For the longest time, passengers who sat at the back of my car really suffered. Over the years, I have taken to a number of mechanics to check if there is anything I could do to make the passengers at the back more comfortable.
All the mechanics told me there was nothing they could do.
I have changed the air con, made some adjustment but to no avail. Often, my guests do not complaint but I would see the back of their blouse or shirt wet with sweat after getting down from my car.
There is no issue with my driver seat and the front passenger seat as the air con is cooling enough.
Last few weeks, I was having some guests over whom some I would need to transport at the back of my car for long distance. Trying to think of a solution, I thought of installing a fan at the back of my car.
I went to the car spare parts shop and the shop referred me to a car accessory shop. I went to a car accessory shop and the shop did not know what to do because apparently no one install fans (kipas angin) anymore. The shop assistance actually suggested why not I try to buy USB fans from Digital Mall.
That gave me a good idea…
Instead of going to Digital Mall, I went to my favourite shop Mr D.I.Y and yeah I finally managed to make the back of my car cool through my own DIY fan set up:
You would need the following items, all which are available at a cheap price from Mr D.I.Y:
1. Two USB fans
Specs of the USB fan:
- preferably you would need 2 fans to create an environment cooling enough for the back of your car. At first I bought one fan, it was not cooling enough.
- buy the fan that are made of steel fan blade and cover. This is because you would put the fans in your car at high temperature. If you get the plastic ones, it would not last. The above cost about RM9.90 from Mr D.I.Y. It is a little small
- I got the second one with the plastic body which is 7 inches and bigger costing if not mistaken RM19.90.
- buy the type of USB fans that allows you to hang them up (not the table type which must fix on a table). Then use a car seat hook to hang them so that they can face a passenger.
Note: Test the fans at the store to ensure it is working. The first USB fan I bought malfunctioned and I had to bring it back to the store for exchange.
2. Car USB Adaptor
The adaptor need to support 2 USB points so that you can hook the fans to the adaptor. From Mr DIY, it costs RM12.90. This is because most USB fans have short wires which does not allow you to reach all the way to your front portion of your car where the power plug is.
Remember, if you are placing 2 fans, you need the one with 2 USB ports like below:
3. Car seat hooks
Purpose of the car seat hook is to hang the fan to the back seat to face the passenger.
The entire set up looked something like below:
The first point would connect the entire structure to the car power point. Then you place the USB points of both fans at the USB ports. Hang both fans behind each side of the car seat to face the passengers.
You may also purchase black masking tape for electrical items to tape the wires so that they are more neatly arranged. Mr D.I.Y sells a small tape for electric wire for 80 cents each.
I tested the fans by seating at the back and is glad to have the back of my car very cool. I turn the fans on so that by default the moment I on the engine the fans will go on. After that, I ferried my guests and when asked, they commented that the back seat of my car is cool and no longer hot and stuffy.
When I am not ferrying guests, I just pull the main plug connecting to the power socket of the car off.
The whole set up costs me less than RM50 (I did not include the back seat car hooks as I already bought them before this).
Hope this helps, especially for those of you who have car where the air con can’t seems to travel to the back.
