I am using two industrial fans and my room temperature is around 22ºC-23ºC in my pain cave. I am having a hard time having to constantly adjust the fans to ensure proper airflow. Today on a zone 2 endurance ride, I noticed that my heartrate was 5 bpm higher than normal and it took me a while to figure out that it was the angle of the fan which needed adjustment to ensure proper air circulation. I noticed the high HR after 30 minutes into the ride.
Any tips on how to figure out the correct fan angle before starting to pedal?
Well I only use one fan as I mostly just ride the Trainer in the winter months. But I changed it from dead center 12 0’clock to about 30 degrees to my left or 10 O’clock and I noticed the difference. I saw a pic once of Amber Neben and she had two fans. The first one at about the same position as mine and the second one was up high and pointing down at her 90 degrees to her right or 3 O’clock. She said that she had spoken to several people about that and that was the best set up. She was doing a Zwift race or fundraiser.
I have three fans and an AC unit. (Sub tropics).
My favourite configuration is to have two in front of the front wheel that hit my thighs/torso and torso/face. A third fan sits a metre or so behind me and pushes air up my back. AC unit set to 21c.
I can control them all individually without getting off the bike which means you can easily adjust to suit at different stages of a workout.
During something like Spencer+2 it’s nice to be in the middle of a vortex with music cranked up to overcome the wind noise. During endurance rides I prefer a bit of wind in my face and on my back.
YMMV.
Okay, I forgot to mention that there there is a wall on my right side so I can only use fans on the left side. I might have to try bringing the fans a bit closer and try to keep one as close as possible to the 3 O clock position and the other one at 10 O clock. I don’t need an air conditioner this time of the year as it is still cold outside.
Also, I am not sure if I can plug in 3 fans at the same time. I live in a building constructed 45 years ago with an outdated wiring system which cannot handle a lot of appliances plugged in.
I’ve got a 20” commercial fan that I leave on high in front of my bike aiming at my chest, works wonders. If I’m doing an over under or v02 I’ll use my wife’s fan (same model) as well from the side.
Our setup is in the basement so we always crack the windows at the front and back of the room to get airflow. We find that if we don’t open the windows even with the fans going it’s not enough and the co2 builds up.
Just added my 2nd vacmaster to the equation.
So i have both of them in front of me, about 1m to the side, with a 45 degrees angle.
I have a round fan at the back, trying to cope with cooling my back.
Once we move home, i’ll put this one on the wall to work more efficiently at this job. Or I’ll get a 3rd vacmaster
Check the fans to see how many watts they use. You might be surprised at how little electricity the average fan uses compared to other appliances. https://ozito.com.au/products/565cfm-air-mover/
I’ve got two of these at the front and something similar at the back. It’s only 400w if I turn them all on high speed which isn’t needed.
I have one a bit like this. The sticker on it says it’s 120W, presumably at the highest setting. This isn’t much at all — only 0.5A on a 240V supply. For comparison an electric kettle uses 10x or more power. If your household wiring can manage a kettle or other heater a few fans will be fine.
(FWIW this is the only fan I use and I have it on the floor pointing up at my legs/chest.)
I’ve always been interested in an airflow model to see how two or three fans work together (or against each other) and the most efficient way to run them.
i have three fans, two Lasko’s at 10 and 2 o’clock on the floor, and one on a dresser at head height pointed straight at my head/chest area.
I’ve always wondered if the two on the ground are sub-optimal. Need some fluid modelling.
Can‘t have too much cooling!