Summer nights I just need a soft kiss of breeze while I'm trying to sleep, but there are no fans on the market that turn down really low. All of them are noisy at minimum setting.
We spend $billions on buying the quietest submarines. I imagine that involves the screw design. Why hasn't that spun off to improved fan blades?
Is there any simple way to make the motor turn at 1/2 speed in a cheap fan and get it quieter that way?
Have a new dyson fan. It is small, and I cannot see any moving parts. It is very quiet - yet on occasion I do hear it.
Why the schoolboy attempt at humour in the title - aren't we past this stuff yet?
Dyson claim their Air multipliers are 75% quieter than traditionals, they are quiet when you walk past one at harveys.
Hefty price tag but I too like a nice breeze going over my private parts
Sorry no actual answer to your existing problem modifications.
Select to expand quoteWollemi said..
Why the schoolboy attempt at humour?
Because its funny
Select to expand quoteWollemi said.. Why the schoolboy attempt at humour in the title - aren't we past this stuff yet?
Not a fan?
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..Wollemi said.. Why the schoolboy attempt at humour in the title - aren't we past this stuff yet?
Not a fan?
Ba-doom-Tish!!
And no... we are nowhere near past this stuff yet!!
Everything dyson make it WAY over priced.
I have www.daikin.com.au/our-product-range/air-purifiers/air-purifier#tech-specs says it's 31dB, but it blows up.
I brought 2 of these while in the uk in our winter and the U.K. Was having a heat wave at 30 degrees. Charges with usb and is super quiet. Only complaint Don't know why they needed to add a torch to the unit.
www.lifemaxuk.co.uk/rechargeable-small-but-mighty-fan.html
I haven't been blown for over 3 years since I moved units.
The neighbour never comes around anymore as its over 20 kms away. I guess I'll need to just buy one,a fan that is.
Select to expand quotesouthace said..
I brought 2 of these while in the uk in our winter and the U.K. Was having a heat wave at 30 degrees. Charges with usb and is super quiet. Only complaint Don't know why they needed to add a torch to the unit.
www.lifemaxuk.co.uk/rechargeable-small-but-mighty-fan.html
How much did you pay? And good enough for a hot & sticky Qld night without A/C?
Select to expand quoteMr Milk said..
Summer nights I just need a soft kiss of breeze while I'm trying to sleep, but there are no fans on the market that turn down really low. All of them are noisy at minimum setting.
The technology for silent propellers is focused on drones.. Some tests mimicking the feather structure of an Owl's wing (silent stealthy flight specialists) has removed up to 85% of that incessant whine -- so there is hope it is all in the trailing edge design
Suggest if you are good for a ceiling fan (so big blades gives more blow at low speeds) 
) check out the DC type and ask about getting a linear controller (= rheostat) so more settings than the 3 click wonder switches ( my old unit has a 5 position switch = ok).. I have used a remote control unit for fan which had a plus and a minus for speed control - that would nail it..
DC (opposed to A/C) fans I think, are better to control the revs on as less likely to setup electronic harmonic which can create a problem noise too when not run at one of the regulated switch power settings.
I suppose you must live away from any of nature's night time chirpers - we have a relative of a night jar which whoops not quite regularly most all nights sometimes here sometimes there over summer
- so fan's constant noise are off the radar - count your blessings -
White noise is another way can cover up a noisy blow - have you tried a talking book read by say Stephen Fry or equivalent.
cheers
AP
I open my bedroom door and invite her in she's been blowing hard all day,
I'm exhausted
You could always make your own mini Cardiff Air system. Just put a fan faceing out the door of your bedroom to draw air in through the bedroom window. Or if you have 2 window (seperate walls) in your bedroom set the fan to blow air out one of the them so cool air from out side come in. The air outside your house at night is always a lot cooler than inside.
Ceiling fans are great for circulating warm air. They take the hot air nestled on your ceiling and blow it onto you. The same goes for any fan that is setup to blow air onto you.
www.cardiffair.com.au/domestic
Select to expand quoteMr Milk said..southace said..
I brought 2 of these while in the uk in our winter and the U.K. Was having a heat wave at 30 degrees. Charges with usb and is super quiet. Only complaint Don't know why they needed to add a torch to the unit.
www.lifemaxuk.co.uk/rechargeable-small-but-mighty-fan.html
How much did you pay? And good enough for a hot & sticky Qld night without A/C?
Google them on Amazon . It's just a fan not a A/C
Just get ducted a/c
The only noise you will hear then is the sound of greenies crying and snowflakes melting
Find a 230V to 110V AC voltage converter and plug the fan into the 110V outlet. It will run nice and quiet. I use it all the time in summer. You may need to connect a US plug to your fan to fit the 110V socket.
By the way, do not use a (cheaper) light dimmer switch. AC engines like nicely shaped sine waves (who doesn't) so they only run smoothly on old school voltage converters.
Select to expand quoteMastbender said..
Sorry if this is too simple.
Yes butt plugs. That'll take his mind off it.
Select to expand quoteCrusoe said..
You could always make your own mini Cardiff Air system. Just put a fan faceing out the door of your bedroom to draw air in through the bedroom window. Or if you have 2 window (seperate walls) in your bedroom set the fan to blow air out one of the them so cool air from out side come in. The air outside your house at night is always a lot cooler than inside.
Ceiling fans are great for circulating warm air. They take the hot air nestled on your ceiling and blow it onto you. The same goes for any fan that is setup to blow air onto you.
www.cardiffair.com.au/domestic
I do this with our ducted AC. Set to just Fan mode on lowest setting.
WMMV but for us The house return for the AC can be blocked by closing a hall door, opening the kids windows slightly so that the return is sucking air from outside via their rooms, then pumps it into the rest of the house, with a few select windows slightly open to eject the air.
Works well and doesn't kill as many polar bears as using the full AC. 
I've always wanted to set it up in reverse for winter so that the return sucks air from the roof cavity and blows the hot(ter) air into the house during the day...
Select to expand quoteNotWal said..
Yes butt plugs. That'll take his mind off it.
Have you had your eyes checked lately?
They're ear plugs, not rear plugs.
And they're bloody great if you have to sleep during the day. I woke up one afternoon and pulled the ear plugs out to change my audio landscape from silence (except for the usual tinnitus) to full Victa roaring from next door. You can't get better than that. Just a slight problem if you have to respond to an alarm clock.
