Hi all - I’m training outside on my back deck at the moment and even with the ceiling fan running at max I get way too hot, even when it’s only 10C outside. I feel like the heat is more of a limiting factor than the workout itself. The constant sweat drip is annoying too as it tickles my nose!
I think I need a floor mounted fan. I’ve seen some recommendations for the US, but these are generally not available in Aus or are many times the price.
Does anyone have any suggestions for Australia please?
Yeah the lasko ones aren’t readily available here. I bought the VacMaster Cardio54 from Amazon and it is very good. Got it for less than current pricing though for nearly 200AUD I’d be hesitant. You could check out Jet Black’s fan, although the reviews aren’t great
I just use the black fans from Bunnos they work good enough for me. That’s said tho I’m not a huge sweater so take that with a grain I guess. If you can hack it I also sometimes use I’ve in my bottles to cool the water but some people don’t like drinking cold cold drinks.
I have one of the Dynabreeze 450mm fans from Bunnings. It has been solid. It’s not my only cooling in my training room. I also have aircon. Between them I drop minimal sweat, even in hard sessions.
It’s good enough that I recently got my wife a wall mount one for her treadmill.
Yeah I quite like it. It also has a couple of power points on the side so makes plugging things in nice and simple too. Narrow airflow, but it pumps out a lot of air. In summer I have a smaller pedestal fan behind me sometimes, but my erg setup is in a shed. In an ideal world I’d be setup in a garage with a split system to cool the space and a fan for flow. Would buy again. I see @OneSully has a Vornado, I tried one of those for a while but it’s not as effective as the carpet blower. But you can use a Vornado in the house over summer.
Vornado on the table aimed at head and upper torso, Wahoo Headwind under table getting everything else. Headwind works well but it’s noisy and expensive, I’ll be trying something else if it breaks.
If I was riding a trainer outside, I’d grab one (or more) of these (top fan). They come in lots of diameters and tend to move a lot of air. Some are belt drive, but that shouldn’t be a negative necessarily. You want to move a lot of air, and it would seem these types of fans will do it. Depending on availability down under.
I found one that was about a foot and a half (0.5m), and looked more ducted but ended up getting a Lasko instead, but miss having more air flow on hot days.(I would use it to cool the lower body and probably back.)
I did find this fan, a Vornado, which looks like it’d move a lot of air. Model number EXO5. And it has a few alternative mounting choices too. It’s 0.51m wide.
I don’t have any experience with what’s available in Australia, but I’d second the Vacmaster fans if those are easy enough to get. They’re pretty compact and they move a ton of air! I used them on the (rare) days I had to ride indoors on the trainer in California.
Any sort of industrial-strength fan or water-damage/blower fan would be a solid choice, though. I’ve never wished for less air blowing over me when I’m on the trainer!!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, that’s super helpful
I’m sweating so much at the moment it’s not just leaving marks on the deck but the pad in my shorts is filling up and you don’t want that!
I’m in NZ had and the same issue with finding a fan. I know they are expensive, but I have zero regrets buying the Wahoo Headwind. The app control is great. I don’t use heart rate or any of the automatic features, I just control it manually - it’s always at 100% after a few minutes warm up.
Multiple fans is also a good idea. Front and one to the side will generally do the trick. For the side try to get your torso and some of your thighs. If you already have the ceiling fan maybe just an additional one at the front for chest/face will do. Basic pedestal fans work for me, over the years I’ve dialed my setup to the point there is generally very little dripping sweat. If you can get a remote fan that you can vary the speed is good also. I also like to use a remote switch (example in link below) to turn fans on about 10 minutes after I start as I find it a bit to cold in winter to start with fans going. Hope you find an answer as sweat dripping on onto your bike is not a good thing long term.
I hadn’t really considered them as I thought they’d way too expensive, but (Au) looks like around $360 is retail. That’s still 2 x the carpet blower fan at Bunnings I linked to (and I do really like it) but if I was getting a fan today I’d probably pony up the $$ for the Wahoo.
I found a switched outlet that has something like 5 outlets, and even at that, have a power strip plugged in because of the 4 fans and several lights. Go with the one that either has the most receptacles and/or the highest current for the switched receptacles. Even if you don’t think you might need them, just to have the extra capacity is a great idea…
The black Lasko floor dryer type fans have 2 switched outlets (at least?) but the main fan has to be turned on manually, unless you use a remote switch. SCORE!!
I have one or these, it is a bit noisy though but I have headphones in that block most of it out. Indoors in AC (set to 24deg C) up in Far North Qld in Cairns, it moves plenty of air and I am sometimes cold but still sweating heaps by the end of a workout. https://www.bunnings.com.au/bristol-750mm-industrial-pedestal-fan_p0126673
If you are looking to turn fans on and off while you are on the bike, you can get these from Jaycar. I have two Vortex fans and a floor fan from bunnings that I turn on and off as needed.
