Four table fans fail CERS test

Ahmedabad, May 29 (UNI) ''Insight'', a Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS) publication, has said that four out of the 15 nationally sold brands of 400 mm table fans are unsafe.

Insight carried out tests in its in-house comparative product testing laboratory, according to a press release here.

The laboratory has recommended Khaitan, Orient, Orpat, Havell's, Ortem, Usha and Polar as the ''best buys'' among the brands tested.

The safety parameters for the table fans tested involved, among others, the oscillation (internal wiring test) and the stability and mechanical hazards test. The fans were also tested against the parameters of air delivery, input, service value and marking.

The service value is obtained by dividing air delivery by input which, as per standards, should not be less than 1.08 cubic metre per minute per watt. Almonard (0.72), Shaan (0.96), Ashok (0.88) and Remi (0.77) failed to conform to this parameter.

The oscillation test is carried out in the form of 10,000 cycles.

After the test, the table fans should withstand high voltage without any breakdown. Bajaj Media stopped working after the test, whereas the gear box in Ashok failed to work after a mere 2,842 oscillation cycles.

In speed regulator test, only Khaitan, Orient, Cinni and Remi conformed to the requirement.

As per the standard, the power consumption during the air delivery test should not exceed 61 watts (with an allowed tolerance of 10 per cent, provided the requirement for service value is met) and the air delivery shall not be less than 65 cubic meters per minute. In Almonard and Remi (both claiming to be high speed fans), power consumption was 142.78W and 133.66W, respectively. Usha consumed the least power at 48.30W.

None of the brands was provided with an electronic regulator that could save power consumption to a great extent. Electronic regulators are more energy-efficient and consume less power than electric ones at lower speeds.

The independent lab at CERS also conducted an additional test for ''energy consumption'' for all the brands.

UNI