Vintage Fan
June 15th, 2009
Found On: Seattle Craigslist
FREE Vintage Homart Squirrel Cage Fan/Blower. Still runs.
Honestly, we’re not sure what this is. “Fan,” sure, but not the place-in-the-window kind. It looks big enough that installation probably requires a permit from the city planning department. Given the condition of this thing, what you save in purchase price, you’re gonna lose in bribes to the guy at the permit counter. No way he signs off on this beast without some serious palm-greasing. Keep in mind, it’s his head on the chopping block when the first kid loses a hand in it, or it explodes, spreading flaming shrapnel for two blocks.
Dayum, lookit that motor! I’d take that without a second thought! Motors like that cost a fortune…. And that looks like a massive scrollcage blower too… This does NOT belong on this site.
This monster is a fan from an old furnace.
Squirrel Cage Fan? WTF?
C’mon, look it up…
Looks just like the one we had when I was a kid, dad called it a “swamp cooler” b/c you had to run water thru to make it work. I was terrified of it; it had some kind of short and would shock you if you touched it. This is probably the same one…
I’d take it in a heartbeat. Those things are valuable, particularly to me. We just managed to swing a deal to get old squirrel fans from an HVAC company, because they run nearly forever and are powerful.
They’re called squirrel fans because they have a curled-tail look when you see their profile. If I recall correctly, they’re inside air ducts to push your AC through. Since they’re hidden inside walls, aesthetics aren’t a concern.
Yeah, I agree with the first guy. Doesn’t belong on this site. Ignorance isn’t a good enough excuse for snark.
This is properly called an evaporative cooler. Can’t imagine how it got to Seattle (doesn’t get that hot there, ever), but this is what passed for air conditioning in central Calif. back in the 50’s. Water ran through composition pads on three sides (light area in the rear). Air was sucked through those water-soaked pads by a squirrel-cage blower, (big thing at the bottom) so called because it’s a drum with many fins on it, as opposed to a propellor blade. A quarter-horse electric motor drives it via a fan belt, and it blows cold air into your house. These were mounted on the roof and ducted, or in our house it just sat on a platform outside a window that had the glass removed. Very crude, but very effective in climates where 11AM temperatures can reach 110 F. There, now I’ve taken all the fun out of it…
Oops, my bad…had another look at it, I think Mike is right, it’s from a large (probably industrial size) furnace…Could be that the exhaust side of the fan (outlet) is facing down in the pic…I’ll do better next time…
Talos, regarding Seattle and how it “doesn’t get that hot there, ever”…you must have been out of town last week. You take that back, man. Take. That. Back.
It’s most likely a forced-air blower, and a large one, at that, probably industrial or commercial. Probably a 1/2HP motor at the most. Depending on the condition of the motor, this is a good freebie. Great for drying your floor in less than 10 seconds!