Best fans to keep you cool in 2026 – tried and tested

Summer heatwaves are becoming more frequent, so a good fan can be a cheaper, lower‑carbon alternative to air conditioning. A typical portable air conditioner uses about 1,000W and would cost roughly 26p an hour to run. The fans tested used between 8W and 60W; the AirCraft Lume drew 18W on its top setting.

You could run that fan on max for 56 hours and still use no more electricity than a single aircon unit running for one hour. Sixteen fans of different shapes and sizes were evaluated for size, noise, power use and how much they cool. Evaporative coolers were also included.

Measurements were taken with a power meter, an anemometer for air speed and a sound meter app for noise, all at 1m distance, and a thermometer was used for the evaporative models. Controls, appearance, storage and price were noted, and non‑returned units were donated to a charity.

United Kingdom

fans, portable ac, aircraft lume, power use, watts, evaporative coolers, anemometer, sound meter, power meter, heatwaves