @bamzero: Yeah, I almost purchased mi fan 3 when it was $109. I am still waiting…until it drops below $100.

    • Which DC fan would you recommend? Mi fan or Kogan?

      • +1

        Depends what you want, get whatever on special. Kogan max get you more wind, mi fan better feature. They are both okay if the price is right,

  • Can confirm there is definitely no remote. It is very quiet. Build quality is average, as you'd expect.

    • It does say it comes with one though. So you'd presume you're supposed to get one, no?

  • I bought Xiaomi DC fan because of the quiet and natural wind not the power saving.

    • +3

      "Natural wind".

      • First "word" in username checks out ;)

  • +3

    We have this fan, and due to some rattling issues with our Hunter Pacific DC ceiling fan (waiting for warranty replacement), it's temporarily in our bedroom.

    • The fan speed is variable, with a white bar LED which has 5ish lights as fan speed changes. It's too bright at night, so you'll need to tape it at night
    • Very quiet, although at the lowest speeds a whine is starting to creep in
    • Very easy to move, the handle is in a good position and close to the balance point
    • Quality is only average

    For any use other than a bedroom - ours normally resides on a deck - it's terrific. YMMV at low speeds tho'

    • +3

      The only bad review was from the guy who didn't get a remote with it.

      It's significantly cheaper than any other DC fan which is why I posted it and other community members think it's also such a good deal that it's on the frontpage.

        • +5

          Just because it's not advertised as on sale isn't a valid reason to neg. Your neg should be removed as per the guidelines on this website.

    • +2

      ohh mann i hate missing out on what was said

      • Haha, it sure escalated quickly didn't it…

      • Dang. I go and do something productive for an hour and look what happens. Had to be good if spackbace got involved.

        • I'd pay an annual member ship fee just to be able to view those type of unpublished comments

      • +5

        It devolved into a lot of unhinged personal insults to the point of being unintelligible and attempts to get around the swear filter. You're not missing out on anything. It was like watching a car crash - you think you want to see it but you really don't. It was quite sad to see someone so angry at the world to be honest and taking it out in this thread. I wish that user all the best with their life. May they find the happiness, peace and love they need.

        • +4

          I'd cut them a little bit of slack, who knows what they are going through, being disabled and all…

          • +2

            @team teri: I don't normally upvote disabled jokes, but yours was well on par for the handicap.

  • Bought this fan about 6 weeks or so ago, price has gone up since then. I think it was only $40 so it looks like there is a summer surcharge now.

    It's pretty basic, but I prefer it to the cheap AC fan it replaced. On low speed it's almost silent which is also very low speed which is great for nights when you just want a little air movement. I was planning to get another, but probably won't at this price now, I think I'll just spend a little more and get a smart fan.

    • I've kept an eye on DC fans for a while and don't believe this was selling for $40.

      If you could provide proof of the price that would be helpful for the community and I'd like to know myself.

      • Didn't keep the receipt but there is no chance I paid $55 for it as I was looking at getting the Kogan fan but thought I'd check bunnings first and when I saw this one for less than half the price I thought it was worthwhile. It wasn't on special or anything.

        • You don't keep receipts, or take a photo of it and upload to email for warranty purposes?

          • +1

            @studentl0an: I normally buy things like this online so it's not something I have to think about generally. Most bunnings purchases are garden stuff so don't keep those receipts, when I bought the fan I also was getting garden stuff so probably just binned the receipt out of habit.

      • +1
      • +1

        https://pricehipster.com/product/pf-WnYt4FSryNC7NBmwHpw~HJ1K…

        Not sure about $40 but was $49 on 10/10. Then $55 on 11/11.

  • But if you still want a DC fan, $55 is cheaper than the Kogan or Xiaomi DC fans when on special.

    Not sure about the Kogan ones, but incomparable with the Xiaomi as they're smart/wifi connected.

  • +4

    DC fans are about being able to run slower and be almost silent. The power saving aspect of it is just marketing. I bought this fan recently and can confirm it's a basic fan but is definitely very quiet.

  • Good deal if it actually comes with a remote, meh deal if it doesn’t (two out of two reviews say no remote)

    • No remote. Source - we bought one. Paid $49 for it in December 2020.

  • Kmart smart dc fan for $89 is the best I have used so far.
    But it seems they have stopped selling it.
    I was looking for second one, fortunately was able to buy from Facebook marketplace for just $30 😊

    • I just recently bought an Aldi smart DC fan, pretty sure it's a clone of the Arlec one and was $89.

  • If it doesn't come with remote and not fussed on DC, this AC fan is $10 cheaper

    Though has had a price increase for Summer

  • +1

    These fans are junk, I strongly suggest not to buy unless our store had a bad pallet

    Our fan blade was warped, causing the whole motor/unit to wobble on every settings and was very noticeable.
    Also with the fan blade removed, on each setting, these arlec fan motors speed up and slow down on their own, after unboxing 2 fans with the same issues we just returned it and got the Kogan DC fan

    Much better quality

  • My Arlec DC fan lasted 2 weeks…

  • fans don't cool the room, it just moves air giving the impression of cooler air. you need an air conditioner to cool the room.

    • +4

      Might not cool the room, but it cools the person being hit by the moving air, and isn't that what's really important?

      • Fans don't make a room any cooler, they merely make you feel cooler. By moving air over your skin, a fan can lower your body temperature, but will do nothing for the heat inside a room.

        perhaps you can put ice cube in front too cool the room. in the summer when your room is an oven, a fan just turns it into a convection oven, lol. or open your fridge, and run your fan next to it.

        • +5

          Fans don't make a room any cooler, they merely make you feel cooler.

          I personally don't care what temperature the room is at as long as I feel cooler. :)

  • Thank you for this deal, and the excellent explanation of why we shouldn't buy it, take a +1

  • In what way are the DC fans quieter? (genuine question). Is it that they have a lower minimum speed? Is it they don't have a particular motor or transformer noise?
    At the moment this cheapie AC fan I have comes with the modes like "sleep" and "natural" but the issue is it regularly has this "power on noise" where it has to spin up the fan. If DC fans don't have that … then sold!

    I did see this one in the past but the build quality comments made me think even if the motor is quieter it'll rattle in some other way, like the swing mechanism or something :P

    • +2

      In what way are the DC fans quieter? (genuine question). Is it that they have a lower minimum speed? Is it they don't have a particular motor or transformer noise?

      Both - The motors in DC fans don't have the hum that AC fans do - the motors are practically silent, and any noise you hear is the noise of the blades physically moving the air.

      They also have much finer speed control as well as a wider usable speed range. I have one of the older Kogan Premium DC motor pedestal fans, and most of the time a speed of 4-6 (out of about 35 speeds) is perfectly adequate - it's practically silent at this range. At maximum speed I practically have to hold on to something to avoid being blown across the room while at the very lowest speed setting you can practically count the blades moving around.

      I don't know about the cheaper DC motor fans but the build quality of mine is far better than the typical $15 fan. For a start it has a proper, solid base that isn't made out of folded tinfoil, and the shaft is solid - there's no flex at all. But most importantly the bearings in the motor seem to be of a better quality. The failure mode of all my previous fans was always the bearing. I could usually coax a bit more life out of them by disassembling the thing and re-lubricating the bearings. The AC fan I had before this one lasted about 4 years, but had started showing signs of deterioration well before it finally stopped working. Even after re-lubing the bearings, it gradually got slower and slower to start up, then I had to set it to maximum speed just to get it to start, then eventually it would only even turn if set to maximum speed. And the oscillation mechanism broke fairly early on too.

      I've had my Kogan fan for just over 3 years so far and it still works like new - if there was any deterioration of the bearings it would have had trouble running at the lowest speed, I think.

      • I picked up a fan off the footpath from someone's hard waste in 2007 or 2008. I sleep with a fan on for the white noise so I've used this fan most nights for the last 14 years. And it was not new when I got it. They don't make them like they used to. It's a Mistral TF12.

        Even better was a retro 70s looking Sanyo (I think?) in a rental accommodation we stayed in. It was just beautiful - Transparent blue blades, lots of chrome, 70s styling, and the best bearings I have seen in a fan. It would spin for ages after being turned off. I would have stolen it f I was inclined to thieving things from unsuspecting rental hosts, but I'm not so I didn't.

        • I still have a National fan (name before Panasonic), still working fine, only the timer didn't work (have to use external timer)

        • Even better was a retro 70s looking Sanyo (I think?) in a rental accommodation we stayed in. It was just beautiful - Transparent blue blades, lots of chrome, 70s styling, and the best bearings I have seen in a fan. It would spin for ages after being turned off. I would have stolen it f I was inclined to thieving things from unsuspecting rental hosts, but I'm not so I didn't.

          My cousins in China have a desktop fan that dates back to the early 70s (when you could only buy appliances like that with vouchers, not cash) - Runs damn near silently - certainly no rattles or bearing noise. All they do is clean the dust off and lube the bearings once every couple of seasons. The blades are metal, so the inertia keeps the blades spinning for a while after you turn it off, but damn does that thing throw air. They have it in the corner of one room on top of the full width TV cabinet - the room is about 3.4-4m wide by about 8-9m long, and even on the lowest setting you feel quite a lot of air on the opposite side of the room. The little cheapy pedestals that you buy these days can barely move air when you're standing right in front of them by comparison.

          Like superforever we've got an old National fan too - except ours has metal blades. Typical AC motor hum, but the wire finger guard vibrates a bit. But it dates back to the late 70s/early 80s and is still working too. Got a couple of the early box fans from KMart too from the 80s,at least one of them still works, not sure if the other one still does, haven't used it for ages.

  • Got this 2 weeks ago its now turning off and the LEDs (Too bright) are flashing after a few minutes…

    Decent fan i paid $45 for it at Glendale

    Going to swap it for another one today

  • friend of ours kept going on about the energy savings of her dc ceiling fan worth $300, it uses 10 watts less than our ac fans, people are delusional. the lack of mathematical skills is concerning, no wonder the government rips us off with inflation and decreasing our purchasing power.

  • Picked this up today, assembled and all working fine, came back and the motor doesn't work properly! It's like it's struggling to power on, LED light turns off and on - anyone else?

    • +1

      LED light turns off and on - anyone else?

      Just return it XD

      • Oh no! So same thing it looks like struggling to draw power?

  • Thanks for all these comments about DC fans. I must be a mushroom as I hadn't heard much about them. But, thanks to this thread and all the information. I may consider buying this fan. Thanks

      • If you're implying OP shouldn't buy it because someone received a faulty unit, OP will never be able to buy anything whatsoever.

        • Not only this, a few more comments on this thread.

          • +1

            @superforever: That's the problem with solely relying on a forum to judge a product. People who are completely satisfied with their fans are simply just using them. They're not going to look for an online forum and sign up just to post a message saying "my fan works fine".

            But if they get a dud and have been inconvenienced by the hassle of having to swap it, they're more likely to write a post about it.

            Bunnings could have sold 20,000 fans and 21,800 of them could be functioning perfectly fine while the remaining 1% could be faulty. You probably won't hear much from the 21,800 satisfied users but you're more likely to hear from the 200 dissatisfied ones.

            Of course this fan really could be a dud, I'm just saying you can't conclude that all these fans are faulty simply because 4 people said theirs were.

  • +2

    I would like to revise my energy consumption numbers in the OP.

    A few days ago I purchased a 2nd hand Kogan DC fan for $30 that was in as new condition (minus the remote) and I tested it with a watt meter. I also have a standard $15 AC fan.

    It turns out DC fans save significantly more electricity than I had read in previous posts about DC fans.

    The DC fan is advertised as 35 watts and the AC fan is advertised as 45 watts. The DC fan has 12 speed settings, the AC fan has the standard 3. The DC fan uses 10 watts at half speed (6/12). The AC fan uses 34 watts at 1/3 speed. The amount of air being moved is comparable at those settings. That's a saving of 25 watts, not 15 as I wrote in the OP.

    At full speed the DC fan uses 28w out of the 35 it's advertised for. At full speed the DC fan moves a bit more air than the AC fan. I do not have a wind meter to test the exact air flow, but if I had to guess I would say that it's about 15% more air at full speed.

    In regards to noise - I found this to be a non differentiator as the speeds which the DC fan is significantly quieter also move less air than the AC fan on the first speed. Once the speeds/airflow are matched I don't notice a difference in sound. The air being sliced by the fans is much louder than the motor. However at speeds 3 and below on the DC fan it's very quiet (but only moves a small amount of air). It also uses 5 watts or less on those speeds. At full speed the DC fan is louder than AC, but it's moving more air.

    If the DC fan lasts 3 years it will pay for itself within that period for me just on energy savings alone. I find AC fans have their motor seize up between 1.5-3 years, so I'm hoping the DC fan lasts longer.

  • +1

    Needed a couple of fresh fans to replace the old AC shitters here that were running slower than normal and falling apart, as elcheapo Chinese stuff does. Bought 2x of these Arlecs, both have a rotational noise, one louder than the other. Will be taking them back to today to probably just get some more AC shitters. Sigh…

  • There are a lot of negative reviews, including complaints of poor quality, squeaking and shutting down on hot days presumably due to overheating. Worth a read before purchasing.

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