At woman&home, we’re not easily blown away by shiny screens and big promises. That’s why our buying guide for the best fans has weeks of testing behind it. If you’re curious about how we come to our decision on what makes the cut, here’s where you can find out all about how we test fans.
Our team of experts have rigorous processes to follow, all of which are designed to emulate home environments and the most active issues that you might want can for. We aim to collate a guide to the best fans for everything from night sweats and menopausal symptoms through to heat waves, the bedroom, and ways that they can cool your room without AC.
All of the processes that you’ll read about below stay consistent across all the different models that we test. So, you can find out how the fans that we recommend face the heat (and why you don’t have to).
How we test fans at woman&home
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Before we start any reviewing, our team of experts works tirelessly to find the best fans on the market. We look at long-established brands and family favourites as well as new and disruptive models that are only just breezing onto the scene. We also talk to experts in the industry so we can gen up on all the important technical and industry knowledge that will help you to make a decision, especially sharing all the fan hacks that will help you keep your room cool.
Design and features
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You’re most likely to be investing in a fan as one of the best ways to keep your room cool, but it also needs to be capable and stylish. Our experts will talk about how the fan looks, whether it’s easy to style, and how easy it is to store away when not in use. The best fans will look good, but it’s also important that they deliver on features too.
We’ll run you through the numbers and the technical detail of each fan. This includes pre-sets, air flow, and power. It’s not the most glamorous part of the review, but it’s nonetheless incredibly important.
Who would it suit?
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This section always sits near to the top of our reviews, even though we write it last. We put it high up in our reviews so that you can quickly work out whether the fan that you’re reading about is the right one for you.
Generally, this comes down to use case (in an office, outside, in the bedroom), air flow rate (size of the space you need to cool), budget, and extra features. This should give you a really good idea of whether this fan review will help you seal the deal or whether you’ve stumbled across the wrong model. We circle back to everything mentioned in this section later on, offering more clarity in different tests, but it’s good to get this out and in the open early on.
Unboxing
(Image credit: Future | Tamara Kelly)
Once a fan arrives in our home, we start making notes. This section covers the delivery of the fan, the packaging, and what it’s like to set up. Packaging might sound trivial in the grand scheme of things, but it’s what makes sure your fan arrives in good condition and it says a lot about how much attention to detail a brand gives to their appliances. If your fan arrives in sustainable helpful, neat packaging, I would wager that you’ve got a really good fan on your hands. The same works the other way too.
The next aspect, setting up the fan, lays the groundwork for your relationship with your fan. If it is a simple and easy task to get sorted, your fan experience will be a good one. If it’s a faff and you find it hard to get your started — or if you need to do any prep work with charging and batteries — we like to think that our reviews can prepare you for it.
Performance
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Arguably the most important part of the test, the performance section is designed to give you a good idea of what the fan is like to use.
Our tester will walk you through how the fan is controlled, whether there are any prep-sets and they’ll also explain how it looks and works in our test space.
Then, we’ll condense at least one month’s worth of usage into this section. Here’s where our experts will tell you how loud the fan is and where they found it most useful to keep the fan.
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All of our testers struggle with night sweats and menopausal hot flushes, so we make sure to have that covered in our review. We’ll go into detail about specifically how much the fan helped: did it make the night easier, sweat-free, and did it manage to remain consistent.
They’ll talk about whether it works in a bedroom: is it quiet enough (with the decibel number included)? Do any lights interfere with the darkness of the room? Can it adjust how much power it uses depending on the room’s temperature?
Also, we’ll cover extra special features, such as auto adjustments, shut-off timers, and misting features so that you know what this fan specialises and whether it delivers in the places that it promises to. We’ll also talk about energy efficiency and other useful aspects of this category too. You’ll want to work out how much it costs to run your fan (we do that for you), so that you’re working with an efficient way to keep your room cool.
Cleaning, storage, and maintenance
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Our team of experts have written detailed guides on how to clean your fan (including a specific page on how to clean a tower fan), but we’ll give you a good idea of what’s required from you here. fans are generally pretty low maintenance, but it’s helpful to know how quickly they can build up dust and dirt as well as how much effort is required to get them sparkling again.
How does it compare?
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You’ll want the sense of having shopped around as well as a good idea of whether your fan is offering value for money. here’s where we pick one or two similar fans that are either a little bit more expensive or a little cheaper.
From here, we’ll look at what you can get for less and what you can get for more, so you can work out whether it’s worth skimping or splurging a little in comparison to the fan that we’re reviewing. Because we’ve tested all the best fans, it can save you a lot of time and energy that would have needed to go into shopping.
Should you buy it?
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Here’s where we reiterate the section where we talk about who the fan suits. None of our reviews are endorsed or sponsored, so we give our honest opinion on whether we think it’s worth buying. If there’s a better model, here’s where we can shout about it again.
We often keep testing these fans for long periods of time and we’ll update the buying guide with anything that we notice happening long-term or from season to season. Then, if you want to shoot the breeze some more about fans, you can email me or whoever wrote the review. We always have time to answer more specific questions.
