Sales of rechargeable fan, lamp and other devices have increased manifold across the country as people seek some relief from a twin-peril of sweltering heat and nagging power outages.
A persisting 37-to-39 degrees Celsius of temperature, adding to these woes, and on-again, off-again electricity supply make life a misery in this unlikely monsoon-time summer.
"To seek some comfort, people are now buying USB portable rechargeable fan, lamp, and torchlight thanks to their affordable price and suitable size," Tapan Das, the proprietor of Nilphamari Sadar-based Jaya Electronics, told the FE.
"You can source a rechargeable lamp, torch or fan even at Tk 150 to Tk 600, depending on quality, diversity and size," he says.
One can carry portable fan easily everywhere, which could save him/her from the persisting hot weather-a phenomenal one that simultaneously bakes the world and burns Europe with raging wildfires.
"Big-sized portable table fan could be purchased at Tk 1800-Tk 4000 from my shop," he says.
Sales of those products have increased five times now amid unbearable hot weather and load-shedding, he adds.
Mr Das brought over 500 portable mini-fans which were all sold out before the Eid.
"I've asked my regular importers in Dhaka and Chattogram for more mini-fans but they have run out of supply now," he says about the business boon coming out of the climatic bane.
Sales of big-sized chargeable fans have also increased triply this year, especially for the load-shedding in a hot and humid weather.
Local shop owners have named the portable fan jokingly as 'Paglu' and the name has become popular in Nilphamari and elsewhere in the Rangpur region, he said.
"A Paglu sells at Tk 300-350, which you can carry easily," he said.
Mr Das informed that sale of rechargeable fan, lamp in Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions have made a record this year.
Zakir Ahsan, an electrical-item hawker at the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, said many fans have also LED lights within it, which has become more popular in Dhaka.
A ten-inch table fan with LED light is being sold at Tk 1050 to Tk 1850.
"You can source a lap-fan at Tk 350, which could give service for three to four hours," he said.
The fan can be charged with cell-phone chargers in one or two hours.
"We have rechargeable lights pricing Tk 500-Tk 550 which have 8-10 different colours of light and you can even hear song by connecting it with bluetooth on your smart phone as it also contains a speaker," he said.
Their sales have increased to Tk 9000-10,000 nowadays from which they can make 20-percent profits easily, he added.
Rafiqul Islam, an electric and electronics item trader at Chawk Bazar in the city, told the FE that cheaper fans, lamps, torches, power banks have become hotcakes in recent times.
He said hot weather and load-shedding raised demand manifold this season across the country but more in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Khulna regions.
He said most of the USB portable fans and lamps are being imported from China. "The problem is those products are disposable as you can't source accessories of cheaper items".
But this is not bothering people because of their low prices.
Meanwhile, online trading platforms like Daraz are also selling rechargeable portable small fans at Tk 250-Tk 800.
Bangladesh Electrical Association president Shadat Hossain Bhuiyan said local companies like PRAN-RFL or Walton have rechargeable table fans and stand fans.
"But the total market of mini-sized rechargeable fans is import-dependent, mostly on Chins".
Asked, he said they have no exact data on total import value of rechargeable items like fans, lamps or power banks.
However, talking to another four associations related to electrical and electronics items, it was found the market for portable rechargeable items is between Tk 8.0-9.0 billion in Bangladesh.
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