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Top-tested electric fans that will cool your apartment and help you sleep soundly. Electric Portable Fans
We updated this guide to the best fans in August 2022 to ensure all products vetted by the Home Improvement Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute were in stock and reflected current pricing.
Everyone loves summer, except when it comes to staying cool in the unbearable heat. Sticky skin is the worst, and it’s tough to be productive (or fall asleep!) in a hot, stuffy room. Air conditioners aren't for everyone — they're often noisy and expensive — which makes portable electric fans an ideal solution to feeling cool when the mercury rises. The devices are cost-effective, easy to set up and can be moved from room to room if necessary. They also come in a variety of styles to suit the room and your needs.
The Good Housekeeping Institute regularly tests all kinds of home cooling appliances, like portable air conditioners and window ACs, in addition to electric fans. The fans included in this roundup represent a cross-section of the market, and we’ve picked a range depending on their design and function. As part of our in-lab and at-home evaluations, we looked at each fan's cooling range (or how far its air flow can reach) as well as noise levels while running. We also noted how many speed settings each fan has, whether the direction of air flow can be adjusted, whether the stand can be raised or lowered and whether the head can pivot or tilt. Finally, we considered if the fan can be easily moved from room to room.
Read more about our selects for the best fans based on testing and analysis, plus our experts' decades of industry expertise.
For a mid-size room, our experts say the Vornado 630 is your best bet. It does a superb job circulating air, and its three speed settings adjust airflow to your needs. Our engineers also like the pivoting head, which makes it easy to direct cool air to where you need it most. The fan's squat design and sturdy base allow you set it up on the floor or on your dresser to cool your bedroom while you sleep. During our tests, we were impressed by the Vornado's range, with a claimed airflow of 70 feet! We also loved how easy it was to remove the grill for cleaning. To cool a larger room, this model's brand mate, the Vornado 660, would be a good option. The five-year warranty on both models, longer than standard, gives great peace of mind.
This lightweight budget-friendly Honeywell HT-900 is (ahem) a fan favorite – nearly 70,000 Amazon reviewers gave it a five-star rating. Whether set on a table or floor, the head can pivot to angle the airflow wherever you want it. Honeywell says you can feel it 25 feet away. For optimum air circulation throughout a small- or medium-sized room, our experts recommend angling the head at 90 degrees. Three speed settings let you choose between gentle air circulation to more powerful cooling. In terms of maintenance, the grill is removable, making it easy to clean.
A favorite with Amazon customers, the Honeywell’s whole-room tower fan has a small footprint and a lot of power to cool a medium to large room. Our experts like the eight speeds and optional oscillation, which lets you select settings from intense cooling (with slightly more noise) to a gentle almost-silent breeze, so you can decide on the level of white noise while cooling a bedroom when you sleep. Adjustable lighting keeps the controls unobtrusive at night. A handy remote control means you don’t have to get up to adjust the settings, and the timer lets you set the fan to turn off automatically at the end of the cooling period. If you need to relocate the fan, a built-in carrying handle makes that easy – and a holder for the remote helps prevent it from getting lost.
When our experts put this Lasko to the test, they were impressed by its easy operation, including its three speed settings (controlled via remote) and the option to choose between oscillating or stationary. The manufacturer says the built-in ionizer makes the air feel fresher, though we didn't test that feature. The fan also has a timer, so you can set it to run for up to seven and a half hours. A handy nighttime feature dims the lights on the fan and gradually decreases the speed of the fan (and in turn, the volume). A built-in carry handle, plus onboard storage for the remote, makes it easy to move the fan from room to room as needed.
Our engineers give this Rowenta props for its effective design, which combines power with quiet operation. It's also versatile: You can adjust the height of the pedestal stand from 42 to 54 inches, and the angle of the 16-inch head is adjustable too, so you can direct the airflow to where you want it. Let it oscillate, or leave it stationary – that’s your choice. A handy remote control lets you stay seated while you switch between the five speed settings.
If you need to cool a big room — or even an entire apartment — our experts recommend this Vornado, which they say is excellent at circulating air throughout large areas. The fan doesn't oscillate, but the pivoting head lets you direct the airflow where you want; Vornado says it reaches up to 100 feet. The stand’s height can be adjusted from 28 to 40 inches for added versatility. There’s no remote, but manually switching between the three speed settings is easy. The grill is removable, making it easier to clean the blades.
The Holmes window fan is designed to fit most double-hung and slider windows. Our engineers say that installation is very simple, and extender panels help secure the fan. We loved the three options for circulating the air: The dual fans can pull fresh air from the outside into the room, reverse the flow to exhaust stale room air outside or have each fan running opposite for a complete air exchange. Even without a remote, two speeds and an adjustable thermostat make it easy to cool a room.
The Lasko’s powerful motor has three speed settings to help you get just the right amount of cool air flowing through your space. Over 11,000 Amazon customers rave about this fan and give it a five-star rating. The pivoting head can direct the breeze exactly where you want it, and the optional wall mount helps free up floor space. Our experts note that the grill can’t be removed for cleaning – you’ll need to rely on your vacuum’s soft brush attachment for that. It’s also not the quietest fan from our reviews, but it’s a powerful cooling machine.
O2Cool's Treva portable personal-sized fan helps you cool off whether you’re at home or outdoors. You can choose to operate it via battery or plugged into an outlet, and it lets you select high or low speed to meet your comfort. A convenient built-in handle makes this Amazon favorite easy to carry to wherever you need it.
Box fans are the no-nonsense way to cool a room. Hurricane’s powerful version has three speeds, so you get to control how much cooling you need. At 20 inches across, it takes up quite a bit of space, though it will fit on most windowsills. It’s definitely not the quietest fan from our tests, but it’s serious about keeping you cool and comfortable. And the price is hard to beat!
✔️ Airflow reach: Ideally, the range or distance of the airflow should be as expansive as possible. You don’t want the fan to cool only what’s right in front of it. The manufacturer will usually describe the reach of the airflow, but it may give an approximate room size that the fan can cool.
✔️ Size: Bigger isn’t always better; the trade-off for a larger, more powerful fan (for example, one that’s good for cooling an apartment) is usually more noise than, say, one that’s smaller but powerful enough to cool a bedroom while you sleep. However, if you’re trying to cool a large room, you’ll want a fan that can cope with that demand.
✔️ Speed settings: Many fans offer two to four settings for ease; others have more variable controls so you can really hone in on how much power you want. Bear in mind that noise levels increase with the faster speed settings. At the very least, the fan should have a high and low speed setting.
✔️ Adjustability: While an effective fan should be able to fill a large space without needing to move it around, you still want to be able to angle the airflow where you want. Features like oscillation, multiple speed settings to control the power and the ability to adjust the angle of airflow provide greater versatility.
✔️ Ease of cleaning: Look for a fan that is easy to disassemble so you can regularly clean the blades and grill of dust and dirt that accumulates over time (especially if someone in your home suffers from allergies!). A bladeless fan eliminates the need to clean a grill and blades, but it usually has a filter that needs to be cleaned and/or replaced occasionally.
Desk Fan Standard ✔️ Timer: If you like the fan to be on for a certain duration or automatically turn off after you fall asleep, look for a model with a timer, which allows you to set a run time. Some fans are equipped with a sleep option, which automatically steps down the airflow and noise level over a few hours before turning off.