<p>Well, last year D lived in an air-conditioned dorm but no such luck this year so we need to get her either a fan or a room air-conditioner (which she needs to check with housing to see if that is even permitted). I vaguely remember some threads dealing with fans - the tower kind, oscillating, etc.</p>
<p>Any advice on which is the best to get??? Thanks!</p>
<p>The colleges we visited back in November all had big square fans sitting in the windows. We are flying our S to college and are hoping they don’t run out of fans at Walmart or Target before we get there!</p>
<p>Fredo:</p>
<p>My S has lived in various dorms over summer. In some cases, the window opened up, so the fan could sit in the window. In other cases, the window opened in, so a window fan was useless. fwiw, a 5.200BTU window airconditioner was selling at around $80 at places like Target or Best Buy earlier, more or less the same price as a Vornado fan. But you’d need to check out whether it could be put in the window.</p>
<p>Some schools don’t allow portable air conditioners, so check out the school’s website pertaining to what you can and cannot bring. Ours doesn’t allow them.</p>
<p>Tookie, you might want to reserve a fan or A/C at Bed Bath and Beyond, so it is waiting at a local store when you get there (assuming there’s a BB&B nearby). I’ve been told Target has a similar service. BB&B had fans of all types when we were there, and we selected one which we’ll get along with all the other stuff on arrival. Otherwise get there early or the stock is pretty picked over, esp. if they run pre-orientation programs or team pre-season practices, as those kids get there first.</p>
<p>for some reason whenever we move D into her dorm in POrtland Oregon the temps are in the 90s- yes I said Portland OR.
The piddly ant fan that we brought with her, was pathethic in that heat, we searched for more- finally found one, but we searched a little longer just in case so we could stay in the air conditioning.
The window ones don’t always fit- try a clip on fan and supplement it with a desk top- she probably wont have enough room for a floor standing fan</p>
<p>Thanks, we will be getting there early for orientation week. We also have to check out rugs and microwaves, the other big items we have to get when we arrive. We only have one more week until we leave! Ouch.</p>
<p>The Vornado fans available at Bed, Bath and Beyond move a great deal of air for their size. My daughter uses one in her dorm room. It does an amazing good job…but is still just a fan. Air conditioning is the only thing that helps in high humidity.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that fall arrives early as my S is used to air conditioning 8 or 9 months of the year and likes it cold.</p>
<p>I have no experience with these room air conditioners and they are expensive, but thought you might be interested.
<a href=“http://www.purennatural.com/fs.php?center=airconditioners%2Findex.php[/url]”>http://www.purennatural.com/fs.php?center=airconditioners%2Findex.php</a></p>
<p>PDX does get hot now and then. Today it was in the 90s. When we moved D into Grinnell, it was 95 degrees with 97% humidity. Really awful! But at least in PDX, it cools down by evening.</p>
<p>When people hear that S is going to Miami, they always comment that FL is hot, but at least there all the buildings have A/C. (We still got S a small fan at BB&B, though.) So I just tell them about that move-in at Grinnell and how nice FL will be in February!</p>
<p>Home Depot sells three-speed oscillating fans on round bases (they work on any surface, floor or desk or radiatior cover etc). They cost about 10 dollars and are very quiet. Very light and versatile–possibly out of stock late in season at some stores though. Work surprisingly well and are very light and versatile–probably not quite as effective as the Vornado fans but so much cheaper that you can stock up and even use two in a larger room to get surprisingly good results (I do that in our living room occasionally).</p>
<p>What do you all think about the window fans with two fans - one going out and one going in? She actually has a pretty big room - it’s a 12 x 12 single so there is space for a floor fan. I saw some oscillating tower ones at Target and wondered about those?</p>
<p>We’ve become something of fan exoerts, living in a hot climate with a bedroom at the very end of the air con ductwork.
The new oscillating tower fans seem to be gentler, less of a blast of cold air, and will oscillate in a smaller footprint, particularly if you have a corner to put them in. On the downside, we have a tall bed, and some the the force of the air is just blowing on the mattress and foot board of the bed, vs the old oscillating fans on a stand that we used to use - if her bed is lofted, she might need a clip on fan for a little extra cooling on the bed itself.</p>
<p>fredo, I think the flexibility of a non-tower fan might be desirable (that is, you can place it in more locations) but right now it is 97 in the shade (and this is NOT the South!) so I’m probably not thinking as clearly as usual.</p>
<p>Oh my goodness! Since when did our kids get so whimpy that they can’t survive a few weeks without air conditioning! I think a fan on a stand is a good way to go if it is really hot. Then they don’t have to worry about using up valuable surface space and they can put it anyplace they want.</p>
<p>Fredo:</p>
<p>D has used an oscillating floor fan for the past two years. It’s adjustable and high enough to reach the tall beds, which have 3 feet of space underneath for storage. Originally, we got her a cheapo, plastic, desk fan from Target, which turned out to be super-noisy. She about melted the first week of college, so we brought up a tall, 3-speed, oscillating floor fan. It kept both D and her roommate comfortable during the first month of classes, and again, during the last three of months of school. S used it last summer on the dorm, and D is using it again this summer in her single dorm room. </p>
<p>How much do you want to spend on a floor fan? Hunter makes a really nice black one (3-speed, 56" tall, metal blades, whisper-quiet) for $119.</p>
<p>So it seems like the most votes come for floor fans. I’ll probably check out the Vornado as well. While I don’t want to spend a fortune, I do want to get an efficient one. I don’t think she has to loft her bed so a tower fan might still be an option.</p>
<p>The hardest part of this is that where she goes to school, literally the only place to buy something is Wal-Mart. So we need to get something before she goes to school. On the other hand, her school is only an hour and 15 mins. away so she could easily go the first day, unpack and come home to sleep in AC comfort as well as shop! This is one of the nice benefits of her being close.</p>
<p>I favor a $10 clip on fan that adjusts direction and speed. They can be aimed anywhere and they can get lost in the closet during the Winter. The big room fans are okay if you aren’t crunched for space (many dorms are) and window fans are a pain to store.</p>