I built a small in wall cabinet for my AV stuff (receiver, sat box, dvd, etc). It is fully enclosed because it extends into a room behind the wall and I didn't want light/dust etc getting through (in the basement). It is approx. 24" x 24". I am concerned about heat build up and would like to install a small (120mm) computer style case fan. I like the idea of a small, low noise, dependable and long life fan - computer case fans are meant to run forever and have low noise. I would like to simply screw this to the outside of the cabinet and idealy plug into the receiver so it only runs when the receiver is "on"......the only fans I can find like this are DC powered - any ideas?

Get a wall wart with 12vdc output and use a variable speed fan.

I'd look for a cheap (<$20) external USB hard drive kit. Not the enclosure type, but one with just the adapters. It will have a standard 4-pin plug on the AC adapter you can power a computer fan with. And all I've seen have a brick in the middle instead of a wart on the plug. But I have no idea about the longevity these adapters will have, these kits are really intended for temporary hard drive use. And there may be a way to just get the AC adapter for less (or of better quality) than the entire kit, but I don't know about that either. But yeah, bottom line is 12V DC is what these fans run on, this just seems to me like it would be the simplest, cleanest way to do it.

Or you could just use this as an axcuse to add an HTPC and just run an exterior fan off that power supply. :)

thanks guys - went to radio shack at lunch - they had a AC powered case fan there - 2 wire ends....went to HD and got a junction box, some lamp wire, and a 2 prong end.....I will twist the lamp end and the 2 wire end in the j-box, and plug it into the receiver - so it will turn on when the receiver does....hopefully.... :)