Fan Controllers

Fan controllers used in hydroponics optimise the speed and energy required for your hydroponic system. It’s logical to use a fan controller, but it can often be entirely subjective.

Without a controller, fans will run at full power all the time. So it makes sense to use a fan controller to attenuate some of that power, reduce the fan speed and save both energy and mechanical wear and tear. A controller will also help you improve the climate of your growing space, especially if you’re using different types of equipment, as one will affect the other.

Adding a fan speed controller to your hydroponic system allows you to regulate how fast the fan runs and, therefore, the whole system’s extraction rate. An extraction system left to run at full power may be suitable for keeping temperatures down during the summer months. As the cooler months arrive, the same extraction process without a controller will make it almost impossible to keep temperatures warm enough to sustain decent plant growth.

There are three different types of fan controller. There are two types strictly, but then there’s a hybrid mixture of the two.

The first type of fan controller is usually relatively small, lightweight and the second type is typically larger and heavier. The third type, the hybrid, combines the best qualities of the two.

Circuit-board Fan Controllers are the first type and work by switching the mains voltage of the fan on and off very quickly several times every second, each one of these is referred to as a “cycle”. Control the speed by regulating the time the power is on compared to the time it is off during each cycle.

The second type is called the Variac style Fan Controller. They use a completely different approach. They are large electrical transformers mounted in their casing with a control panel at the front. This type of fan controller works by reducing the constantly-on electricity voltage to the fan.

Hybrid Fan Speed Controllers regulate the fan speed with a variable transformer (similar to the Variac type controller). But the variac is itself controlled using an electronic circuit board. That means there is no fan resonance (no vibration sound), and there is also the facility of automatic temperature control.