As soon as the temperature breaches 20 degrees in the UK, everyone goes looking for the best fan to cool their bedroom or workspace. Compared to air conditioning, electric fans are cheaper, smaller, lighter, more energy efficient (most costing around 1p an hour to run) and have an instant cooling effect on sweaty skin.
One thing to remember is that while fans cool you, they don’t actually reduce the air temperature in the room as an air conditioner would, unless you do one of two tricks. One is to place a bowl of ice water in front of a fan so that heat energy is removed from the air to melt the ice. (This is the principle used in air coolers.)
Another is to place a fan with its back to an open window to draw in cool air and a second fan facing another window to blow the warmer air out. This only works if the air outside is cooler than inside your home, though.
Below, we’ve reviewed the most popular fans sold in the UK, followed by some advice on how they work and the different types. If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick glance at our top five:
Fans range in price from £20 to well over £300, so what makes the difference? We think there are three main criteria.
Where the data is available, look for a fan with a higher airflow than 150m³ per hour as a measure of its cooling power. Most of the fans we recommend are three to ten times more powerful than that on their highest settings.
Secondly, look for a quiet fan: generally they range between 20dB at low fan speeds to 70dB at high speed. 20dB is about the same as a human whisper, 70dB is loud enough to hear over the chatter in an office.
Finally, if we’re honest, not many fans look nice. If you’re buying one for your home, consider biting the bullet price-wise and investing in a futuristic, bladeless Dyson or an unobtrusive tower fan.
A note on availability: during warm temperatures, many of the fans we recommend sell out. Where possible, we will recommend alternative retailers or similar fans.
For more information cooling fan, please get in touch with us!