The 6 best fans to help keep you cool through the summer heat

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Fans are great for in-between weather and shoulder seasons, but they're necessities if you don't have an air conditioner and cost a lot less to operate. However, electric fans won't prevent heat-related illnesses when temperatures are in the high 90s and above, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If it's not dangerously hot, though, the right system of fans can help cool down a room and help you save on your electricity bill, relatively speaking.

We tested several types of fans, measuring their average wind speed, electricity consumption, and decibels. We also spoke with Duncan Freake, a mechanical engineer at Epam Continuum, who told us fans have become quieter, safer, more energy-efficient, and more effective, thanks to overlapping blades and bladeless designs with built-in HEPA air purifiers. The best fan overall is the Vornado 660 Large Whole Room Air Circulator Fan, which offers impressive speed variation, runs pretty quietly, and energy efficient with a long warranty. For a budget option, the Genesis 20-Inch Max Cool Box Fan is an attractive window unit that is steady, sturdy, and powerful. 

Learn more about how Insider Reviews tests and researches home products.

The best electric fans in 2024

Best overall: Vornado 660 Large Whole Room Air Circulator Fan - See at Amazon

Best budget: Genesis 20-Inch Max Cool Box Fan - See at Amazon

Best tower: Genesis Powerful 43-Inch Tower Fan - See at Amazon

Best splurge: Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Purifying Fan Heater - See at Dyson

Best with air purification: Dreo Air Purifying Tower Fan - See at Amazon

Best tabletop: Genesis 6-inch Clip Convertible Table-Top Fan - See at Amazon

Best overall

When you take price, wind speed, energy efficiency, and noise into account, Vornado's 660 Whole Room Air Circulator is the electric fan that fits the widest range of needs and living spaces. 

The Vornado's comprehensive variation in wind speed sets it apart from the competition. From a light, cool breath of air to an absolute calamity, the Vornado 660 can offer relief for everything from mild discomfort to a bad spill or even a flood.

Because of its high velocity, it is the fan I turned to after a recent roof leak, and I've also used it to dry wet bicycles after a day in the rain. 

Admittedly, it gets a little loud at top speed, but you probably won't find yourself sitting too close to it at that level. And it's not outrageous; its noise level is on par with that of any high-powered blade fan.

On the other hand, you can barely hear it running when it's at its lowest setting, which offers just enough air for a small room.

The relatively long 6-foot power cord is also appreciated, as it allows you to reposition the fan as needed. 

Considering the Vornado's size and might, we think a couple of these fans would address most anyone's needs, and storing them is completely manageable.

Best budget

A box fan stirs up a lot of air and can be stored easily, while other types of fans may fall short when it comes to output or stowability. Box fans also tend to be more affordable, and while Genesis' 20-inch option isn't the cheapest out there, it's steady, sturdy, and powerful.

It's also relatively loud, though, so keep that in mind if you're looking for something a little more discreet.

We especially like box fans for home improvement projects that require drying out a room.

The Genesis is one of the prettier models we've encountered. Thanks to the location of the speed-setting knob, it doesn't have any awkward parts sticking out to prevent it from being stashed away in the attic, but it the dial settings were a little difficult to read. 

Best tower

Tower fans are efficient, often remote-controlled, and covert enough that apart from a relatively subtle drone, you'll hardly notice they're there.

Of the tower fans we tested, the Genesis Powerful 43-inch performed best overall. It's quiet, offers 18 settings, has a programmable timer, and oscillates without any trouble so far.

We should note that tower fans do have their drawbacks. They tend to break after a few years or as soon as they're mishandled. They are also notoriously difficult to clean. This one requires you to remove a couple of nuts and bolts.

That being said, tower fans are typically quiet and tuck away neatly in corners and closets. They usually come with programmable timers and remotes, which are great features for those who don't want to sleep with the fan running (or get up to adjust the settings).

I can sleep easily with the Genesis, thanks to its "natural" and "wind" modes, which are soft and softer, respectively. I find the natural mode works best at night because it's barely audible, and it doesn't wake me with a chill, even with the fan placed at the foot of the bed.

Best splurge

If you're looking to invest in a multi-functional unit you can use all year round, the Dyson Purifier HP07 Hot+Cool Purifying Fan Heater works triple duty as a high-powered fan, space heater, and air purifier. It's also exceedingly quiet, with a decibel range of 38 on low and 52 on high across its 10 speeds, akin to rustling leaves and a dishwasher, respectively. 

Within the Dyson app, I can adjust the fan speed, turn the heater off, choose the precise angle of oscillation I want, set a timer, or turn on night mode, which dims the display and minimizes fan speed. However, due to safety regulations, you'll have to use the onboard controls to turn the unit on or change the heat settings. The LCD display also shares data on air quality, temperature, humidity, and filter levels. 

As one of the best space heaters, it did a swift job of raising the surrounding temperature. We also put it through the testing we use for our best air purifier guide, but it unfortunately fell short and we don't recommend it for just air purification purposes. While it did an average job of removing particles from the air, it was one of the worst at capturing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids such as paint or cleaning supplies. The HEPA+Carbon filter is designed to last for up to a year. 

Best with air purification

The smart, dual-functional Dreo 2-in-1 is a multi-tasking fan with a built-in air purifier at a fraction of the price of the Dyson. With 12 speeds, it incrementally generates anywhere from a gentle breeze to a steady wind. Thanks to the dual-motor design, the fan and air purifier can operate simultaneously or you can use each function singularly. The air purifier sits at the base of the unit, while the oscillating tower fan design sits directly above. 

It's also one of the quietest units we've tested as a fan. I've been using it in my bedroom, and I've practically forgotten about its existence save for the direct airflow that reaches across the room to cool me through the early summer heat. 

The Dreo comes with a remote and has button controls on the unit, but you unlock further customization when you connect to the app to adjust controls, set schedules, and track air quality and ambient temperature over time. 

As an air purifier, the Dreo has three purification speeds and an auto option to adjust to the room's detected air quality in real time. In our air purification test, which consists of lighting an incense stick and measuring how quickly it removes the room's particulate count and VOCs, both were back to low levels within half an hour and cleared within the hour. Depending on usage, the filters can last up to six months, but my running it on 24/7 averaged a two-month filter life. 

At 46 inches tall and 17 pounds, the unit is quite large and not ideal for moving from room to room. It also has a wider girth than your average tower fan, but it nicely tucks into a spare corner. — Jaclyn Turner, senior home editor

Best tabletop

Clip-on fans are ideal for tabletops because you're much less likely to knock them to the ground. The Genesis Convertible Table-Top and Clip Fan offers both a clip and stand (easily switched out with a screw and nut) so you can place it wherever and however you like. This comes in handy on desks and in smaller rooms where space is a precious commodity.

We like this fan because it is sturdy, has no overly ambitious oscillating mechanism (but does rotate manually and clicks firmly into place), and is easy on the electricity bill.

The only downside is that it runs on the loud side for a small fan, even at the lower setting. But it's still not as loud as most larger fans.

Otherwise, it's great for just about anywhere you might place it within a small room. About 3 feet of distance is more or less appropriate, though we still enjoyed the relief it offered at 6 feet.

What else we tested

Genesis Twin Window Fan: This fan works perfectly well and will likely fit in most windows. (You can also install it vertically.) However, we prefer using a smaller model like the Genesis 6-inch Clip Convertible Tabletop as a window fan because you can angle it. 

Honeywell Quietset 8-Speed Tower Fan: We highly recommend this fan, which came extremely close to beating out our top pick for a tower fan. The only issue so far is that it's a little on the loud side, topping out at 60 dB, about that of a refrigerator compressor or normal conversation. We're going to keep testing this one for longevity.

Honeywell Table Air Circulator Fan: This highly functional fan is a great option for small bedrooms, offices, and budgets. Still, it's a little on the noisy side compared with most desk fans, so you won't want to place it too close to you.

Honeywell TurboForce Tower Fan: We've recommended this fan in the past, but it's relatively loud, and we've since found quieter tower fans. Still, we like the design, and it's powerful, so if you're looking for a tower fan for a particularly large room, it's worth considering. 

Lasko Outdoor Living Oscillating Tower Fan: We're testing outdoor fans for next year because they seem to work better than citronella candles at keeping bugs away. So far, we've only tried this one. While we like and recommend it, we need to perform a little more testing.

Lasko Wind Curve: We've never had any trouble with Lasko's fans (and we've tested a number of them). This one works perfectly well. If you want to save a few bucks, it will certainly suffice in the place of our tower fan recommendation. But it doesn't offer as many settings and programming, especially compared to the Genesis model we recommend above. It's also slightly louder, which might affect light sleepers.

Rowenta Turbo Silence Oscillating Fan: We've recommended this fan in the past, but considering the price, we bumped it out for more efficient, technologically advanced options.

Vornado 173 Whole Room Tower Fan: With Vornado being such a favorite with regular fans (see our recommendation above), we hoped this design would offer something other tower fans don't: a better solution to oscillation. Most oscillating tower fans we've come across eventually start making a clicking noise. Sometimes it's repairable. But it's annoying, especially when you're trying to sleep. This fan has a grate set on a spiraling angle, so it's supposed to cool the whole room without oscillating. While it did span a great deal of the room, it just wasn't powerful enough to compete with our other picks.

How we test electric fans

We tested seven fans side-by-side for two weeks to determine which ones offered the best combination of airflow, speed, and energy efficiency. We also spoke with Duncan Freake, a mechanical engineer at Epam Continuum who likes taking apart home appliances in his spare time, about the qualities to look for in a fan.

Here's what we looked for in our top picks:

Ease of use: Most fans are fairly easy to use, but the convenience of visible controls or a remote made a big difference.

Durability: More features often mean more problems, and while we still recommend oscillating fans (like our tower fan pick), they're not the sturdiest. 

Power: We measured airflow in feet per second using a wind meter at 6 feet away to determine the average wind speed coming off of each fan.

Energy consumption: We used a basic digital energy consumption meter to measure fans' consumption at their lowest and highest speeds.

Volume: We used a decibel meter to measure how loud fans were at their lowest and highest settings.

Fan FAQs

What is the quietest fan?

Generally speaking, the quietest type of fan is a tower fan, which also tends to be the most energy-efficient and has the smallest footprint. The only problem with tower fans is that they tend to be more delicate than basic box fans. Still, they pack the most punch for the most compact unit.

If you want the absolute quietest fan we've tried, that'd be the Dyson Pure Hot + Cool. Otherwise, our picks above should more than suffice.

What is the best fan placement for optimal air circulation?

Depending on the type of fan and the shape of your room, there are several ways to optimize circulation.

A window fan tends to be the most effective option when you have a cross breeze and cooler outdoor temps. Obviously, those sit in your window. Multiple fans (of any type) can also help create a cross breeze, especially with as many interior doors open as possible.

For all other fans, including desk and tower fans, face them opposite the wall where you will be the least. This causes the air to disperse and create a windchill as it mixes with the stagnant air in the room.

Here are a few more tips for cooling down the house if you don't have an air conditioner.