If you are looking for a chemical-free way to repel mosquitoes, you may already have the solution in your home. Turn on the fan, reports Anahad O’Connor in today’s Science Times.
Studies have found that wind is an effective method against mosquitoes and other airborne pests. The reason seems obvious: it prevents them from circling and landing on you, like a windstorm keeping a plane from its descent. But that is not entirely the case. A fan dilutes and disperses the carbon dioxide you exhale. Carbon dioxide is one of the major chemicals that attract mosquitoes. The wind from a fan also cools you off. Sweat, lactic acid and body heat attract mosquitoes factors that a fan can help minimize.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/...toes/?nl=health&emc=healthupdateemb1

Let him sleep in my place during an outbreak and he'll tell a different story.

Good theory but reality is something else entirely.

I find that portable fans blowing directly on me work pretty well...not only to discourage mosquito s but also to cool me off.
Ceiling fans don't seem to get the job done.

yeah, the fan has to be blowing right on you