Everyone has seen a Christmas inflatable lying collapsed in a wet front yard on Boxing Day. There is a reason that happens, and it is worth understanding before you buy one for a business.
Why blower inflatables fail in winter
A cold-air inflatable stands up only while its fan runs. That means an extension lead across wet ground, a fan running every hour it is up, and a shape that collapses the moment a breaker trips or someone unplugs it.
Add rain, sleet and short daylight and you get the familiar sight: a deflated heap by mid-season. For a home display that is a nuisance. For a business it is worse than having nothing, because a collapsed display says something about you.
What a helium inflatable does instead
It is a sealed envelope on a tether. No power, no fan, no cable, nothing to trip.
It flies at 120 feet, so it is visible from streets away rather than only from your own frontage. And it stays up in the dark, which matters enormously in December when your customers are driving past at 4:30pm in the gloom.
Helium loss is about one percent a day. Over a six-week season that means topping off every three to seven days and nothing else.
Cold weather, honestly
Gas contracts in cold. Your balloon will look soft on a frosty morning and firm up as the day warms. That is physics, not a leak, and topping it up at dawn is how people end up over-filling it by noon.
Do not fold or unfold it frozen. Bring it indoors to warm before boxing it. Polyurethane handles the cycle year after year; the PVC used at the cheap end stiffens and cracks along the folds.
What we make, and what we do not
We build **cold-air inflatables in custom shapes** — so a seasonal character on your forecourt is something we can quote. They stand on the ground and run on a blower, which in December means a lead across wet ground and a fan running all day, so go in with your eyes open.
We also build **helium balloons and blimps**, which need no power at all and fly at 120 feet where they are visible from streets away in the dark. For a business rather than a front garden, that is usually the better December product.
What we do not make is the waving fabric tube style of air dancer. Ask us about either of the other two.
Ask for a quote. Call 1-800-791-1445 or email [email protected] and tell us the size and whether you want it printed.
More at giantadvertisinginflatables.com.