Best tower fans: Oscillating, quiet fans to keep your home cool

Abha Shah

July 14, 2022 at 11:35 a.m.·8 min read

While summer’s arrival is welcome, the flipside is when it things get a little too hot and a cooling fan becomes a necessary thing to get us through the day.

There are plenty to choose from, but if your checklist includes a slim, compact and unobtrusive design that quietly gets on with the job at hand, your hot weather hero could be a tower fan.

Tall, narrow and generating a powerful breeze, they're great for rooms large and small. Set them in a corner to get cool air circulating and giving relief in an instant. If you're hesitating on what could be a big spend, not to worry. They're not all hugely expensive: you can even find some for less than £30. Wallet-friendly breezes are just a click away.

What to consider when buying a tower fan

Before you reach for your credit card, it'll pay to do a little due diligence when searching for your ideal fan. Multiple speed settings are helpful for the days when only a gentle breeze is needed, and consider the noise level too - you hardly want to swap the annoyance of kipping in a heatwave with trying to sleep through the din of a noisy fan.

If you're planning to run the fan at night, a timer and/ or remote control are excellent extras to look out for. You can set your fan to switch off an hour or two after you drift off, saving on your electricity bills considerably. And with a remote, you can switch it on or off without getting off the sofa or bed.

Finally, consider where you'll be placing the fan. Dimensions and weight matter, especially in smaller spaces. Tower fans are best placed on the floor or on a small table, like a plant stand if it can support it.

Whether you’re looking for a fan to help you sleep through stuffy nights or you want something to keep the sweat at bay when you're WFH, we’ve rounded up the best tower fans to buy now before they're gone.

See our favourites below

Dyson Purifier HEPA Cool™ Formaldehyde purifying fan

Keeping air flowing around the room is all good and well, but if you live by a busy street, you run the risk of pushing pollutants into your space too.

Enter Dyson, long the leader when it comes to smart home electricals, and its Dyson Purifier HEPA Cool™ Formaldehyde purifying fan which not only cools warm air, but ‘washes’ it of nasty particles like formaldehyde (emitted from household paint, varnishes and printers), nitrogen dioxide (caused by road traffic, tobacco and fuel-burning heaters), PM10 particles from pollen and allergens (a godsend for hayfever sufferers an asthmatics) and general household odours (think cooking, pets and kids).

It comes with a magnetic remote control, which can sit happily atop the unit, but can also be controlled through your phone’s Dyson Link app via Bluetooth. There are 10 speed settings, and it propels cool air into the room using its patented air multiplier technology.

The smartest thing of all is that it continually detects dust, allergens, mould and formaldehyde particles in the room, before trapping them into high-performance filters that never need replacing. So, while it’s expensive, buying new filters is one cost you won’t have to factor in past the inital purchase of the machine.

It oscillates and also has the ability to remain stationary, giving you the choice of focused or circulating cooling. And you can set it to timer or keep it on night mode to keep sticky nights at bay.

As flexi-working means we spend so more time at home and with busy roads and general pollution tainting our space, Dyson’s latest device is a real investment in home air quality improvement. The twin action function - purifying and cooling - means it will become a household must-have this summer. Simple to set up and even easier to use, after just one night we felt the difference.

Comes with a two year guarantee.

Buy now £549.99, Dyson

Bionaire BT19-IUK Black and Silver Tower Fan with Remote Control

Slim and silent, this 71cm tall fan is just what you need for a cool breeze at the height of summer. It offers wind modes like Natural and Sleep as well as low, medium and high speeds so you can customise your fan to suit you.

While we’re happy to see clear blue skies and bright sunshine pretty much every day, there is one element we’re more than happy to skip - sweltering nights that interfere with our sleep. For that issue, there’s an eight hour timer so you can switch this on before bed and be lulled to sleep by a gentle breeze without worrying about turning it off.

Measures H71 x W22 x D14cm.

Buy now £54.99, JD Williams

Dyson AM07 White/ Silver Cool Tower Fan

A pioneer in ‘air multiplying’, Dyson knows more than a thing or two about bringing breezes to stuffy spaces. The AM07 offers reliably steady airflow - enough to ruffle your hair - but impressively, operates at decibels barely above a whisper so you can nod off with it on when it’s particularly warm out.

One for larger spaces, Dyson’s fan comes with a remote control and timer that runs on pre-set intervals ranging from 15 minutes all the way up to 9 hours.

Buy now £339.00, Argos

John Lewis & Partners Tower Fan, 42 inch, White/Black

Wave goodbye to sticky nights thanks to John Lewis’s 42-inch bladeless tower fan which comes in a monochrome chassis to fit in with all sorts of interior styles. It comes with a timer function as well as a remote control, so you can sort the temperature to your liking with the simple click of a few buttons.

It’s a great option for larger spaces as it’s 107cm tall, so if you’ve got a combined kitchen and lounge situation, it’ll cool the entire space perfectly.

Buy now £95.00, John Lewis & Partners

ANSIO Tower Fan 30-inch with Remote For Home and Office

Currently sitting pretty as Amazon’s best selling tower fan, the Ansio is stacked with specs. Think a durable plastic exterior behind which sits an oscillating fan, timer with pre-set times, a carry handle and mains operated plug with a lengthy 1.75m cable.

There are also three speed setting and three wind modes to allow you to create precisely the right breeze to keep you cool and comfortable. With Amazon Prime membership, you can get this delivered to your door and set up in next to no time.

You can also get a similar fan from the same brand in black for half price (but there’s no remote included) - was: £94.97, now: £59.97

Buy now £64.47, Amazon

Challenge Grey Tower Fan

One of Argos’s best-sellers, part of the appeal of this design is undoubtedly the price.

This 76.5cm tall free standing oscillating fan will pump out cold air at three different speeds and three wind modes, from a gentle breeze to a more powerful gust. You can also set the timer so that you walk into a cool house or drift off to sleep with the fan on. Remote control and one year guarantee included.

Buy now £60.00, Argos

Challenge White Mini Tower Fan

If you’re renting or have storage issues, a smaller tower fan could be just the ticket.

This one is available at Argos, and for such a small design, the mini model offers a selection of features like three speed settings and oscillation. Measuring H33.5 x W11 x D11cm it’s a great size to store away when it’s not in use. Most effective in smaller rooms.

Buy now £22.00, Argos

STATUS D29TOWERFAN1PKB 29” Tower Fan - White

This space-saving fan has everything you need to keep cool when summer weather gets into full flow. Think three speed settings and an oscillating function to make sure the chilled air expels air around the room evenly.

Buy now £34.99, Currys

Swan Tower Fan

So slim and quiet you won’t even notice it’s around, this is a fan you can stick in the corner and forget all about - apart from when it emits cool air, that is. It oscillates to 70-degrees, which means you’ll get air coverage all around the room. Meanwhile the wind modes will keep your environment refreshed and cool, while the bladeless technology means you can allow infants and pets near it without worry.

Buy now £39.00, Very

Dimplex DXMBCF Black Tower Fan

Powerful yet quiet, Dimplex’s three-speed fan will sit unobtrusively in the corner of your room, gently cooling you with soft breezes to the point where you’ll wonder if there is actually a heatwave raging beyond your windows. The freestanding design also emits a blue light, adding to the calm and refreshing atmosphere.

Set it to oscillate to propel cool breezes around the room and use the remote to contol the fan speed as well as the on/off function. Comes with a one year’s manufacturer’s guarantee.