During the hot summer months, nothing can be as irritating as a malfunctioning fan regulator. You want the fan blowing full blast, but the regulator refuses to respond to your command. You want the speed slowed down, but then again the regulator fails to deliver. In fact, the ceiling fan may work relentlessly, but the same cannot be said of regulators. So much so that you may well have to replace your old regulator with a new one.

Of course, today most consumers prefer the small, sleek, electronic regulator to the large electric one, even though the former costs anywhere between Rs 125-250, as against the latter, which is priced at Rs 40. Besides looking good and consuming less power, an electronic regulator is supposed be far more efficient.

But that depends on whether you choose the right regulator. Choosing the right brand among the two dozen different varieties of electronic regulators available in the market is really crucial because a poor-quality product would not only fail to control the speed of the fan, but can also cause disturbances in the reception of television and radio sets nearby when you switch on or put off the regulator. Sub-standard regulators can also produce a low, humming noise at low speed. Some of them also lack the mechanical strength to withstand even a few months’ use.

Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), an Ahmedabad-based consumer group tested 11 brands of electronic regulators: three of them ‘movable type’ and the rest, ‘step-type’. While the ‘movable type’ turns smoothly from one speed to another, in the ‘step type’, the speed changes are made in steps. CERC found that while step-type showed very little total harmonic distortion, the movable type caused high distortion in the power supply waves.

Such high distortion may well cause overheating of the fan motor and lead to its faster ageing. In addition, the movable type may produce a low humming sound when operated at low speeds on account of the absence of filter circuits, says CERC. It also concluded, following its tests, that electronic regulators consumed relatively less power but at low speeds. At speed one and two, there would be considerable reduction in power consumption — by as much as 30-40 per cent — but at full speed, both electric and electronic regulators tested consumed the same power.

Some years ago, a Delhi-based consumer group, Voluntary Organisation in the Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE), had tested 10 brands of electronic voltage regulators.

While in respect of mechanical parameters such as strength and endurance, all the 10 brands passed the test, in the performance parameter, not every brand fared well. And in the insulation resistance test, two brands did so poorly that VOICE said that consumers who use them may well receive an electric shock of a hazardous nature if operated with wet hands or on bare feet.

It’s time consumers demanded mandatory quality certification for electronic fan regulators too, as in the case of domestic switches and sockets, so as to ensure standardisation in their quality, energy efficiency and safety.