Slowing a Box Fan, the Dummy Version

lamp dimmer switch

Our staffers never cease to be amazed (and occasionally amused) by some of the brainless notions that the contributors to eHow managed to get published – worse yet, that they managed to get paid for! Every day we see more doofus ideas, some of which are downright dangerous. Few categories are the source of more ridiculous ideas than DIY electrical work. Feast your eyes on the ridiculosity that William Kinsey managed to get up on HomeSteady.com that purports to explain, "How to Slow Down a Box Fan."

We have to admit, we can't really conceive of a situation in which one might want to slow a box fan below its slowest speed, but Kinsey could:

"These fans can be very noisy while generating this continuous air flow. Many homes, however, do not need this large airflow. What if all you want is a gentle breeze? This would involve slowing the box fan down to about half its slow speed"

We won't argue... wait, we will: box fans don't move that much air, and a "home" would need to be pretty darned small for one to be overpowering the room. But what the hey, the guy had to come up with some sort of introduction besides,

"This can be achieved by placing a dimmer switch or variable rheostat on the fan's power cord."

Sure, William, that'd do the trick. Let's see how you think that would be accomplished:

1. "Purchase a dimmer switch that has an equal to or higher voltage and current rating than the fan. This will help keep the dimmer switch from overheating."
2. "Take one of the two wires in [the fan's power] cord and cut that one wire. Strip 1/2 of an inch of electrical wire off of each of the two cut ends."
3. "Connect one end of the cut wire to one of the two screw terminals on the dimmer switch. Then connect the second wire end to the second dimmer switch terminal. Tighten both screws."

We saved the best part for last, though:

"The dimmer switch can either just hang on the cord, or you can use the dimmer switch mounting screws to secure the switch to the side of the fan. Plug in the fan."

That ain't gonna meet code!  According to Kinsey's post, he got this information from a Home Depot guide, "How to Install a Dimmer Switch." We call bullshit on that, since those instructions are for installing a dimmer switch in the wall for your lights. Yeah, sure. We also call bullshit on William's claim that he "holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte": if he truly does, Kinsey needs to ask for his money back!
Of course, you can buy an in-line dimmer for a lamp, but that's a far cry from the dimmer switches that Home Depot (and, presumably, Kinsey) was talking about. They're pretty easy to use: it's like a short extension cord that you just plug the lamp or, in this case, fan into. Too bad our Dumbass of the Day couldn't figure that out before pounding out his ridiculous, not to mention dangerous, instructions.

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