Ye Old Fan

One of our fans died today. We've had it for five years and it has been used almost every summer. We have an extra fan we weren't using so we're going to see if we can get that one to hold us through the summer. That way, we can buy a replacement fan when fans go on sale at the end of the season. I'm rather disappointed with this fan. It wasn't one of the little crappy plastic box fans. This was a metal, more industrial fan.

But what is most disappointing is that fact that I know fans can live for a long time. There is a fan in my room that my roommate bought in 1984. At the time, he paid fifteen dollars for it. It is brown and putty colored plastic, with only a few metal parts, such as the cage around the blades. The blades, however, are plastic. It has been through countless moves and even dropped on several occasions. This fan, which is, mind you, 30 years old, STILL WORKS.

Yes, that is correct. I have a 30 year old fan in my room. It's actually the most powerful fan IN my room and I love it to death. I have to clean it up every few months (when it's in use), but other than that, it really requires nothing. In fact, not only is this fan still running after all this time, it has several advantages over the other fans in the house. It has a sturdy base. We have some fans that try to topple over on a daily basis. The old fan was designed to stand up (novel concept these days) and stay standing up. It's base, while heavy, is also very solid and sturdy.

As I also mentioned, the fan is powerful. It's not a huge fan, but it actually puts out more air than my two box fans. It has a smoother pace. It is far easier to take apart and clean. It can collect a great deal of dustbunnies on it, but doesn't require the level of drama that the new fans do in order to be reasonably cleaned from said bunnies.

So yeah, given all of that, I am quite disappointed that this fan that is only five years old has died on us. It frustrates me because I know that fans can last far longer than that and given people a lot more bang for their buck. Is it possible that the old fan in my room may die one day? Oh of course it is, but I'm thinking after 30 years, that is perfectly acceptable. At this point, it could almost retire.