Best Tower Fans

A tower fan is an economical way of keeping cool by circulating the air in a room. It’s a good alternative to the traditional disc-shaped fan, which tends to take up much more space. (Also, in order for a disc-shaped fan to get the air in a room to circulate, it has to oscillate back and forth, taking up even more space.) A tower fan, on the other hand, can stand in a corner of the room, and generate a breeze that can be felt as far as 100 feet away (depending on the model). It can be a welcome supplement to central air conditioning: you can achieve the same level of cool using a fraction of the electricity. They are also typically very lightweight and portable. Also, because the moving parts are all housed inside the fan’s body, it’s safe around children, since there is no concern that they’ll hurt their fingers on a rotating blade.

But to narrow down the choices between tower fans, there are more specs to consider. You can find tower fans which operate by remote control, in addition to the onboard controls, to adjust the speed or the time of operation. They also vary in how much air they’re capable of circulating, and what size room can they cool off. You probably also want to consider how quietly do they operate: if you want a tower fan for an office or bedroom, you want it to operate inconspicuously in the background.

We’ve composed this buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision when selecting a tower fan. It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of tower fan,

• See useful tips about that particular type of tower fan,

• Read reviews of different tower fans, and what customers are saying,

• Select the right brand of the best tower fans, and

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

• With louvers: There are tower fans that direct air by means of louvers, or angled slats, that oscillate sideways. An example is the Holmes Oscillating Tower Fan.

Holmes Oscillating Tower Fan

• Bladeless: You’ll see bladeless fans, such as those made by Lasko or Dyson. They have the blades and motor concealed in the base of the fan, which conducts the air upwards. (That makes it safe around children and pets since all the rotating parts are concealed.) The pressure changes induce an air current which flows through the fan’s oval-shaped ring. One such model using this design is the Dyson Cool AM07 Air Multiplier Tower Fan.

Dyson Cool AM07 Air Multiplier Tower Fan

• Air filter: Some tower fans can serve as an air filter as well. They can eliminate common sources of allergy problems, such as dander, dust, and pollen. An example is the Lasko 5-speed Wind Curve Tower Fan with Ionizer. The fan’s ionizer will generate negative ions which attach to positively-charged dust or pollen particles. This makes the dust and pollen electrically neutral, so, instead of remaining suspended in the air due to electrostatic repulsion, they settle out on the floor or carpet, so that you can vacuum them up instead.

• Noise level: A tower fan has the motor concealed in the pedestal, but the type of motor used will influence how much noise it will generate. Fans such as the Dyson Tower Fan uses a brushless motor--less friction between the moving parts means that the fan will operate more quietly. At the same time, some tower fans try to generate “white noise”, which makes it easier to sleep.

• Cubic feet per minute: A fan’s efficiency is measured in how many cubic feet per minute (= cfm) of air it can blow. Some, such as the SPT SF-1523 Tower Fan, can move as much as 500 cfm and make a breeze felt for 100 feet away, which is sufficient for cooling off a suite.

• Rotation: Take note of the number of degrees that the fan can cover. The Dyson bladeless fan will rotate over 180 degrees, while others oscillate only over 90 or 75 degrees. (A 90-degree rotation means that it will go 45 degrees to the right, and 45 degrees to the left.) An example is the Seville Classics UltraSlimline Tower Fan, that rotates through 75 degrees.

• Cleaning the fan: The tower fan’s motor accumulates dust over time. It’s good to clean it out every 2-3 months of use. The recommended method of cleaning the fan is with a can of compressed air. It will blast any accumulated dust out of the appliance.

• The number of speeds: All tower fans boast of being able to work at a number of speeds. For example, the Costway 35” Tower Fan operates at three speeds: Normal, Natural, and Sleep. On the other hand, the Honeywell 33” Quiet Set Whole Room Tower Fan has five or eight speeds (depending on the model), amongst them being, from lowest to highest: Sleep, Whisper, Calm, White Noise, Relax, Refresh, Cool, and Power Cool.

• Height: One manufacturer can make a tower fan model of different heights. For example, the Costway Tower Fan comes in 30”, 35”, and 40” tall models.

• Portability: Tower fans conserve space--but, if you want to move the fan between rooms in your house, consider the weight as well.  The UltraSlimline Tower Fan is 40” tall, which makes it a bit heavier, at 10.7 pounds. This is as opposed to the Holmes 31”-tall Oscillating Tower Fan, which weighs half that, at 5.7 pounds.

• Auto-shutoff: Tower fans usually have a timer that allows you to shut them off automatically after a set number of hours. That way, you can use the fan to get the room cool when you go to sleep, but not be on all night. For example, the Honeywell tower fan can be set to go off after 1, 2, 4, or 8 hours.

• The area that it can cool: Before narrowing down on a particular model, take note of the size of the room that it can cool. Some will be adequate for a medium-to-large-size room, while others can only cool off a small room.

• Auto-dimming feature: Since there’s a good chance that you’ll use a tower fan in your bedroom, some fans have a dimming feature that reduces the brightness of the LED control panel when you haven’t pressed any buttons for the last 15 seconds. When idle, the Honeywell QuietSet Tower Fan can operate at 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and even 0% brightness.

• Costway is a retailer of products for the home and garden, toys and games, hardware, pet supplies, furniture and more. They sell oscillating stand fans, floor fans, window fans, and tower fans.

• Lasko was a metal works company founded by Henry Lasko in  Philadelphia in 1906. They specialize in home comfort products such as fans, heaters, air purifiers, humidifiers, and more. They have a wide variety of fans: bladeless fans, pedestal fans, tower fans, table fans, and wall-mount fans, to name just a few.

• Holmes is a brand of air filters and purifiers, humidifiers, and fans. Their fans include power fans, stand fans, table fans, tower fans, window fans, and more. Holmes is part of the larger Jarden Corporation, based in Rye, New York, which is in turn owned by Newell Brands.

• Honeywell was founded in 1906 by Mark Honeywell as a heater manufacturer in Wabash, Illinois, building on the inventions of Albert Butz. Honeywell makes products for aerospace, the petroleum industry, for healthcare, and for the home and office, such as air conditioning, fans, heaters, thermostats, and more.