Ahead, learn about these and other pedestal fan characteristics to keep in mind. Ceiling fans are terrific and can be relatively simple to install in rooms that have a ceiling light and access to the ceiling above to install enough bracing to support the weight of a fan. Be sure to purchase a fan that matches the size of the room and is appropriate for the height of the ceiling. Also, take advantage of fans, which use relatively little energy compared with air conditioners. Adjust the fan setting on your thermostat to “on,” not “auto.” This will make the blower fan circulate all the time, which can help even out the temperatures throughout the house.
To track energy consumption, we plugged each fan into a P3 International Kill A Watt EZ electricity usage monitor while running them for two hours at their highest speed, without oscillation. Since most fans within a given category work pretty well, budgeting more gives you more features and better aesthetics. You can find super-affordable basic units like the approximately $17 Black+Decker circulator, or scale up to the striking, feature-laden, multipurpose Dyson tower at just under $770. A floor fan is great if you need something that’s compact enough to fit on a table or desk, and it’s something you can move around to use as needed. Circulator fans — the design made familiar by Vornado and also found in units like the Black+Decker and Honeywell models we tested — are great examples of personal fans that don’t take up a lot of space.
Adjustability typically ranges between 40 and 55 inches high. Some fans also have tiltable heads that let users aim the fan upward or downward. Plastic is lighter and hence easier for the Lasko Box Fan fan’s motor to turn, whereas aluminum is more durable but requires more power. This makes fans with plastic blades slightly more energy efficient than those with heavier aluminum blades.
The Honeywell tower fan has a small footprint and sleek design, a sturdy base and 8 speed settings, plus it’s quiet and affordable. We researched hundreds of models and brought in 13 highly rated options for testing. Over the course of four steamy summer weeks, we found that all of the fans did a similarly good job of keeping our test space cool but varied widely in features, build quality and usability.
Whatever you select, a fan is a cost-effective way to cool your home, but we have some tips. As you’d expect , the Dyson was more solidly built and stable in construction than any of the other tower fans we looked at. It also offered more fine-grained control over its various settings than any of the other units. A floor fan is easy to place almost anywhere, making it great to have on hand to cool a space like a kitchen, office or bath when needed. The Vornado Energy Smart 533DC was lighter than the others we tested, and easier to carry around our testing space, even though it was more sturdily built and easier to adjust than its competitors.
To help you choose, we’ve gathered our favorite pedestal fans available today. The wobbling action of the Lasko did not happen on its own during testing, but rather, after we gently pushed the tower from side to side; it rocked from side to side as a result. It was not sturdy and rigid like the other towers we tested, which gave us pause in recommending it to anyone with pets or small children, for example. We did like the remote control of this fan, which let us turn it on and alen breathesmart off, select its three speed settings, set it to oscillate and set the timer for one, two and four hours. This timer button was surprisingly missing from the remote control of the Honeywell Quietset Whole Room HYF290B tower fan, even though the Honeywell includes a timer on its control panel on top of the unit. Eight speed settings — more than the other tower fans we tested — give you the ability to fine-tune, though the three lower speeds were very similar in our testing.
With striking design and impressive features, the Dyson is unlike any other fan we tested and is far more expensive, but it combines a fan, heater, and air purifier, potentially replacing three appliances. You can not only adjust the height on this model, but also the angle of the vents, allowing you to customize exactly where you want the air to blow. It has 3 quiet speeds so you don’t have to worry about being disrupted by noise. The 3 quiet speed provides you with the convenience of enjoying the level of coolness that you need for your room. Along with our in-house experts, our team analyzes thousands of product reviews from the most trusted websites.