Stop Buying Fans Based on Airflow Specs: My Testing Data Reveals What to Actually Look For

As heat waves hit, you might find yourself in need of a new cooling fan. As you're browsing online or walking store aisles, one spec likely stands out: airflow. Manufacturers try to convince you that you need a certain amount of airflow to achieve cooling comfort. Naturally, your brain says, "Bigger numbers are good. Let's buy the fan with the biggest airflow number." 

My lab data tests say otherwise. You'll want to consider the motor type, fan design (standard or bladeless) and how much energy it uses to gauge how much value you're getting for your money. Buying a cheap, inefficient fan may seem like a frugal decision -- but its design may end up costing you more on your electric bill. We found that the more efficient -- and sometimes more responsive -- a fan is will actually cost you less. 

What the testing data shows: How a fan's design affects its performance

The difference in fan performance largely comes down to the motor and physical design of a given model.

John Carlsen/CNET

Let's start by pulling four key metrics from my tower fan tests into a table: 

• Motor type: AC (alternating current, e.g., a standard US wall outlet) or DC (direct current, e.g. AA battery or a rechargeable device)   
• Speed settings: How many are offered  
• Power draw: In watts  
• Median airflow (feet per minute) 

The reason I'm using median airflow rather than the absolute maximum or minimum is that my tests measured airflow over several minutes. By using median airflow, we're less subject to the whims of chaotic one-offs where velocity drops to zero or hits a very high peak only once in a dataset.

Standard tower fans with DC motors: They generally produce consistently strong airflow and their main trait is their low energy consumption. A notable exception is the Lasko WhisperForce, a budget model that's a bit less powerful and efficient than the others in this group.

Bladeless tower fans with DC motors: Bladeless fans typically use a small air outlet to focus air into jets. While this produces excellent air texture and keeps the internal impeller blades safely away from fingers, it also means the fans have to fight much harder at higher speeds to force air through a tiny slit. They're still very efficient at low speeds because they don't have to work as much.

Standard tower fans with AC motors: The best way to describe this group is the "old guard." AC motors have long been the component of choice for fans because they're relatively simple to build and don't typically require the complex circuit boards found in more modern DC-motor fan designs. They have fewer speed options, use more energy and are less likely to have advanced features such as smart home controls. (It's much easier to add advanced features if the fan already requires a circuit board with some level of computing power.)

How can this help you choose your next fan?

Using specs to choose a fan should involve more than looking for the biggest airflow numbers, especially if you value energy efficiency.

Ry Crist/CNET

Don't rely too heavily on airflow or velocity numbers

One thing that bothers me about fan specs is the use of cubic feet per minute, which measures fan output in volume. It's a metric an engineer would choose. While the volume of moving air can certainly affect how well it cools someone, the practicality of fans is that you're aiming to feel the wind-chill effect rather than treating the air. Your skin won't feel that much of a difference.

Volume absolutely matters if you're treating air through filtration, humidification, dehumidification and air conditioning. A few specialized tower fans can accomplish these tasks, such as the Dreame MF10 's optional HEPA filter and the misting function of the Dreo TurboCool 765S, but most don't.

This is one reason I've grown to like the feet per minute spec in recent tests. For example, a small fan consistently producing a strong, directed breeze, such as the Vornado Strata 8 Omni, will feel about as nice as a large fan with the same output. Yes, the larger fan may be a bit better at covering a larger surface area on someone's body, but features such as oscillation -- especially vertical oscillation in small fans -- largely balance that out. This won't stop CFM from appearing on the box, but it'll help you understand that it's not always the best metric for choosing a fan when all you want is a breeze.

Airflow speed is still an important factor in comparing tower fans since it affects air texture, loudness and white noise.

John Carlsen/CNET

Pay attention to the motor type and fan design

While there's no significant airflow advantage between DC and AC motors, you'll save a lot more energy with DC-based tower fans. However, opting for a bladeless tower fan comes with a caveat: It'll perform well and use less energy on low settings, but its max airflow is generally lower because it needs to create more pressure than other fans. This need to create pressure ultimately results in lower efficiency at high speeds, but I still think bladeless fans are great options for anyone who appreciates comfortable air texture and sleek designs.

Keep an eye on the listed wattage consumption if you want energy efficiency 

Energy efficiency absolutely matters if you want to stay cool without adding too much to your energy bill. To illustrate my point, let's pull the maximum airflow and wattage numbers to calculate electricity costs. I'm basing these on the April 2026 national average electricity price of $0.1883 per kilowatt/hour, according to the Energy Information Administration. While I'm using CNET energy consumption numbers here, you can easily find similar figures from manufacturers and many online reviews based on hands-on testing to help estimate energy costs.

These figures are for a single fan, so imagine how much it multiplies if you're running five at once throughout the house. Even five Vornado Strata 8 Omnis running for a modest eight hours daily will add $35.25 to your yearly electric bill. 

While our highest-airflow Lab Award winner, the Dreo TurboCool 765S, doubles the airflow of the Vornado Strata 8 Omni, it costs twice as much to buy and three times as much to run. The Vornado, meanwhile, won a Lab Award for being the quietest fan (51 dBA) and most energy efficient, drawing just 13 watts at high speed. For raw power, the Dreo is your best bet. But for bedroom cooling, it's overkill, and the Vornado Strata is the smarter choice.

Cheaper fans are often more expensive to run

But what I want to emphasize is that some of the cheapest fans with AC motors, such as the Amazon Basics and OmniBreeze, are, on average, more expensive to run than pricier DC-powered tower fans. Likewise, just because a fan uses a DC motor doesn't mean it'll be powerful and efficient; the budget Lasko WhisperForce achieves roughly the same efficiency and airflow as the Amazon Basics model. Finally, you may find it preferable to spend slightly more on a DC-motor fan when it offers a clear energy consumption advantage, such as choosing the Vornado Strata 8 Omni over the Midea Detachable.

This information shouldn't dissuade you from searching for the fan that meets your needs and preferences, but hopefully it'll help you better understand how your choice will affect you in the long term. Stay cool out there.

To save more energy, read about the best thermostat settings for summer and learn the one trick that makes ceiling fans more effective in hot weather. And, of course, the best tower fans for 2026 -- all tested by me.

How we test tower fans 

As I planned my tower fan tests, I thought about why people use fans. Airflow, loudness and energy efficiency are obvious criteria, but I also considered other ways tower fans can be comfortable. 

Airflow: Speed

You'll get the maximum cooling effect with higher airflows -- measured in feet per minute on an anemometer -- because it helps sweat evaporate faster. While airflow speed is important for providing an objective comparison point between tower fans, it also affects air texture, loudness and white noise, so it carries more weight than other categories. 

For tower fan testing, I upgraded to an app-enabled anemometer for more automatic logging. I used speed in feet per minute rather than volume in cubic feet per minute to keep it simple enough to leave time for other testing. For example, using cubic feet per minute would triple the test time, as I'd need to measure airflow at multiple locations. Likewise, it requires knowing the area of each fan's air outlet, which is more difficult to determine on the narrow outlets of bladeless fans. Using FPM gives me a reasonably balanced comparison across fans of all types and sizes, even if I lose some of the nuance that comes with measuring volume.

My airflow testing uses a simple tunnel -- courtesy of Dreame's massive shipping box -- to isolate airflow between the fan and the anemometer. Initially, I used clear plastic to seal one end around the fan so only the exhaust blew through the tunnel, but it interfered with bladeless fans such as the Dyson. So I added a second test with the tunnel unsealed. Because I conducted two types of tunnel tests at low, medium and high speeds, this means a total of six one-minute tests per fan were conducted. I tested each speed continuously for one minute, allowing enough time between tests for the speeds to stabilize. Across 14 fans, that's over 5,000 second-by-second data points.

Sound profile: Loudness

Even if a tower fan sounds nice, its excessive noise can grate on the senses, especially when you or a child is trying to sleep. I measured this in decibels across low, medium and high speed settings. In terms of volume, none of the tower fans exceeded 60 dBa at their highest speed setting, meaning they're unlikely to drown out a normal conversation.

I used my trusty sound meter to measure the loudness of each fan at a distance of 39 inches (1 meter). While this is a good distance for testing, most people place fans farther away, so your experience will likely be quieter than the results suggest. I reduced noise as much as possible in my home office for this test, which meant leaving the AC off on a hot day and taking occasional breaks to cool the room as the indoor temperature reached into the 80s.

Energy efficiency

The average energy consumption of tower fans, measured in watts, isn't particularly high, but it adds up on your electric bill. This is doubly true when running multiple fans 24/7. While tower fans aren't necessarily energy hogs compared to other cooling methods, more efficient devices can save a fair amount on energy bills, particularly when multiple fans are used in a household.

I used Tapo P115 smart plugs to monitor each fan's energy draw in low and high modes during the other tests.

The lowest average power draw on the highest fan speed was the Vornado Strata (13 watts). Amazon Basics, Dreo TurboCool, Lasko and Midea form the center of the pack, mostly keeping close to the average of 34 watts. Shark, Dyson, Dreame, OmniBreeze and Vornado OSCR37 AE were the least efficient models in this test, averaging 49 watts.