However, the Vornado offers one of the widest pivot ranges, at nearly 90 degrees, whereas most others are closer to degrees at most. Just like everything else in your home, your pedestal fan needs regular cleaning and maintenance to keep it working well. Most fans have a way to remove the front grill, which can be wiped or washed, along with the blades themselves. Obviously, you’ll need to avoid getting the motor wet, but even regular dusting will help you make the most of your fan.
The “3 speeds and 3 modes” essentially boil down to 5 speeds. Silent Night mode didn’t even register sound on our instruments, blowing a very modest amount of air at close range. Turbo Boost acts and sounds exactly like what you’d expect from the name, and the Normal settings are the three middle speeds. This fan exhibits one of the larger and taller height ranges while its heavy base securely anchors it to the floor.
With all that in mind, we highly enjoy the convenience and less intrusive noise you get with this model. Oddly, the jump from speed 8 to 9 is far more noticeable than any other speed change, jumping a full 6 decibels. It doesn’t remember what speed you were on last, instead lasko pedestal fans always powering up on level 18 with no oscillation and chirping offensively as you scroll through all 24 speeds. If you want a powerful fan, this isn’t likely to tick your boxes. However, if you prefer a very light breeze and value silence, this may be a good fit.
This review is spearheaded by Senior Review Editor, Maggie Nichols, who lives and recreates in the hot high deserts of northern Nevada. Maggie grew up enduring the oppressive heat/humidity combination of the Midwest, spending sticky afternoons keeping cool in front of fans. She’s spent a huge chunk of her life battling alen breathesmart heat and humidity from teaching in the jungles of South America and plains of Africa to living on a remote Caribbean island. Fans have always been a necessary part of life for both Maggie and her easily overheated dog. From her home gym to her home office, she knows what it takes to find the right fan for any space.
We used them while watching movies, sleeping at night, reading books, and working out at home. We measured airspeeds and took decibel readings, comparing them all head-to-head to see which ones offer the most settings, the most power, sturdiest bases, and quietest experiences. Need a pedestal fan with lots of options and a fully functional range of Lasko Box Fan speeds? This fan has 12 different speeds so you can achieve the ideal airflow for your needs. This Honeywell pedestal fan is a popular pick at Best Buy, earning an average 4.3-star rating over more than 880 reviews. The quiet fan features five speed settings and an automatic shutoff timer that turns the fan off after one, two, four or eight hours.
The Honeywell Double Blade, Pelonis 18″ 3-Speed Oscillating, and Black+Decker 16″ make it even easier, with simple clasps that can be twisted to the side with your thumb for removal. The Comfort Zone, Lasko S16612, and Lasko Cyclone grills can be popped on and off, as they utilize plastic tabs to stay in place. The rest of the fans have at least one screw holding the grill onto the head of the fan. The Vornado 683 has several screws but also includes directions on how to remove both the grill and the blade for more thorough cleaning.
She tests several types of fans and has been testing all types of home and outdoor gear for both OutdoorGearLab and TechGearLab since 2017. One of the tallest fans we tested, this Pelonis model also offers fairly high power on all speeds – if you’re okay with its louder-than-average whirring. Just about every pedestal fan we tested oscillates roughly 90 degrees with the exception of the Vornado 683 which doesn’t oscillate at all but can be twisted on its stand to face any direction.
With True Value Rewards, you can earn points for every purchase toward future savings. Learn more, find a participating store, and enroll at TrueValueRewards.com. Though there’s a lot we like about the Rowenta, its stand is a bit too flexible for our preference and can blow itself backward when on high power.
The lightweight Comfort Zone has a folding base comprised of four legs, and though they’re much wider, their small profile makes them conducive to squeezing into spaces and under furniture. The Lasko Cyclone and Rowenta Turbo Silence are both noticeably larger than the competition, in base and head size, as well as the overall presence in a room. Pedestal fans have a reputation for being ungainly and large — but how ungainly and how large? We measured the dimensions of every fan, checked to see how much their heights are adjustable, and considered their base size and the blade housing size. Of course, since larger fans are often more powerful, we considered other values of their sizes when calculating scores in this metric.
It oscillates over 90 degrees for a widespread cooling breeze. It stretches from 38 inches to 54.5 inches tall so you can adjust it where you need, and the head pivots to tilt upward. A good pedestal fan can make all the difference during a hot summer, while a bad one can leave you cursing your decision to buy it. By testing these fans side by side, we hope that our comparative analysis helps you find the one that melts your sweat away and keeps you cool. The powerful Vornado fan I usually use sits comfortably on top of my dresser to avoid taking up floor space. Adding the Lasko pedestal fan into my room was a tight squeeze and did block some of the walking space in my room.