Mini Fan Central

When it comes to keeping comfortable, it’s amazing the difference a little mini fan can make. Whether you’re faced with a warm office space or record breaking heat on the train ride home, having a personal mini fan to cool your immediate surroundings can make a huge difference in how comfortable you are. It doesn’t take much, just a simple mini cooling fan. And fortunately, there are lots of mini fans to choose from. You may just be surprised at the variety available.

1. Personal / portable mini fan. This is the tiniest of mini fans. Generally battery-operated and often featuring soft foam blades, the portable mini fan is designed for personal use on the go. It can easily be carried in a purse, bag, or briefcase, and often comes in child-friendly designs and color schemes to reducing whining on a long, hot car ride.
2. Clip-on mini fan. Probably the most popular for home and office use, the clip on mini fan is a miniature version of the round oscillating fan that is so widely used. These feature a strong clamp for easy attachment on a variety of surfaces and edges. They are usually powered through wall electricity, but some are battery operated. Clip on mini fans are especially popular in offices and small work spaces.
3. Desk top fans. These are also popular in offices and workspaces and are more easily moved around than a clip on fan because they do not actually attach. Many desktop mini fans are small with soft foam blades and have a simple stand. Especially good for occasional use as they are easy to store and move around.
4. Mini tower fans are more substantial than personal fans but still smaller than their full-size parent. Tower fans take up a small amount of vertical space and even less horizontal space, and rotate to circulate the air across the room.
5. USB mini fans. The newest and most creative blend of cooling power and computer technology, this is a small desktop fan powered by your computer itself. As portable as your laptop is, the USB mini fan plugs into your USB port, and often features another USB port so that you can still use other appliances through that port.

You are probably wondering, “What in the world is a USB mini fan?” It’s exactly what it sounds like: a tiny fan that is powered by plugging into the USB port on your computer.

These fans come in a variety of different styles. The most common is a slim, very lightweight, flexible USB fan. Its very simple design features a flexible, stiff cord running straight from the plug to the fan. So the cord is also the ‘stand’ of the fan. This allows you to shape and angle the fan however you like.

A slightly more substantial style is the USB mini fan with the stiff wire neck, yet on a flat base. This base has a cord that goes into the USB port. The base allows for other features to be added. For example, an outlet for another USB item (so you can still use a thumb key, through the fan, while the fan is plugged in), or in some cases a glowing light or other feature.

Yet more substantial are the shorter standing fans. These are a bit more solid (they may sit low with four legs and no ‘neck’, or are simply shorter with a more sturdy neck and wider blades).

Perhaps the most creative is an item called the “USB Mini Retro Standing Fan.” This fan is a tiny representation of the classic standing oscillating fan that you find in homes, schools, and offices everywhere. Standing less than nine inches tall, this fan is built to scale and even features a small on/off button on the fan’s stand.

So you know that the USB mini fan comes in a wide variety of style options. These can be a great way to keep cool if you find yourself working in warm places and wish you could just cool down. Whether cooling off a bit at work, or staying comfortable while working on a long train commute, a USB mini fan gives you just enough wind power to cool your face down. And if nothing else, they are a fun novelty gadget that usually costs under $10, with the most expensive no more than $30.

What you choose as promotional gifts and trinkets for your company or organization will really depend on who you are marketing to and where you are doing your marketing. The ideal give away item really will vary from company to company. It’s tricky to balance your favorite items with your budget. Here are five reasons that promotional mini fans can be an asset for companies looking to give away gifts.

1. Quality. This is the top reason for using mini fans for a promotion. Not ideal if you’re on a cramped budget, but excellent if you are connecting directly with high value contacts. The mini fan, when done well, is something people will appreciate much more than a pen or pencil. They will appreciate that you didn’t take the cheap route.
2. Actual appeal. Handing out balloons and kazoos and Frisbees is plenty affordable, but most real business contacts won’t keep these around. Because the mini promotional fan actually serves a purpose, there is a much better chance that the people you reach out to will keep your product (and therefore, your logo) around for a lot longer.
3. Uniqueness. If you want to get noticed, you should stand out from the crowd. Everybody does pens. Not everybody does miniature fans. It just might be the distinction you need (or part of it) to get noticed.
4. Comfort. If you’re attending an event in a warm part of the country or during warm weather, then the cooling factor of the fan will definitely work in your favor. If you’re going someplace cold, this is probably not what you’re looking for and your money is better spent elsewhere.
5. Features/style. As with all things, personal mini fans run the gamut from well-designed and well-equipped to bright and tacky. If you’re marketing to kids, tacky is great; bring on the bright colors. But if you’re marketing to adults, they’ll appreciate a tasteful fan with convenient clips or neckband, and maybe even a flashlight or other feature that makes it not just a trinket, but a tool.

The mini fan is a simple yet incredibly convenient device. Have you ever seen a movie that is set in old England or ancient Rome, where kings and queens are fanned by hand with palm branches? If only we all had the luxury of keeping ourselves that cool on hot days. While not as glamorous as a personal servant, the mini fan is just as comfortable and, of course, more practical, as well.

Small mini fans come in all sorts of varieties. Many are so small as to be easily slipped into a purse, bag, or pocket. You can keep portable mini fans in the car, in your gym bag, or in a briefcase.

There are also more home-based mini standing fans, designed to sit easily on a desk top or bedside table. These will keep you cool when you sit in one place, without requiring the investment, space, and electricity of a larger oscillating fan or ceiling fan.

Then, there are mini box fans, which are more substantial than a desk top fan or portable personal fan, yet much less cumbersome than the larger full-size box fans from which they are derived.

Clip-on mini fans are a great way of cooling yourself no matter where you are sitting. Want to get better circulation in your bathroom? A clip on fan can be easily secured to a towel or magazine rack or side of a cupboard or countertop.

Mini tower fans are a compact alternative to the popular full-size tower fans, designed to rotate and provide full-room air circulation without taking up the space of standard oscillating fans.

And in perhaps one of the most recent design shifts, there are now mini fans that even are powered through a USB port. So if you often take your work to a coffee shop or other place that is a little warm, you can simply plug the fan into the USB port and it will sit easily and flexibly right next to you on the desktop or tabletop where you work.

If you are someone who lives in a very humid area, you may want to get a mini dehumidifier to go along with your mini fan. A mini fan alone will not work very well in a humid climate so a dehumidifier will work wonders.

Mini fans come in all varieties and styles, so it shouldn’t be hard to find one (or several) to meet your needs!

When it comes to keeping cool around your house, you needn’t buy full size oscillating fans, tower fans, window fans, and ceiling fans to regulate temperature. If it is just one or two places in your home where you wish you had a bit more air flow, a mini fan is a great way to meet that need without spending a lot of money on (and devoting a lot of space and electricity to) full size fans.

Clip on mini fans are arguably most convenient and versatile around the home of all mini fan styles. Here are five smart ways to use a clip-on mini fan to keep cool and save money around your house.

1. Clip it on your bedside table or head board. If you have to be cool (literally) to sleep well, don’t waste energy turning on the air conditioning. Just clip a mini fan to your headboard or footboard (whatever makes you most comfortable). This is also a great way to solve arguments over the temperature if you share a bed with someone who doesn’t want to be as cold as you do.
2. Clip it on your desk. Sitting at a computer, especially if you have a desk lamp or if your computer is in a small room, can get really warm. Desktop computers also generate heat just by running. Clip a fan on your desk to regulate your temperature and stay comfortable while you work.
3. Clip it by the stove. Cooking in the summer can be excruciating, especially if you have to ‘stir constantly.’ Making sure any cords are secured, clip a fan near the stove for a personal cooling assistant while you cook. It’ll make all the difference.
4. Clip it on your work bench. If you are a tinkerer, you’ll spend hours bent over projects, often getting warm while you work. A clip on mini fan will keep you cool without wasting air on the rest of your workspace.
5. Clip it in your car. Yes, your car. If you don’t have A.C., buy an auto-specific clip on mini fan, which has a door sized clip and car adapter power cord.