I tested tower fans from high street shops – a £30 winner cooled down my living room and beat much more expensive ones

The Sun

18-06-2025

BRITAIN is set to bask in soaring temperatures this week.
When it's that hot, a good fan will be vital to keep you cool.
Prices can vary massively and you don't want to end up with a fan that is inefficient and noisy.
Tower fans are a good choice as they are usually sleek and fit into small spaces.
But which will keep you cool? Here are my favourites.
Vonhaus 31inch Tower Fan
£29.99, Vonhaus
Incredible value for money. For less than £30, this fan offers features you'd only find in some fans more than six times the price.
It oscillates to 70 degrees and my favourite feature was the aroma tray, which really enhanced the cooling experience.
If the air was hot and stuffy, adding some eucalyptus oil to the tray made for a really relaxing vibe and I loved the fresh scent around the room.
At 31inches in height, it's not so tall that it overwhelms a room and yet is still powerful with a 60-watt motor.
It's got a long cord and was light and easy to carry around.
It also has a timer so it can be set to turn off at 30-minute intervals for up to 120 minutes.
The look is a little plasticky but I was blown away by the price. This is an absolute steal.
Performance: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Total score: 10/10
Russell Hobbs Tower Fan
£59, AO
Quite sleek looking, this fan has three speed settings and a turbo option if you need to give it a quick boost to drop the temperature fast.
It oscillates to 85 degrees so no one needs to hog the cool air and it comes with a remote control so you don't need to get up to turn it on or adapt the settings.
The touch control and LED display were easy to use and it has a seven-hour programmable timer.
It has two modes, sleep air and gentle air.
The sleep air mode automatically reduces the speed of the fan after 30 minutes and turns off the indicator lights, leaving you to get a good night's sleep, whilst the gentle air mode varies the airflow, imitating the natural outdoors.
It was quiet enough to have on at night and didn't disturb my sleep.
Performance: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Total score: 9/10
Levoit Classic Tower Fan
£89.99, Levoit
A basic looking black and white fan that is one of the most powerful.
If you've been out all day and return to a stifling hot house, this will provide rapid relief.
This is due to an impressive maximum fan speed of 25ft per second.
Despite being one of the most powerful fans we tested, at 28dB, it was also one of the quietest.
We had to concentrate to hear it. Its most striking feature, however, is the intelligent temperature sensor.
It can track the room temperature in your home and adjust the fan speed accordingly.
You can switch to manual mode if you prefer, but I loved leaving it in the corner to do its thing.
Performance: 5/5
Value: 3/5
Total score: 8/10
Daewoo 30inch Slimline Oscillating Tower Fan
£19.99, Daewoo Electricals
Not only does this look quite plasticky, it was quite weak and didn't blow much air around - even on the third and most powerful setting.
The slimline, space-saving design is good and it's lightweight and easy to carry around.
The timer can only be set for up to two hours and whilst the manual dials were easy to use, I found it noisy.
You certainly wouldn't want this on in your bedroom all night.
If you are really tight on budget, it's ok, but really you'd be better off spending a tenner more on the Vonhaus fan.
Performance: 2/5
Value: 3/5
Total score: 5/10
Bush Digital Grey Tower Fan
£65, Argos
This was certainly one of the most aesthetically pleasing in our test and it did a good job of keeping us cool, too.
It wasn't the most powerful at 45 watts but it could oscillate and tilt, which allowed you to direct the cool air wherever you needed it.
You can choose from three different modes to get the right strength.
The digital display was easy to use and it comes with a remote control.
It was easy to assemble too and not too noisy. It was quite pricey but it did the job.
Performance: 4/5
Value: 3/5
Total score: 7/10
Bush 36 inch Tower fan
£49.99, The Range
This fan looks a little cheapy and plasticky and I would have expected better for nearly £50 - and that's if you get it on offer.
It has three speed settings and it can oscillate to 85 degrees, which certainly allowed cool air to circulate effectively around the room.
It also has an LED display which was easy to set, as well as a 12-hour timer.
At 50 watts, it wasn't as powerful as the Vonhaus fan but it has a decent length cable if you want to move it away from a plug socket.
It is also light and easy to manoeuvre.
This fan was okay - but I felt it was overpriced.
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