The Best Fans for Any Budget
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As long as you know where to place them throughout your home, fans can be an invaluable tool in fighting the heat during the summer, saving you money on electricity bills and keeping your place livable. I use fans all year round to combat the the sweltering conditions caused by my ancient radiator, so I know a thing or two about the best ones. Here are some great fans to keep you cool.
The best fans for your home under or around $80
If you're on a budget, these are the fans you should be looking out for, since they're effective without breaking the bank.
Up until last summer, I had this Lasko oscillating tower fan ($69.99 after coupon), and it lasted me a commendable seven years. It would have lasted longer if I hadn't knocked it over so often and neglected to clean it as well as I should have (so please clean your fans), but even when the vents were full of dust, this bad boy blasted cool air far and wide. At 42 inches tall, it's a little cumbersome, so only pick it up if you have the space for it and the willingness to clean a bunch of tiny slats on the back. It's no-frills (save for a convenient remote control that enables you to change the speed and toggle on the oscillation from across the room), but it does mean business.
I replaced that Lasko with the Antarctic Star tower fan ($64.99) and am personally very happy with it. Like other models here, it has a remote control, oscillates, and has three different speeds. It was easy to set up and has a cute light pink color. If aesthetics are important to you but you still want something powerful, this has my full endorsement. It's running next to me right now and is still as powerful and relatively quiet as it was last year. It's forceful enough that I keep it across the room from me when I work out on my Peloton and it manages to give me the perfect breeze from several feet away.
If you want something that has a wide radius, consider a Levoit tower fan ($74.99), which can cool up to 25 feet away. Reviewers have put the claim to the test, demonstrating that it actually does reach 25 feet, which is great news for anyone with a large room that needs some air circulation. Since this one is on the spendier side of our budget allowance, I recommend waiting to buy it if you can. Per price-tracking tool CamelCamelCamel, this model has gone on sale for as low as $59.49. Granted, the price will probably stay higher in the summer, when consumers want fans most, but don't forget that Prime Day and all the shopping holiday's associated deals are on the way.
On the smaller side, I picked up this Conbola desk fan ($26.57) two years ago and can't believe how much I still like it. I use a small fan on my nightstand to generate white noise at night and while this is much smaller and sleeker than the relative behemoth I had before, it's just as powerful and just noisy enough for bedtime. What drew me to it was its pink color, of course, but what made me love it was its features: It only needs a small USB cord to function and when plugged in, it's also charging, so it can be moved around and doesn't need to be tethered to an outlet at all times. A few months ago, I very nearly broke this fan while testing out a cleaning hack. I was devastated; it's such a perfect little object that does exactly what I need it to do. Fortunately, it was safe in the end (a testament to its resilience, no doubt!). If you want something that holds up under pressure and looks good doing it for a mere $26, you know what to do.
Conbola, a brand to which I have become strangely loyal after the great success of my little pink fan, also makes a bladeless desk option ($39.99) for those who want that Dyson look without the Dyson price (more on that in a moment). You get three speed options, touch controls, and the ability to charge it and move it around. The nice thing about bladeless fans is how easy they are to clean: Wipe out the inside and use a dust cloth on the vents without ever having to take it apart.
Pricier fan options
There are a lot of things in life you can get by with cheaping out on, but whether you want to gamble with the heat is really up to you. Personally, I am a penny pincher and I adore the cheap, pink fans I detailed above, but I also know that heat is dangerous to not only your physical health, but your mental health, too. Depending on where you live and what you're willing to shell out, this might be the summer you invest in a big, fancy fan.
Could this be the year you finally pull the trigger on the expensive, but effective, Dyson? Dyson's whole deal is air, whether using it to suck up dirt from the carpet or curl wet hair, so it is trustworthy when it comes to fans. A Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 is $337 and the AM07 Air Multiplier is $369.99. You can also try Hot+Cool AM09 Jet Focus for $469.99, using it to cool down in the summer and heat up in the winter. Even though it doesn't come in pink, that's been on my wishlist forever, since I experienced how well it works during a memorable stay in an Airbnb. Maybe Prime Day will bring me a deal.
The Vornado Silver Swan Alchemy ($199.99) is praised by the New York Times for being an "upgrade" over other fans because it is high-performance, pretty quiet, and oscillating. Now, I don't have this, but I do know that for some people, aesthetics play a big role in shopping even for household necessities—and I really like how it looks. The Times calls it an "attractive retro design." I call it damn cool, pun intended.