Kenlowe fans / other enquiries
Suitable for... (main markets)
Advantages
Unique Kenlowe fan features
Specification detail
Application guide
Simple D.I.Y fitting
Guarantee and indemnity
Fan model summary
Performance chart
Dimensions 6" and 8"
Dimensions 10"
Dimensions 13"
Dimensions 16"
How to order / enquire
 
 
 
 
Overcooling
Improved economy
more performance
Less noise
Improved comfort and safety
Environment
Catalytic converters do not work when cold!
Catalytic converter damage
Viscious clutch fans consume nearly as much fuel / power as fixed belt-driven fans
 

KENLOWE thermo electric fans are produced in a number of sizes to suit a wide range of vehicles - 4x4's only need a fan for approximately 4% of your total motoring time. The advantages in replacing the belt driven fan are shown in the following pages - if you overheat in the summer you can use the KENLOWE thermo electric fan with the belt driven fan either year round or just in the summer months.

 
 
  OVER COOLING
Many vehicles running a fixed or viscous belt-driven engine fan fail to reach efficient working temperatures on long journeys, and on short journeys the engine can be so cold in winter that enrichment is needed throughout - any vehicle running a fixed or viscous belt-driven fan and no history of overheating can benefit by simply unbolting the fan (leaving the hub/pulley to drive the water pump) and fitting a KENLOWE thermo electric fan to provide cooling only when needed. The many advantages are significant and have been proven over 40 years, since the concept was first pioneered by the KENLOWE Group and which today is adopted as standard on over 80% of the world's production cars.
 
 
  IMPROVED ECONOMY
Any engine driven auxiliary consumes power and the fixed or viscous fan is no exception. Research, initially by KENLOWE and subsequently by the specialised motoring press and the vehicle manufacturers, have established that significant fuel savings are achieved just by removing a fan that works all the time (including viscous fans) even though, on average, fan assisted cooling is only needed for around 4% of motoring time. The energy absorbed in driving the fan is not the only reason why around 8.5% fuel saving is available by removing the fixed or viscous fan - a much quicker warm up reduces the time to half, that the engine is on rich mixture (this also applies to fuel injected engines). Achieving a hotter more thermally efficient combustion is also an important aspect in the drive towards a fuel efficient engine.
 
 
  MORE PERFORMANCE
It takes around 8.5% of the engine power output to drive a belt driven fan that is unnecessary for an average 96% of the time. Removal of the fixed or viscous fan means around 8.5% less fuel is needed for the same performance or around 8.5% extra power is available to improve performance. For example the energy used to drive the belt-driven fan on motorways or climbing in low gear at high revs is significant as the energy absorbed by the fan goes up by the cube of the speed. The belt-driven fan on almost all cars consumes around 8.5% of the total energy developed by the engine. On large 4x4 off-road vehicles that can be a lot of b.h.p. and all because the vehicle manufacturer had to assume the owner may cross the Sahara towing 2 tons morning, noon and night! Removal of the beltdriven fixed or viscous fan releases this power for safer overtaking, easier climbing and a more flexible and free revving engine.
 
 
  LESS NOISE
Belt driven fixed or viscous engine driven fans exist to provide artificial cooling in traffic when the engine revs are limited to tickover, which is why the size - diameter, pitch, width of aerofoil, etc. has to be large enough to compensate for the slow revs of the engine in traffic. Unfortunately, this means that when the vehicle is travelling on the open road and the fan speed rises in proportion to increased engine revs, the air roar from the fan increases until on the motorway the noise can become tiring and sufficiently intrusive to make conversation difficult. For example on a 4x4 off-road vehicle, removal of the belt-driven fan - not needed for 96% of the time, makes the vehicle NOTICEABLY quieter. Whilst viscous clutch fans slip a little at high revs this is usually at revs which equate to speeds well above 70 m.p.h. "Autocar" reported, during a test on a saloon car fitted with a KENLOWE fan, that the absence of fan noise makes any journey far less tiring! See viscous clutch fan section on this page for further details.
 
    IMPROVED COMFORT AND SAFETY
Belt-driven fixed or viscous slip clutch fans blow cold air over the surface of the engine during the first few miles of running from cold, doubling the time the engine takes to deliver comforting heat to the interior and warm air for effective demisting. In addition, whilst on choke or on fuel injected engines, during the period of enriched mixture, the engine is either over-revving or near to stall during those first few awkward miles from cold when most have to negotiate busy intersections. Removing the belt-driven fan ensures that warm-up can be up to twice as fast so that even short journeys can be safer and more comfortable!
 
 
  ENVIRONMENT
KENLOWE have promoted the fuel saving properties of thermo-electric engine-cooling fans in place of the continuous belt-driven fan, for over 40 years, resulting in a large number of vehicles made today being fitted with the KENLOWE concept as standard. This currently reduces vehicle gas pollution by nearly 10% per annum on over 85% of the world's car production which use the KENLOWE concept. However, there is still a number of vehicles produced, or running on our roads, with fixed or viscous belt-driven fans, wasting around 8.5% of the fuel used. This depletes world energy reserves and adds to pollution - particularly during the period from cold start to full operating temperature, when fuel consumption can be up to double that of a warm engine! In this condition up to half the fuel is passed unburnt into the atmosphere, after heating, as ozone damaging hydrocarbons.
 
    CATALYTIC CONVERTERS DO NOT WORK WHEN COLD!
The Daily Telegraph reported that "catalytic converters which are made from expensive platinum and rhodium do not remove the hydrocarbons which damage the atmosphere when the engine is started and run cold!" They also reported that "one quarter of all travel is carried out with a cold engine!" In addition some catalytic converters actually incur a fuel penalty and cause more pollution when the engine is cold than cars not fitted with a catalytic converter!
 
 
  CATALYTIC CONVERTER DAMAGE
Cold running of your engine requires enrichment whether fuel injected or carburettor. Enrichment results in unburnt fuel leaving the cylinder which becomes trapped in the catalytic converter where it causes significant damage. Owners who do frequent short runs (e.g. to work, shops or school run) can damage the catalytic converter within as little as 18 months! With the M.O.T. test requiring replacement at anything from £350 to £1,000 cold starting can prove costly!
 
 
  VISCOUS CLUTCH FANS CONSUME NEARLY AS MUCH FUEL/POWER AS FIXED BELT-DRIVEN FANS
The viscous fan was not designed for economy or power saving but to provide greater low speed cooling without prohibitive power consumption at maximum revs. Cars using speed controlled viscous clutch fans absorb approximately the same power to drive the fan as a typical fixed-drive, belt-driven fan because they are larger and only slip significantly at top gear speeds well above 70 m.p.h. Temperature biased viscous clutch fans engage drive when the engine thermostat opens and allows heat to be dispersed by the radiator. Except in the unlikely event of the engine thermostat shutting, it becomes a continually driven fan for the rest of the journey making its removal essential to avoid unnecessary power loss.