If you live in the UK, you’ll more often than not be suffering in heatwave temperatures. I myself have been cruelly ripped away from the office air con, and am having to write this with an iced matcha latte pressed to the side of my face (damp, tricky to type, but ultimately necessary).
As one of TechRadar’s Homes editors, I write about fans as part of my job. If you are one of the many Brits suddenly hunting for the best fan to save you from melting into a puddle, allow me to help.
The #1 fan I’d buy now is Shark’s original FlexBreeze. This is just about the most versatile fan on the market right now – it can be used corded or cordless, inside or out, and as a tall pedestal fan or a tabletop for concentrated cooling. That means it can accompany you wherever you go. The real trump card, though, is that it has a misting attachment for more intense cooling.
It scored a near-perfect 4.5 stars in our Shark FlexBreeze fan review, and prompted our tester to immediately go out and buy himself two more.
Sure, there are other options that fulfill more specific needs (I’ll list three alternatives in a sec), but if it’s as much cooling, as much of the time as possible that you need, the FlexBreeze should fit the bill.
Do I really need misting?
Why is misting so helpful in a fan? well, fans don’t actually lower the temperature, they just make you feel cooler by promoting evaporation on your skin. If the air in the room is already hot, there’s a limit to the effect they can have. In contrast, misting will lower the temperature, and especially if they’re drawing on cold or chilled water (imagine).
To activate the misting attachment here, you’ll need to hook the fan up to a water source. If you’d prefer not to have to deal with that, you could opt for the FlexBreeze Pro Mist instead, which has its own water tank. It’s currently available as part of a bundle with the portable FlexBreeze HydroGo for £299.98 (was £379.98) at Shark. That’s more of an investment, but could be worth it if you have a friend or family member who’s also suffering from the heat.
Alternatives to consider
Want something slightly different? Here are three more of my top fan picks, for different situations…
Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S
If you just need something for one room indoors, and would benefit from smart controls, this tower fan is a great choice. It comes with an Auto mode for consistent temperatures and you can schedule it to turn on and off, amongst other things. Read our full Dreo Smart Tower Fan 519S review for more info.
MeacoFan 1056P air circulator
An air circulator swishes all the air in your room around, delivering even cooling in a larger area. This Meaco circulator fan was tested during a previous heatwave, and our reviewer can attest to how effective it was. Read our full MeacoFan 1056P air circulator review for more info.
It’s pricey, but if you’re struggling to sleep in the heat, this new Dyson fan is a game-changer. It’s so quiet in operation that it even got the nighttime stamp of approval from our very noise-sensitive tester. There’s also a dedicated sleep mode that dims the display. Read more in our Dyson CF1 review.
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