
Spring and summer are hot in most places, including where I live. While air conditioning is useful and usually reliable, sometimes it’s just not enough, especially if you’re outside or in some semi-enclosed space like a garage without proper cooling or ventilation.
That’s where fans come in, getting air moving so it doesn’t become stale, moving contaminated or dusty air out, and cooling people inside. Floor fans come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so let’s go over what makes one great, and some of my favorite examples of the type.
Our Top Choice
- Ideal for the garage, shop and attic.
- Built to last with solid construction.
- Easy to assemble, not tools needed.
- Easy conversion from floor to wall mount.
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Lasko High Velocity Quick Mount Fan BEST CHOICE
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B-Air Firtana-20X Multipurpose Floor Fan RUNNER UP
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Simple Deluxe 20 Inch Floor Fan VALUE CHOICE
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What Should I Look for in an Outdoor Floor Fan?
If you’ll need a heater during the cold winter, then you’ll also need a cooling fan and misting fan for the extreme heat of summer. Performance is the big thing here; how much air can the fan put out, and how adjustable is that number?
The average fan should have at least 3 variable speeds; a low, medium, and high speed for varying circumstances. If you’re looking at blueprints in your makeshift office you want to be cool, but you don’t want your fan to be blowing so hard it flings your papers and such around.
A good fan should be able to cool a decent sized room on its own as well, providing comfort and air flow to each part of a reasonably sized area.
Construction is likewise important. This doesn’t only refer to the actual materials used in the fan, but the design and shape of it. Steel is preferred as far as materials go; steel blades can spin faster because they can handle more stress, and a steel shell is great for job sites and high traffic areas, as they can survive being bumped or jostled without issue.
But the shape here is perhaps more important in many ways. Plastic fans can perform just as well in some circumstances, so long as they’re designed with a certain job in mind. Light duty fans, for instance, are fine if they’re plastic, so long as the shape and adjustability is good.
A fan should have some way to change the vertical angle built into the fan, and the horizontal angle if possible. A fixed angle fan is next to useless in a lot of places, since it’s unlikely that the default angle will be perfect for you.
The angle also determines its extra use, which is where some of the other little bits come in. A fan doesn’t have to just be for air flow and cooling for your patio and backyard, it can be used for other things: like drying carpets. Utility fans are a legitimate option, but can be a bit pricey.
On average you should expect to pay over $50 for a good outdoor floor fan, and double that for a decent utility fan, or one with some unique gimmick like being battery powered. Keep that in mind when purchasing; the fan with the highest utility is not necessarily going to be the best.
Top 7 Best Outdoor Floor Fans Reviews of 2023
1. Lasko 20″ High Velocity Outdoor Floor Fan
Why you’ll love this:
The Lasko 20” high velocity floor fan is a great pick for your garage, shop or even backyard. This heavy-duty fan is perfectly designed to create maximum air movement, so you can expect it to cool down your space quickly.
Lasko’s floor fan is built to last. The frame is made from heavy duty steel tube construction, metal fans and a sturdy mesh frame. The feet of this fan come with rubber pads that keep the fan from easily sliding, while also protecting wood floors or other surfaces.
This fan is designed to work in outdoor or partially enclosed spaces like barns or garages. The powerful motor has three speed settings so you can enjoy a perfectly cooled space. If your floor space is limited, the Lasko 20” high velocity floor fan can also be wall mounted.
What We Liked
- Velocity: The Lasko 20” high velocity fan is all about air movement. With 3 motor speed settings, you can select the right amount of air movement for the space you are cooling. Switching between the three speeds is easy thanks to a simple dial control.
- Versatility: This fan easily converts from a floor fan to a wall mounted fan with minimal effort. If you have limited floor space or would rather keep the fan out of the way, the Lasko 20” high velocity fan comes with a QuickMount bracket for easy wall mounting.
- Quality Construction: The Lasko outdoor fan is made from durable materials that stand up to the rigors of outdoor operation. The metal fans, metal mesh blade cage, and rugged but lightweight metal blades are both nice to look at and tough.
- Quick & Easy Assembly: We found this fan to be very easy to assemble. There were no tools necessary. The assembly instructions were simple and easy to follow.
What We Didn’t Like
- Noisy: As with most high velocity fans, the Lasko is a bit noisy. It’s not an obnoxious noise, but you will definitely know the fan is on and running.
- Angle Control: You can tilt the head of this fan to adjust the air flow vertically, but you can’t turn the fan head horizontally. The fan also doesn’t have an oscillation setting.
While designed as an easy to use floor fan (it doesn’t even require any tools to put together) it also comes with a wall mount, easily swapping between these two functions.
For the price though, this is pretty much the best possible fan of this specific design, with its combination of performance and construction making it stand out. Steel blades are a huge plus, and the overall metal construction sets this apart from cheaper plastic fans.
2. B-Air Firtana-20X Multipurpose High Velocity Floor Fan
Why you’ll love this:
The B-Air Firtana multi-purpose high velocity fan is the perfect fan for your backyard, garage or even your business’s warehouse or machine shop. This fan is fully adjustable thanks to the tilt feature that allows for precise, focused airflow. The fan has 3 speed settings for the perfect amount of air movement for your space.
This fan is made from heavy-duty materials that are able to stand-up to challenging environments. While most people use this fan as a floor fan, it can also be hung on the wall for added convenience. The B-Air Firtana comes with its own wall mounting bracket if you choose to wall mount this floor fan.
What We Liked
- Velocity: This 3-speed fan provides maximum airflow for your space. The total air flow capacity of this fan is 4,650 CFM. This hefty airflow makes this fan great for larger spaces including garages and warehouses.
- Versatility: While this unit is sold as a floor fan, it also comes with a handy mounting system that allows you to convert the fan from a floor fan to wall mounted. Additionally, the stand for this fan is foldable, which allows you to move it from floor to wall as needed.
- Quality Construction: The all-metal housing of this fan is heavy-duty and made to withstand tough operating conditions or being outside.
- Quick & Easy Assembly: This fan is quite easy to assemble and comes with all of the necessary parts you need to assemble the fan. Also included are the parts necessary for wall mounting the fan if you desire.
What We Didn’t Like
- Price: Considering that this is such a simple fan, and not as large as other options, the price is a bit high. We do like the quality construction but do think that it would be a more attractive fan at a lower price.
- Noisy: The airflow with this fan is great, but the higher velocity operation of this fan makes it a bit on the noisy side. It’s fine for larger spaces, but might be too loud for inside.
- Angle Control: The vertical adjustment is great, but there’s not oscillating feature for this fan.
- Warranty: The one-year warranty is a bit disappointing. Considering the price, a longer warranty would give more confidence in the quality of the product.
B-Air makes a great multi-purpose floor fan. This 20-inch fan is the perfect size for both outdoor and indoor use. With 3 speeds and a tilting feature you can perfectly adjust the fan to the airflow that you need. The all metal construction of this fan makes it durable and attractive. The blade cage has narrow grid spacing to protect fingers, toes and paws.
3. Simple Deluxe 20 Inch 3-Speed High Velocity Floor Fan
Why you’ll love this:
This is the perfect floor fan if you need a lot of velocity but don’t have a lot of space. The Hurricane Pro 20-inch floor fan provides you with a ton of airflow from the 20-inch fan in a more compact design than other fans. This fan is perfect for residential, industrial and commercial uses. The heavy-duty metal construction makes it perfect for indoor and outdoor use.
The durable construction can stand up to tough environments like warehouses or factory floors. The 3-speed motor produces up to 4,500 CFM of airflow. The tilt feature, carrying handle and light weight add to the versatility of this fan.
What We Liked
- Velocity: This fan has a ton of power. The maximum motor speed creates 4,500 CFM of airflow. The motor is adjustable with three convenient operating speeds.
- Versatility: Despite heavy-duty construction, this fan is lightweight and portable, making it a great option for a variety of applications.
- Quality Construction: All-metal construction featuring lightweight tube base, aluminum blades and a powder coated finish make this well-built fan durable and long lasting.
- Quick & Easy Assembly: This fan comes in two parts. Assembly takes just minutes and only requires installing the feet to the fan.
What We Didn’t Like
- Angle Control: The tilt function is nice, but an oscillating, horizontal adjustment feature would add to the convenience.
- Noise: This is not a quiet fan. We’d recommend this one for outdoor uses or for spots like garages or warehouses. This is not a good fan for indoor use.
- Durability: The one place this fan lacks in durability is the tubing for the feet. While lightweight, the feet are kind of thin and dent and bend easily.
If you need a high powered fan that moves a lot of air for your garage or business the Hurricane Pro, 20-inch fan is a great pick. This smaller footprint fan has a high velocity motor and durable all-metal construction. Three motor speeds and the tilt feature allow you to direct the right amount of air, just where you need it. This fan is lightweight and easily portable.
4. Geek Aire Rechargeable Battery Operated Floor Fan
Why you’ll love it:
Geek Aire makes this great battery operated floor fan. This fan is perfect for outdoor settings where you may not have convenient access to electrical outlets. The Geek Aire comes with a rechargeable battery so you can enjoy a cooling breeze no matter where you go. The fan is water resistant and features a durable metal and plastic housing.
This fan runs for up to 20 hours with a full charge and moves 1,000 CFM of air. The Geek Aire rechargeable fan comes in three convenient sizes – 10”, 14” and 16”, so you can select the perfect sized fan for your space. This fan is the ideal solution for camping, tailgating and even your backyard.
Combining that performance and convenience with its durable all metal construction gives you a reliable (if pricey) fan.
What we liked
- Battery Powered: It’s not often that you come across a larger size, battery powered fan. This fan charges quickly and on the low speed setting can run for up to 20 hours. This is a great battery life for a high demand motor.
- Versatility: While we like this fan best for outdoor applications, the battery power makes it a great fan for just about any space. The adjustable head also allows you to direct air flow for even more versatility.
- Quality Construction: The brushless DC motor makes this fan quiet. A great motor combined with the aerodynamic blades and stable feet make this one of the best made fans you can buy.
- Easy to Use: This fan comes with one control dial. From this one dial you can easily turn the fan on or off and adjust the motor speed for the perfect amount of airflow.
What we didn’t like
- Not as Powerful: This fan doesn’t have the airflow capacity that many other options have. However, considering that it is battery powered, the CFM rating isn’t terrible.
- Angle Control: We like the tilt adjustment of this fan, but like other fans we looked at it would be nice if it had an oscillating function. As is, you have to physically move the fan to direct the air where you want.
- Price: This fan is a bit on the expensive side. Compared to other battery powered fans of similar size and quality, it’s a reasonable price. Plug-in fans area a better choice if you’re on a budget.
The Geek Aire battery operated floor fan is a great fan for both indoor and outdoor applications. The 12-inch fan has 1,000 CFM of velocity, which makes it great for smaller spaces. This fan doesn’t require a wall plug, the rechargeable battery provides enough power for up to 20 hours of operations. Consider this fan for camping, tailgating or backyard BBQs.
5. Honeywell Turbo Force Air Circulator Fan
Why you’ll love this:
This Honeywell fan isn’t anywhere near as high performance as the options above, nor even a fraction as durable or convenient. What it is, however, is affordable.
This fan costs less than a quarter what most other things on this list do, but it still provides great performance for the price.
You get most of the same options here: 3 speeds of variable use, and vertical adjustments to optimize the angle you need for comfort.
While not as high power as other options, it doesn’t really need to be. This is a great light duty option for setting on a table outside on your porch or some such. It’s perfect for sitting and reading on a slightly too warm day in the shade.
For most purposes I wouldn’t recommend this option, but for what it is it’s absolutely perfect.
What We Liked
- Lightweight and compact.
- Can be set on most tables easily.
- 90 degree adjustable swivel.
- Variable 3 speed controls.
- Easy to use.
- Extremely inexpensive.
What We Didn’t Like
- Suitable only for exceptionally light duty usage.
6. Maxx Air Industrial Grade Air Circulator
Why you’ll love this:
When you hear the words “shop fan”, this is probably exactly what pops into your head. Maxx Air has been making fans like this for a long time, and the design has been refined into the compact, high power fan you see now.
This fan has two settings: high and higher. It’s made to blast air into places with poor circulating, and keep the place cool, yes, but more importantly breathable. It’s perfect for barns, body shops, and anywhere else where the air can quickly get dusty or oppressive, either due to less than ideal ventilation or particles and chemicals that can build up in the air.
Those things, combined with oppressive heat, can make working conditions unsafe and unpleasant.
The durable, rugged construction also compliments these conditions perfectly, and it can be used either as a rolling floor fan (as you see here) or as a wall fan or even ceiling mounted fan with the included mounts. It can’t be easily swapped between the three modes, but it doesn’t really need to be: this is the kind of purchase you need to be sure on where you’re putting it to maximize ventilation anyway.
What We Liked
- Extremely high performance air circulator.
- Durable, powerful 22 gauge steel construction.
- Can be mounted on the wall or ceiling and serves well as a floor model.
- Two powerful settings.
- Perfect for semi-enclosed outdoor work spaces.
- Rolls well.
- OSHA compliant.
What We Didn’t Like
- Fairly expensive for a fan, though fair for the performance.
- May be too high performance for many peoples’ needs.
7. XPOWER FC-300 Professional Grade Air Circulator
Why you’ll love it:
XPOWER FC-300 is a great high performance utility fan. Versatility is the name of the game here, with the fan being usable in all sorts of positions and for a variety of different functions.
At a base level it’s a great floor fan, which blows a steady stream of air in four adjustable speeds that can be tuned to your preference and a 360 degree adjustable usage angle that lets it be pointed anywhere.
But not only is it usable as a cooling and air circulation fan, it’s usable in several unconventional situations (like using it flat on its back to bounce the air off the walls and ceilings to every corner of small rooms), and it’s also usable for carpet drying purposes; it can dry 85 square feet of floor by just pointing it downward.
It makes a great fan for any small business, and is useful for a variety of uses in your own home for DIY projects, cleaning, and renovation work. Large rooms and small rooms it’s equally good in, able to project air 120 feet from the fan itself, or to every part of a small space if angled right.
If it weren’t for the price, this would be at the top of the list, but as-is it has a lot of functions that many people don’t need, so they’re not worth paying for in that case.
What we liked
- Excellent multifunction use; cooling fan, air circulator, and drying fan.
- 360 degree adjustable angles.
- Powerful air projection; up to 120 feet or every corner of a smaller room.
- Variable four speeds.
- Settable 3 hour timer for power conservation.
What we didn’t like
- Very expensive, as not all people will need many of the features that drive the price up so much.
8. STANLEY ST-310A-120 Air Blower
Why you’ll love it:
This is a fan with similar use to the XPOWER model above, and at half the price.
Much of the functionality is similar, with a 3 speed variable air flow that gives you a lot of adjustability in how it’s used.
Similar to the above, it can be used as a carpet dryer, and can be turned at different angles to bounce the air as needed.
Unfortunately it’s significantly more cumbersome than XPOWER’s offering, and as such is a bit harder to recommend as an option, even if it does have the nice little accessory outlet that lets you plug other stuff into it.
It’s not terrible, but it’s in a weird spot where if you need this functionality, you’re better off shelling out for the better XPOWER model, even if it does cost twice as much, but if you don’t need the extra utility then you’re better off with a less cumbersome dedicated fan.
What we liked
- High amount of utility.
- 3 variable speeds.
- Good power.
- Adjustable angle.
- Lightweight and portable.
- Handy accessory outlet.
What we didn’t like
- Weird price and performance point.
FINAL VERDICT
All of these fans are great in their own way. While I stick by the Lasko model as the best pure floor fan, having excellent performance and construction for the middle range price point, others have higher performance or utility, or fit a more comfortable pricing for other people, and so might be the preferred option there.
With some things it’s easy to point toward an overall best, but in this case it’s difficult, so it’s left up to what’s within your price range and needs; depending on those requirements the best fan here will change, but the Lasko will probably be best for the average user.