Costco Is Selling A Cool DeWalt Product That Buyers Are Using In So Many Ways

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Simple things are often the most useful, for a lot of reasons. They're easier to understand and control, easier to take care of, and usually more resilient. And simple things like fans are generally more flexible in their applications. Take a tour of the Costco and Amazon reviews for the DeWalt DXF1616 benchtop and hanging drum fan and you'll see this in action: So many uses, so few available electrical outlets.

The DXF1616 has a lot going for it. This lightweight, 16-inch drum fan reportedly puts out 4,000 CFM (a cubic feet per minute rating you find on leaf blower fans and inflators) at the highest of its three speeds, from your benchtop or while hanging (even upside-down) from its built-in hanging hardware. It rotates vertically — that is, it tilts — 360 degrees, making it easy to aim. And DeWalt describes it as "silent," though reviewers beg to differ. Perhaps it's more like "closer to silent than you might have guessed."

Of course, those aren't the reasons you'd buy a fan. Most want to keep cool in spaces where it's difficult without some artificial air movement. Sure, cooling isn't exactly what fans do — rather, they move air, and you feel cooler when it evaporates sweat on your skin. But moving air does other things, too, and some Amazon reviewers value the DXF1616 for its ventilation and air-cleaning assistance. A few used it to ventilate workspaces where they're doing laser engraving, welding, or painting. One, who uses his to power a homemade air filtration system, says tellingly, "If I had any feedback, it's almost too powerful for my set up."

Many buyers of this fan use it in their homes to supplement or even temporarily replace air conditioning. One reported that his wife took the fan (presumably from a garage or shop) and relocated it inside the house. A few, however, caution that the DXF1616 is a bit too powerful — and noisy — for living spaces.

"Don't even think about stickin' it in your bedroom, though, unless you're the type that dozes off to the sweet serenade of a mechanical breeze," one colorful Amazon reviewer says. "Me? I've got it out in the garage, keepin' my double-wide cool as a cucumber," they added. Some only bring it inside to help with renovation or repair-related tasks, like drying leaks or spills, helping fresh paint dry, or just keeping you cool while you work. 

But most think of the fan as a crucial component of cooling down their workshop or garage during toasty summers. In other words, those larger spaces that often aren't air-conditioned, where noise is no stranger, and where one can easily work up a sweat. And, perhaps partly because the DeWalt name is so closely tied to the trades, some use the fan for professional purposes in barns, garages, workshops, and on jobsites.

A fair number of purchasers also put the fan to work in outdoor recreational spaces like decks and porches, creating a breeze when the air is still, or in home workout spaces, where the usual cooling breeze might be completely absent. Any cyclist who has used an indoor trainer can tell you how hot and drenched with sweat they become pedaling inside without a fan.

Yes, simple things are adaptable, and they're more valuable for it. But you can also get carried away and try to hammer a beloved round peg into a square hole. For example, while the DXF1616's user manual states that its motor is sealed, that doesn't mean it's protected against explosive gases, which involves more than simply a sealed motor enclosure.

And while some reviewers say the DeWalt DXF1616 is especially suitable for large spaces because of the amount of air it moves, it's often not a good idea to take a device's specifications at face value. A couple of reviewers note that they tested the DeWalt fan, and it fell short of the claimed 4,000 CFM of airflow. "I have tested this fan with an anemometer and found it produces somewhere between 1,400 and 1,700 CFM on high speed," one reviewer on The Garage Journal explained. But, he added, that's "a lot more CFM than other competing fans."

Since the DXF1616 seems to get a lot of its cachet from its name brand, it's also worth noting that this fan is manufactured, like a lot of other DeWalt consumer products, under license by Alton Industry — not by DeWalt itself. Judging from its reviews, the DXF1616 has not suffered from this relationship in terms of quality or in terms of airflow. We came to the same conclusion with a DeWalt shop vacuum made by Alton Industry, which nonetheless proved to be an underrated and highly recommended Costco tool find.