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Original poster

Leaving fans on all night?

24 replies

lunavix · 03/07/2006 13:53

Just bought a big pedestal fan from Tescos for the bargain price of 12.97, and we have it on atm the best part of the whole day in the lounge, and lug it upstairs for pretty much all night as it was 38 in our bedroom last night for some godforsaken reason.

Is this safe???? I keep turning ds's fan off when we go to sleep as he's asleep by then and I'm paranoid about it catching on fire or something, but poor little mite wakes up hugely sweaty during night...

OP posts:

spook · 03/07/2006 13:56

Hi Lunavix,
As far as I'm aware it's perfectly safe. We have always left ours on in house in Ibiza-24/7 sometimes. Its v neccesary in this weather!!

PrettyCandles · 03/07/2006 13:58

Ours are on all night, and often most of the day ATM. Been doing this every summer for years, and have had no problems whatsoever. Just make sure that you can't trip on the flex if you get up in the middle of the night!

cece · 03/07/2006 14:06

Leave ours on all night even when mine were babies.

SleepyJess · 03/07/2006 14:08

Ours are on all night at mo. Plus I often 'have' to use one on DS2 at all times of the year as he runs scary temperatures at the drop of a hat. I have always assumed it was ok. They should cut out if there is a problem I think.

jamsambam · 03/07/2006 14:11

apart from the fire risk and the ridiculous amount of power you waste having them on all night, surely leavinga window open is easier?
then again, saying that, my ds's room dosnt have any windows that open!

Original poster

lunavix · 03/07/2006 14:11

It's probably just me panicking then. It worries me especially as they're cheap! I'd love ceiling fans like in Oz....

I'm just terrified of the motor burning out, or them catching fire, or exploding or god only knows what... but then I am paranoid....

OP posts:

PrettyCandles · 03/07/2006 14:14

Leaving a window open makes absolutely no difference for us, as the bedrooms get the sun all afternoon and evening, so would just get more heat coming in. The blackout curtains provide a substantial amount of insulation. Once it gets dark we go up and open all the windows, but, as there's no way of locking our windows open, we will not leave the children to sleep with wide open windows while we're also asleep - what if one of them woke and climbed up to the window?

There's a smoke detector in each bedroom, the plugs have fuses, and the environmental and financial cost will just have to be compromised for a couple of months.

nzshar · 03/07/2006 14:16

We have 2 left on all night with weather like this. Both me and ds cannot sleep if too hot ....and all windows are open as well

Original poster

lunavix · 03/07/2006 14:18

PrettyCandles - could they not catch on fire then? Would they just cut out???

OP posts:

Whizzz · 03/07/2006 14:21

If the fuse is rated properly it shoudl cut out if a problem. I think overloaded sockets or damaged cables / casings are the main cause of electrical fires

info here

Mercy · 03/07/2006 14:28

Last night I went to check on the children before I went to bed and noticed that there was a strange smell in dd's room, a bit like burning rubber. The fan had been on for a couple of hours and I thought it was the motor burning so I turned it off straight away.

Have been looking at other fans today and noticed that some have timers. Bit expensive though. Maybe you could by one of those plug timer thingies?

I know this is just adding to your fears but after last night I would err on the side of caution.

(We keep the blinds/curtains closed during the day to keep the sun out)

SleepyJess · 03/07/2006 14:35

Thing is Jimjams, there's just no breeze to come in via the window atm, at least not here.

SleepyJess · 03/07/2006 14:36

Oh.. sorry.. you're not actually Jimjams are you.. oops..

shhhh · 03/07/2006 14:38

we are the same. No breeze comes in through the windows even though they are open all day. The curtains are kept closed all day in each bedroom but it's still hot..!!!

DD's fan is on 24/7 atm I have also bought another 2 from Tesco today for our room. Phhweeewww...!!

Mercy · 03/07/2006 14:43

I'm sure I saw something earlier on mn that placing a frozen bottle of water in front of a fan will cool down the air - something like that anyway.

Ice cubes in a hot-water bottle is another tip I've come across.

sweetheart · 03/07/2006 14:46

Shouldn't the circuit breaker trip out if there is anything wrong?

An alternative to buying an expensive fan with a timer would be to just get a timer switch that you can plug an ordinary fan into. They are far cheaper.

Nemo1977 · 03/07/2006 14:55

we leave our fans on over night.

TwoToTango · 03/07/2006 15:42

we leave our fans on all night - couldn't sleep otherwise.

lizziemun · 03/07/2006 15:54

i have dd fan on all night as her room is in full sun all day and is very hard to get below 80 so she sleeps in knickers and covered by a sheet.

we also have fan on in our room which has been on downstairs all day. although i think dh comes from a another planet as he still has to sleep under the duvet, i'm sleeping on top of duvet with fan blowing on me and still to HOT!!

Hayls · 03/07/2006 16:06

YOu can buy ceiling fans for less than £30, they are actually pretty easy to fit and are amazing in summer!! They also do a reverse thing where they recirculate warm air for winter (or some other technical explanation) Dh put one in our bedroom in less than an hour (have moved since then though and really missing it as haven't had a cance to put another up yet). Might be less worrying for you? I always turn dd's fan off when we go to bed for some reason

kbaby · 05/07/2006 14:01

We keep our fan on and have a air con unit in DD's room all night.

We cant keep some of the windows open as they are roof windows and the cats manage to come in with live pressies for us!

blueshoes · 05/07/2006 14:42

Come from a hot and humid climate. Having fans/air conditioners on all night has never been an issue for anyone, as far as I know. I certainly never read any horror stories of fans catching fire.

NotQuiteCockney · 05/07/2006 14:46

I would love to have a ceiling fan, but our bedrooms have very low ceilings, so not an option.

One thing we had installed in the recent building work that really helped - DS2's room is a loft room, and because of the early sun, we can't really leave his windows open at night. So we had a small fan installed, that brings in cool air all night. It's just tiny, but it does make a difference.

clairemow · 05/07/2006 14:49

Always leave ours on all night and DS's. They don't feel hot in the morning. Just make sure it isn't pointed directly at him so he doesn't freeze!

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