can i put a dimmer on an inline fan

vkambull

Active Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #1

I'm running a 8" inline to my lights, and with the cold weather It's bringing my temps to low 60's with the ac off. Is it possible to run my fan off a dimmer, so i can slow it down to warm the room a little?? Thanks VK

 

2supra4u

Well-Known Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #2

there might be certain fans that may work with them you'd be better off just getting a proper speed controller for your fan. you can get them for decent price, some are too much tho.
you should be able to find one for 20-40 bucks for sure

or make one yourself one of these sites have the instructions ive seen it before

 

vkambull

Active Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #3

Yeah Speed controller is more what I meant. I was more worried that the motor in the fan might burn up, with lowering the amps. An example would be when I burned up my circular saw, by running it on 400' of extension cord, and the saw not receiving enough amps.

 

Ganjalee

Active Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #4

I run a speed controller on my 165 cfm fan, of course that's overkill and I no longer use it, though when I was in a smaller space it did quiet the fan down well enough and did not burn it out. I am now keeping the controller for my next 400 cfm fan,

 

WolfZen

Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #5

Yeah you can get them for under $20. Like:

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/active-air-variable-speed-fan-control-p-2263.html

Almost all the ones on the market are actually router speed controllers (which you can find the exact same ones at Home Depot/Lowes/etc) like this:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=gXI1T8HYHKatsQKNi_2qAg&ved=0CJcBEPMCMAA

 

James87

Active Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #6

Rheostats will work if the power rating is met.Im sure there are programmable ones.. if you are electrically savvy, you can use a rheostat and timer in parallel, so that during the timers ON cycle, fan will have full power. Off, and the dimmer bypasses the timer. Running a fan at 80% is considerably quieter because of how we hear in decibels..

 

W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #7

vkambull said:

Yeah Speed controller is more what I meant. I was more worried that the motor in the fan might burn up, with lowering the amps. An example would be when I burned up my circular saw, by running it on 400' of extension cord, and the saw not receiving enough amps.

Click to expand...

Depends and you're going to have to do some research on your particular fan.

Depends on the motor type. Some will tolerate a speed controller, some like your saw, won't.

Wet

 

roidrage152

Active Member

• Feb 10, 2012

• #8

The thing with those speed controllers, is there is a warning sticker on it that says not to use it with normal inline fans (the slow startup ones). However, these are the speed controllers Hydrofarm specifically reccomends for their fans. I use it, it works fine, but probably puts extra stress on the fans, and will ultimately reduce their life. I do have 1 fast start fan, its a MAXX brand, it costs over twice as much for the same rated CFM, though its like a jet engine, I imagine its much more efficient air movement.