Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan Is Adequate, But Not Extraordinary.


The Good: Moves air well, Comparatively quiet
The Bad: Seems expensive to me, Not Energy Star certified.
The Basics: The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is a decent basic tower fan with remarkably few frills. It is not superlative – in the good or bad sense – in any way.


At my day job – for as long as I might be able to keep it – I work out in a garage. At the beginning of the summer, when my wife went to Michigan to work, I told my boss that I would need some accommodation to continue working. Because my job is not at all rooted in a time, place, or even the need for steady hours, I was rooting for working remotely. Unfortunately, (fortunately in that I’ve remained employed longer!) he opted for creating a work space for me where my dog, Myah could come in and be with me. Through a series of ridiculous conversations that forced me to exert undo control over my eye-rolling muscles, I was able to use a Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan in the office.

As summer raged, it got hot in my garage office; it was basically a brick oven. Because there was no air conditioning in the office, the best I could do was a fan that would move the hot air around. It surprised me to learn that before this, the only fan or fan-like device I had reviewed was the Dyson Air Mover (that review is here!). The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is a far less expensive option and while it might not condition the air to cool it, it is a decent way to keep one person and one dog cool for a couple of hours each day.

The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is a 40” tall cylinder with a base that gives it a footprint of 12 1/2” in both width and depth. The gray and white oscillating Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is not stylish, but not an eyesore, either. Compared to some other fans I have used, the Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan does not seem to attract as much dust or get the appearance of being dirty after very little use. Instead, this is a pretty solid tower fan with a stable base that is easy to keep clean. The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is made mostly of plastic and when it does get any sort of dirt or dust on it, it may be wiped clean very easily.

The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is a style of fan where the air passes through a vent and the fan creates a steady flow of air about two feet tall, starting six inches above the ground. The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is powered by a standard electrical cord that plugs into a wall socket. I was a bit disappointed that we did not have an energy efficient tower fan; the Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is not Energy Star certified.

The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is easily operated using any one of the five push-buttons found on the top of the unit. At the far right is an “Off” button and the fan’s three speeds are controlled by simply pressing one of the three middle buttons down. The first setting is quiet, but utterly inefficient in combating a warm environment. The second setting is the “just right” setting. Myah lays about four feet away from the unit and at setting 2, the air is moving, but her fur is not flying about. She’s able to fall asleep at Level 2 and (rather nicely) the sound from the fan is not so loud as to be distracting. Level 3 is loud, blows papers around and keeps Myah agitated, without significantly cooling our workspace any.

The final button on the Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is the “Oscillate” button. When that button is pressed, the Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan rotates on its stand ninety degrees, back and forth. I seldom use this feature as it is just Myah and I in our office, but when I have, I’ve found that even on setting 2, the oscillation agitates the air in a room significantly enough to make one need a paperweight.

The Feature Comforts FTT-4 Tower Fan is a perfectly average piece of household equipment. It is stable, offers several options and is not so expensive as to be stiflingly priced. But it’s not an incredibly piece of hardware in any way. But for an office where one needs to keep a dog and a worker from going crazy, it certainly fits the bill!

For other living room or office accessories, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Whirlpool Gold 50 Dehumidifier
Real Organized 5-Tier Shelf Rack #21856
Cheetah Ash Vac II vacuum cleaner

5/10

For other home and garden product reviews, please visit my Home And Garden Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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