Not
all fog machines are created equal...
When
selecting a fog machine for Halloween, most people
need to know what size and type of fog machine or fog machines
they
should buy. The answer depends on several factors. What will the fog machine(s) be used
for? How dense do you want the fog to be? How much fog do you need to cover a
particular area?
Generally a small fog machine or two will do
a good job for small yard haunts and Halloween parties, but ultimately you might want fog
machines with different power rating for different effects.
As an example, this Halloween we will be
using one high-output fog machine to haze the front of our
property and street with general purpose fog. We'll use two small fog machines connected
to fog chillers to lay a thick carpet of low-laying ground fog through-out our graveyard
scene. For our backyard party area, we'll use a medium output fog
machine connected to a fog distribution system for our Halloween party. A small fog
machine will be used for our Vortex effect. Again, it depends on
what you will be using your fog machines for.
When buying a fog machine two factors that
should be considered, the wattage and its Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM)
rating. In general, you have to take the CFM of fog produced with a grain of salt because
there is no set industry standard for the specifications of what a cubic foot of fog is.
You can read more about this on
page one in our Fog Machine Faq section. The wattage of
the heating element is another indicator of how well the fog machine might perform.
The wattage of consumer fog machines
generally range from 400 to 1000 watts. With a higher wattage rating, the fog machine can
not only produce more fog, but equally as important is will usually not have to go into a
re-heat cycle as often or for as long because the heat exchanger has more electrical power
available.
So, which brand of fog machine to
buy?
Starting in 2001, Fog machines
seemed to be everywhere, most in the wattage range of 400 to 700 watts. One major retailer told us that they believed
the Got Fog? website was in part responsible for the increased interest in fog machines.
This is very flattering and we hope that it's true. A testament to this would be the
hundreds of thousands of visitors we receive every year!
Another thing that's happened
as a result of heightened interest is that the price of more powerful fog machines has
come down substantially. You can now buy a high-output fog machine that would have cost
five-hundred dollars a few years ago for under a hundred dollars.
We've
spent the last month analyzing the input from our "Consumer Fog Machine Testing", competing several different fog
machines against each other in what we call "The Fog Machine Showdown".
All three Eliminator fog machines tested produced levels of fog as
expected and seemed to have a quicker re-heat
cycle than many of the other consumer level fog machines.
Click here our 2010 fog machine
recommendations |
