However, the lightweight plastic disc base lacks any feet to hold it in place on a hard floor. While we don’t think this is a huge problem, if pets or people are frequently bumping into the furniture, the Lasko S16612 will slide. And, if you have a giant living space and are hoping to place a fan alen breathesmart across the room that can still reach you with a powerful breeze on the couch, this one may disappoint you with its below-average wind speeds. If you plan to carry it around your home, we also found that it sometimes comes apart mid-transit — though it simply slides back together again easily.
Our unit also had a heavy, droopy head, which limits its angles of operation from straight ahead to slightly down. We measured this fan as having just under a 2 mph difference between the lowest (8.5 mph) and the highest (10.3 mph) speeds. We’re not sure the low price and extra features are worth the long list of shortcomings. The Honeywell Double Blade 16 is a standard pedestal fan with enough upgrades to make it a solid model and a solid value, too.
Cleaning and maintenance are simple so that you can use your pedestal fan for years to come. Just looking at some pedestal fans can feel like they’re on the verge of being knocked over. If your home includes excitable pets, clumsy children, or ungraceful adults, it’s important to have a sturdy fan that’s less likely to take a fall when bumped. We evaluated fans on their center of balance, weightiness, sturdiness, and other features that help to hold them in place, like rubber feet. Since many of these come with a tiny remote, we also considered extra features (like remote storage spots) as a bonus in this metric. This Lasko oscillating pedestal fan has a multi-position tilt back feature that lets you adjust the angle of airflow, and the adjustable height lets you raise the fan up to 57 inches high.
If you don’t mind a whirring fan with limited remote functionality, the power and height of this Pelonis are a potent combination. Although the Silent Turbo is one of the quieter fans, it beeps rather loudly every time you change a setting, which is not ideal if you are using the fan in a quiet bedroom. A couple of the modes seem very similar, and it took several seconds to settle into the correct speed when changing a setting.
When it comes to keeping these units clean, all of them have removable grills that can be rinsed or wiped, allowing easy access to the blades to keep them dust-free. 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.
At the end of the day, if you want a fan to help keep your area at a more consistent temperature, the functionality and simplicity of this fan are here to help. If you’re here hunting for a pedestal fan that works and won’t blow your budget, the Comfort Zone 3-Speed is that fan. It’s extremely simple and straightforward to operate and does precisely what you’d expect from a basic fan. This Lasko oscillating pedestal fan has built-in controls and includes a multifunction remote for easy operation.
However, if you prefer a very light breeze and value silence, this may be a good fit. Though its sound is quieter than many others of similar power, the quality of noise this fan emits is, at every speed, rather similar to the whirring of a small airplane. It also lets out a chirping “beep” every time you plug it in or change a setting. Though its timer allows you to program more precise half-hour increments, the oscillation feature isn’t controlled by the remote — only by the classic push-pull tab on the back of the motor. It’s also more wiggly than we’d like, though the very solid base adds a lot to its overall stability.
Unfortunately, this heavy gizmo is one of the most wobbly models we tested, literally blowing itself into a backbend at high speeds. For a futuristic-looking fan, it still has the old-school oscillation knob on the unit, with no button to control it remotely. It chirps loudly and obnoxiously with every setting change, and though the lights dim, they never turn off. Switching between speeds, the unit we tested also had considerable difficulty finding the right rotation rate, shifting awkwardly between several speeds before settling at a constant pace. At the end of the day, though we find much to like about this quiet, effective fan, we’re not quite sure its shortcomings make it worth the hefty price tag.
Features adjustable height, oscillation and 3 quiet speeds to create powerful airflow in your fitness studio or large living space. Though the Pelonis Silent Turbo doesn’t offer the high rate of flow that many others do, it does have a wide range of lower speeds. With 12 distinct speeds, this quiet fan measured between 3.3 mph on its lowest setting to 10.5 mph on its highest. It has four different modes with intuitive speeds and functions to fit precise situations that likely occur daily in most homes. With just three speeds and no remote or other frills, this fan is in no way fancy or modern.
Despite being the smallest of our tested fans, the Vornado 683 Medium is also among the most powerful. Though this certainly helps you cool off when pointed directly at your face, it’s also fairly effective as an air circulator when positioned just right in larger spaces. Instead of a solid base, this lightweight model has five sturdy legs that give it a small but stable footprint.