Three different machines get hired under the one name. A drum or barrel fan throws a wide cone of air across a space. A low profile air mover pushes a flat sheet along a floor to dry it. A ducted blower forces measured air down a hose into a tank or a manhole. Day rates run from about $25 to $95, and picking the wrong one wastes the hire.
Drum fan, air mover, ducted blower
A drum fan is the 24 to 42 inch machine on a stand that makes a workshop bearable. An air mover is the flat wedge that goes under a wet carpet or against a wall. A ducted blower is a squat centrifugal unit that connects to flexible hose. They are not substitutes, and the yard stocks all three at the same counter.
Rated airflow assumes no duct on the end
Blower ratings are measured in free air. Add twenty five feet of flexible hose, a bend and an entry and the delivered airflow drops a long way below the sticker. When the fan is there to ventilate rather than to cool, ask what it moves through the length of duct you actually intend to run.
Venting fumes and dust is a calculated hire
Where solvent vapour, engine exhaust, welding fume or concrete dust is the problem, the fan is a control measure and exposure limits are the target. That usually means supplying clean air to a space rather than pointing a fan at an opening, and it may mean an air scrubber with filtration instead of a fan at all.
How many will run on one circuit
A large drum fan draws several amps and an air mover rather less, which is why drying crews run banks of them. Count the amps before plugging six into one 20 amp circuit through a daisy chain of cords. On a live site, that circuit also wants ground fault protection, which the yard will supply on request.
Questions people ask about industrial fan rental
What is the difference between an air mover and a fan?
An air mover is shaped to hug a surface, sending a fast thin sheet of air along a floor or wall to speed evaporation. A drum fan mixes the whole room. For drying a slab or a soaked carpet the air mover wins easily; for making a workshop tolerable, the drum fan does.
How many fans do I need to dry a floor?
Drying is a pairing job: air movers to lift moisture off the surface and a dehumidifier to take it out of the air. A rough working start is one air mover for every twelve to sixteen feet of wall, adjusted upward for a very wet floor, with the dehumidifier sized to the room.
Can I put a fan into a confined space?
Ventilating a tank, a vault or a manhole is not a matter of dropping a fan in. It needs a blower with duct delivering clean air to where a person works, atmospheric testing, and an entry procedure. Hire the ducted blower and follow the confined space plan you should already have.