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What is a Standing Fan?

R. Kayne
R. Kayne

A standing fan is a traditional fan set on an extendable pole attached to a base. The standing fan can be adjusted to move up or down for maximum comfort. Set in the corner of a room or in another advantageous location, a standing fan can have a greater affect on cooling a larger area than a table fan.

A standing fan usually has three wind speeds that range from a cool breeze to a hard blast. The head of the fan can oscillate 180° or remain steadily pointed in one direction. It can also tip upwards or downwards.

Woman holding a book
Woman holding a book

Anyone who has ever used a fan probably knows how annoying it is to get settled, only to find the fan’s breeze is rattling the pages of a magazine, directly blowing into your face, or missing you entirely. Getting it just right can take a few trips back and forth from your seat to the fan. No more! A standing fan can come with a remote control to make adjusting it as easy as changing the channel on your television set. Some models also come with a programmable pad that will start or stop the fan over a period of hours. This is a great way to keep the house cool for the pets while you are away at work.

If you’ll be using the fan in the house, look for a standing fan that is quiet. Bear in mind that the most powerful fans are often the noisiest, so if the room is not large, there is no reason to get an exceptionally powerful standing fan. Lower settings will produce less noise than higher settings, not just because the motor is not working as hard, but because the wind generated off the blades can also make noise. The shape of some fan blades make more wind noise than others. You might consider reading customer reviews to see which fans are quiet.

For warehouses and workplaces, power is usually more important than noise and a remote is probably unnecessary. A box fan might be a better choice for a warehouse. A box fan is much larger than a standing fan and moves more air. It is also noisier, but in a warehouse this shouldn’t be an issue.

Discussion Comments

Laotionne

Sometimes with an air conditioning system all rooms don't stay at the same temperature. The standing fan is a simple and inexpensive way to remedy the problem. I prefer to keep my thermostat set high during the warm weather and then use standing fans to make my house more comfortable.

A major advantage of a standing fan over the ceiling fan is that the standing fan can be easily moved from one room to another. Also the standing fan is cheaper than the ceiling fan and there is no complicated setup with the standing fan.

Sporkasia

My grandparents had several of the window box fans that were so popular many years ago. The fans worked great, especially at night when they could draw in the cool night air.

While I do not want to install one of these fans in my home, I do like the feel of that cool night air being sucked into the house. By opening my bedroom window and raising one of our standing fan to its full height and placing it in front of the window, I am able to recreate the effect of the old window fans at my grandparent's home.

mobilian33

Though they are more difficult to find now a days, I always choose the metal standing fans over the plastic ones made today. I have one of the older metal ones, and I think it produces much more air than the plastic ones. I also prefer the look of the metal fans.

You should be careful with the blades of any fan, but keeping kids and objects away from the metal blades is even more important because these harder blades can cause more damage and injury.

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    • Woman holding a book
      Woman holding a book