ALARM: beware of FAN DEATH! of korea!

[<RJMC>]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

Fan death is an urban legend that originated in South Korea, but has since spread to other countries in the Far East. The belief is that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners and the fans in cars. When the air conditioner or fan is on in a car, some people are apt to leave their car windows open a crack to avoid "fan death." Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes, which users are frequently urged to set when going to sleep with a fan on.

The belief in the myth of fan-death often offers several explanations for the precise mechanism by which the fan kills. However, as explained below, these beliefs do not stand up to logical and scientific scrutiny. Examples for possible justifications of belief in fan death are as follows:

* That an electric fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed and sealed room and creates a partial vacuum inside. In reality, the air pressure at any point in the room varies less than it does during a storm.
* That the fan uses up the oxygen in the room and creates fatal levels of carbon dioxide.[citation needed] There is no actual conversion of oxygen to carbon dioxide happening; unlike a candle, the electric motor in a fan does not alter the chemical composition of the air (apart from creating some ozone if the motor uses brushes, and outgassing from the materials).
* That if the fan is put directly in front of the face of the sleeping person, it will suck all the air away, preventing one from breathing.
* That fanblades chop up air particles (i.e. oxygen molecules) so that the air is no longer breathable, thus resulting in suffocation.[citation needed] If this were true, regular fans could be used to create chemical reactions. However, air ionisers do turn a very small amount of oxygen into unstable ozone.[1]
* That fans cause hypothermia. As the metabolism slows down at night, one becomes more sensitive to temperature,[citation needed] and thus supposedly more prone to hypothermia. If the fan is left on all night in a sealed and enclosed room, believers in fan death suppose that it will lower the temperature of the room to the point that it can cause hypothermia. Empirical measurements will show, however, that the temperature in the room does not fall, at least not due to the fan; if at all, it should rise slightly because of friction and the heat output of the fan motor, but even this is generally not significant.[citation needed] Fans actually make one cooler by increasing the convection around a person's body so that heat flows from them to the air more easily, and by the latent heat of vapourisation as perspiration evaporates from the body.[citation needed] Furthermore, hypothermia occurs only when the body's core temperature drops below normal, and will not generally be caused simply by cooling of the skin or decrease in the body's surface temperature.[citation needed]

but I sleep whit a fan every night so...?

oh I know why I dont die....CUZ I AM INMORTAL!!!!

*<RJMC> start scaring numbers whit electric fans*

I AM GOING TO SUCK YA OXYGEN WASHAWASHAWASHAWASHAWASHAWASHA!!1

 

[Rapstah]

But the quote started off by saying it was a urban legend. :|

 

[mindless_moder]

But the quote started off by saying it was a urban legend. :|

you're an urban legend.

edit: erm.. because its a thread about the urban legend ?

 

[CptStern]

my friends grandparents were convinced cartoons were actually puppets not drawings (how can drawings move?) ....no really

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Lol this is so stupid, I can't believe people believe this.

 

[CyberPitz]

Jesus Titty ****ing Christ.

RUUUUUNN!!!

 

[Krynn72]

Oh shit, Im double dead! I have the AC on and a fan on with windows closed and my door shut!

 

[Ennui]

 

[mindless_moder]

to be fair it does make breathing difficult if its up high and you have a history of respiratory illness ... maybe thats how the myth was perpetuated ? .

 

[Tyguy]

 

[Ennui]

Clearly, this is a very real hazard.

 

[Raziaar]

Only reason I turn my fan off is to conserve energy. It feels so good usually, that even if there was a death chance, I'd still keep it on if the weather wasn't cool.

 

[The Monkey]

I had a friend called Urban once.

 

[CptStern]

to be fair it does make breathing difficult if its up high and you have a history of respiratory illness ... maybe thats how the myth was perpetuated ? .

....but if you pull the chain that makes the fan spin the other way it pushes air down as opposed to up

 

[mindless_moder]

....but if you pull the chain that makes the fan spin the other way it pushes air down as opposed to up

ha - ha - ha

I'm speaking from personal experience , i have a history of asthma and i cant sleep in rooms that have really fast fans on. it doesn't really affect me on a day to day basis ....... just when I'm sleeping right under fans that are ridiculously fast...

 

[alehm]

In other news- doctors in Korea have been reviving dead people by placing them in a room with a fan blowing in reverse...

 

[Seppo]

Screw global warming, WMDs and the bird flu. The mother****ing fan death is here!

 

[15357]

And for the record, I know that it's a myth and prolly many people do to, now that they've televised an experiment to see if people really die by fan death.

 

[<RJMC>]

And for the record, I know that it's a myth and prolly many people do to, now that they've televised an experiment to see if people really die by fan death.

*<RJMC> start chasing around numbers whit eletric fans in hands*

 

[Krynn72]

ha - ha - ha

I'm speaking from personal experience , i have a history of asthma and i cant sleep in rooms that have really fast fans on. it doesn't really affect me on a day to day basis ....... just when I'm sleeping right under fans that are ridiculously fast...

I have a history of asthma also, but I have slept every night with a fan blowing right next to my head. Never had a problem, and I dont see how it could. Maybe... you have fan anxiety?!??!?!

The only time moving air has ever made it hard for me to breath is during the winter, in like 30 degree temperatures, and the wind outside is blowing right in my face as i try to inhale. My lungs kinda close up and i have to look off to the side to get a breath.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Well, come to think of it I used to sleep with a fan on during summer quite frequently when it got hot. I seem to remember mum threatening me with a similar fate if I kept wasting power that way (suffocation, that is ).

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Those crazy crazy koreans.