INTRODUCTION

In a warm environment, elevated air movement is a widely used strategy for cooling occupants. The air movement increase can be produced by several devices, such as cooling fans (ceiling, floor standing, tower, and table fans); furniture-installed personalized ventilation; and body-attached ventilation devices with, under certain conditions, operable windows. The underfloor air distribution system, which is one of the total volume ventilation principles used in practice, also allows for increase or decrease of the velocity close to workplaces. The cooling capacity of cooling fans is limited, because they operate under isothermal conditions (i.e., the cooling of the body is a result of increased velocity only). The use of cooling fans in practice is easy and does not require special installations. The personalized ventilation systems (Melikov 2004) and the task-ambient conditioning systems (Arens et al. 1991; Bauman et al. 1998) perform better with regard to thermal comfort, since they may operate under nonisothermal conditions (i.e., the supplied air can be cooled below the room air temperature in addition to elevated velocity). Appearance, power consumption, and price are the main parameters considered when purchasing cooling fans, while cooling capacity and efficiency of energy use are unknown. Other factors, such as ergonomics, control options, etc. are also important. Comparison of the performance of cooling fans from the point of view of cooling capacity and energy consumption is important for their application in practice.