Beating the heat isn’t easy but with the best fan by your side, humid days and nights can be that little bit more bearable. So, the Good Housekeeping Institute has done the homework and tested hundreds of fans to bring you this detailed guide to the top picks for every need, space and budget.
Below, we’ve broken down the difference between tower, pedestal, desk and handheld fans, detailing the benefits and potential drawbacks of each, as well as bringing you the best options to buy from each category.
If you’re after something that cools as well as circulating the air, we’ve also included our experts’ top-rated air coolers, all tried and tested in the lab.
Tower fans
The best tower fans are designed to maximise air flow. They use a motor to draw hot air in through the back and sides and then push it back out at a consistent pressure. This powerful stream of air is what helps cool you down when you’re feeling hot and bothered.
Typically, tower fans are tall and slim (making them easy to store and good for tight spaces) and are quite energy efficient, with most models costing around 1p an hour to run when we tested them in the lab. Many also come with remote controls and app connectivity so you can turn your fan on without having to leave your bed or sofa. On the downside, the tall design does make them less stable, and they’re often less powerful than pedestal fans.
Our experts’ top tower fans
Score: 92/100
Quickly working to make our testers feel more comfortable in a hot room, this is one worth grabbing before it sells out (which it quite often does in a heatwave – you have been warned!). It only offers 90 degrees of oscillation but there are 12 speeds to cycle through, and the LED display and intuitive design are a real bonus for the price tag.
Score: 89/100
With built-in HEPA and carbon-activated filters, this sleek Dyson fan is an investment in good air quality. There are 10 air speeds to choose from and 350 degrees of oscillation so you can enjoy its cooling power from almost any spot in your room. It’s expensive but effective and you can control it from the app for ultimate ease.
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Pedestal fans
The best pedestal fans contain a motor that turns curved blades inside the main body. These blades shift large amounts of air, creating that refreshing breeze-like sensation. They’re typically more powerful than a tower fan but can also be louder.
A traditional pedestal fan can look less sleek than a tower fan – something to bear in mind if you care about form as much as function.
Our experts’ top pedestal fans
Score: 80/100
Testers loved this good value pedestal fan for its good range of air strengths, 12 speed settings, and three modes including a sleep function. It produced slightly more noise on max power than our winners but wasn’t any louder than you’d typically expect from a fan. All the controls were easy to use and responsive.
Desk fans
Essentially a mini pedestal fan, the best desk fans are small enough to sit on your desk or bedside table but still powerful enough to keep you cool. They work in the same way as pedestal fans, with spinning blades that push the air outwards around the room.
As they’re designed for desk use, they’re usually very quiet as well as being small and compact.
Our experts’ top desk fans
Score: 88/100
If you find regular fans just don’t cut it in a heatwave, try this misting option from Shark. The lightweight fan sprays you with fine water droplets as it blows air for an extra cooling effect …let’s just say our testers were big fans. It doesn’t oscillate but it’s still a smart buy for hot days.
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Portable and handheld fans
Keeping cool at home is one thing, but maintaining a comfortable temperature on the go is an entirely different challenge. Whether you’re tackling sweaty trains or buildings with no air conditioning, the best handheld fans are there to save the day.
Handheld models typically use less energy, but their small size limits their power. Consider them a more affordable option for quick relief in the heat.
Our experts’ top portable and handheld fans
Score: 92/100
Boasting 100 speeds and a battery that lasted three hours on the highest setting, this handheld fan is our winner for power and portability. It easily fits in your handbag and comes with a lanyard so you don’t forget it on the go (as if you would!). While pricier than others, it’s worth the investment for the speed range alone.
Score: 87/100
Neck fans are an excellent hands-free alternative for the commute and this one was a hit with our testers who also loved three different wind speeds. The 78 air outlets distribute plenty of cooling air around the neck and it stayed on easily, too.
Score: 86/100
This mini fan can be used on a desk, in your car or as a handheld model, offering plenty of versatility on a hot day. Granted, it’s not the most powerful fan we’ve tried but it was still effective at providing and distributing a cooling breeze. It also charges in a speedy 2-3 hours from empty.
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Air coolers
The best air coolers are actually somewhere between a fan and a portable air conditioning unit, and, as the name suggests, they work to cool the air rather than recirculating it. They draw warm air in, pass it over a cold-water tank, and cool the air as the water evaporates.
Prices can vary for these models and it will depend on your preference. Some premium models come with added features like app connectivity and timers, while others keep it simple.
Our experts’ top air coolers
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How we test fans
The aim of our fan testing is to assess the effectiveness and range of each model’s air strengths and speeds, and see whether they can keep us cool during hot weather.
Our experts assess the power of each tower, pedestal and desk fan by tracking the air strength with an anemometer. Measured in feet per minute, this shows how much air each fan blows out, and we take readings on both the fan’s highest and lowest settings at two different distances to see how powerful the air feels from up to 75cm away.
We also measure the sound levels and record energy consumption at the highest and lowest settings over a three hour period.
One of our in-house panellists enjoying fan testing on a hot day in the office!
Next, we ask our in-house panel to sit in a 30°C room for 30 minutes with the fan running and and tell us how cool and comfortable they felt.
Finally, we rate the design, ease of use and clarity of instructions before awarding an overall score.
For air coolers, we follow similar protocols, but we also measure how effective the air coolers are at reducing the temperature of a space. Our experts do this by placing it in a 30°C room and measuring the temperature after 30 minutes, 90 minutes and two hours.
Why you should trust the Good Housekeeping Institute
For over 100 years, the Good Housekeeping Institute has been testing household products to help you separate the good from the great. Over this time, we’ve been constantly fine-tuning our testing protocols to ensure we test products robustly and fairly against their claims.
The desk fans we tested at the Good Housekeeping Institute
Our quality assurance and protocols manager, Blossom Boothroyd, has five years’ experience testing homes products in the lab and oversees the creation of all our protocols, ensuring we review products exactly as you use them at home.
Once testing has been completed and analysed by our testers, all the results are then passed to senior homes and lifestyle writer, Megan Geall. She’s written hundreds of product reviews and makes sure she answers all the most frequently asked questions in her write-ups.
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s senior homes and lifestyle writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market and has written hundreds of product reviews on everything from the best vacuum cleaners and coffee machines to the best ice cream makers and robot window cleaners.
When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her running every distance from 5km to 100km or relaxing at home with her cat – there really is no in between.
Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, Women’s Health, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall.
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2025-08-12 16:28:00
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