The best tower fans you can buy

The full-sized and perfectly capable Optimus F-7414 35-inch Pedestal Tower Fan lacks only one thing: a high price tag.

You can find lots of tower fans for under $50, but most of them have words like "mini" or "personal" or "desk" in their names — all of those terms are shorthand for small. The affordable Optimus F-7414 35-inch Pedestal Tower Fan, on the other hand, is a full-sized unit offering plenty of power to keep air moving and cool even larger rooms.

This fan also offers most of the features you would expect from a tower fan. It has three different speed settings, it oscillates (though its 70-degree arc is hardly impressive) and it can be programmed to operate for between one and 7.5 hours. All of these features can be controlled via remote, so you can change settings without needing to get up from your couch, desk chair, or bed.

While hardly the most handsome fan on our list, when it comes to getting the job done for a good price, the Optimus F-7414 is hard to beat. Just be ready for a bit of assembly when the fan arrives.

Many Home Depot shoppers praised its quiet operation, but the complaints centered on the "flimsy" base that was "difficult to assemble," as one buyer put it.

Pros: Great price for full-sized tower fan, comes with remote, quiet operation

Cons: Flimsy base requires frustrating assembly, small oscillation arc

A Lasko FH500 All Season Comfort Control Tower Fan & Heater can, as the name suggests, keep you comfortable in all seasons thanks to its impressive cooling and warming capabilities.

Most of us associate fans as cooling elements. And with a four-speed setting and a broad oscillation range, the Lasko FH500 can certainly keep you cool. But it's as a heater that this tower fan sets itself apart from the rest.

The Lasko FH500 All Season Comfort Control Tower Fan & Heater has a 1,500-watt ceramic heating element that generates enough warmth to keep even larger rooms plenty toasty. When gently rotating back and forth, the warmth steadily spreads out, and at a lower cost than running a furnace or oil burner. And don't worry about safety: The FH500 has a built-in tip-over safety switch that will cut the power if the unit topples over, while the exterior of the fan remains cool to the touch even after hours of warming.

At 42-inches tall, the FH500 creates a huge current of air that's tall enough to cover over most furniture and will keep you cooler in bed. Should you want to change the temperature settings without leaving the bed, you can control every function via remote control. And for even easier temperature management, the fan can be pre-set using an eight-hour programmable timer.

One Amazon customer appreciated that even on high, the fan "is not loud at all" and "the heater works very well and puts off a good amount of heat." Another said it "fits nicely in the corner and does its job quietly."

The GreenHome101 blog called the FH500 "a fan that can be used all year long, in colder and warmer months."

Pros: Effective heating and cooling, comes with remote control, tall design creates excellent airflow

Cons: Expensive

The Dyson Pure Cool TP04 HEPA Filter Air Purifier and Tower Fan is both an air purifier and a fan, and it loses no quality in either capacity for merging the two functions.

We have an air purifier upstairs, on the main floor, and in our basement, and I have tested several more units over the past few years, and one thing every air purifier I have used shares in common is a mild airflow output. They move plenty of air, but the current is gentle; it's not going to create enough circulation to cool a room, but that's not the point anyway. On the other hand, a good tower fan moves lots of air and makes a room feel cooler and fresher, but is not in fact making the air cleaner. Again, not the fan's job, so no issue.

You see where this is going, so let's get to it: Unlike with so many devices that merge functions and in so doing sacrifice efficacy, the Dyson Pure Cool TP04 HEPA Filter Air Purifier and Tower Fan performs perfectly well as a purifying device as well as a fan. Its HEPA filter captures particulate matter down to the level of 0.3 microns, trapping 99.97% of allergens, mold spores, dust, and more. And when you connect the TP04 to your Wi-Fi and pair it with an app, you can get regular reports of your indoor air quality and you can program operation schedules and control the device remotely.

As a fan, the TP04 is equally as capable. At its high setting, the fan moves 77 gallons of air per second, and thanks to Dyson's proprietary "Air Multiplier" hardware, the air current is smooth and without buffeting. With its almost unrivaled 350-degree oscillation range, it can move air around even in cavernous rooms when set in the middle of the area to be covered.

So what's the problem with this generally excellent device? Primarily the price. You could buy every other fan on this list and still not come close to the price tag of the TP04. Then again, if you bought a top-quality tower fan and a top-quality air purifier as separate units, you'd be getting close.

One customer speaks for many when he says the TP04 is "one of the best things [he] ever purchased," adding "your lungs will thank you!" Another says the "iOS app is great" and loves that she can "control all functions from the app."

Beyond the price, one common complaint was the noise; above the fourth or fifth speed setting, this fan/purifier is quite loud.

A writer with The-Gadgeteer said that "the bottom line is that the Dyson TP04 will trap a lot of bad stuff before it gets into your lungs," noting that it "has been certified asthma and allergy friendly by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America."

Pros: Excellent air purification, wide oscillation range, moves high volume of air, works with an app

Cons: Very expensive, noisy whining at high settings

Despite creating a current strong enough to circulate in large rooms, the Ozeri 3X Tower Fan with Passive Noise Reduction operates at less than 50 decibels, about the same volume as you'd expect to hear as you sat beside a quiet stream.

One of the more common complaints you hear about tower fans is their loud operation. While some people love the white noise fans create for a sleeping environment, when a fan is making it hard to hear the TV or a conversation, it gets to be something of a nuisance. Enter the Ozeri 3X Tower Fan, which even at full blast operates at a noise level under 50 decibels. That's the same volume as a humming fridge, the ambiance of a library, or a gently babbling forest brook. In other words, it's quiet.

The Ozeri fan achieves this quiet operation via passive noise cancelation. The curvature of the blades was designed to produce minimal mechanical noise, so what you hear is the airflow itself — think soothing breeze instead of whirring fan. And note that this is not, in fact, one fan, but three fans in one. The tower features three separate fans that can operate fully independently or in concert, allowing you to create nine different levels of air output given each fan's three-speed settings.

As you expect with a fine tower fan, the Ozeri 3X Tower Fan with Passive Noise Reduction comes with a remote control, features a customizable timer, and has a decent 90-degree oscillation sweep. As you might not take for granted, this is also a handsome piece of hardware. The body is a mere three inches thick and the base is made from a sleek disc of black glass. The tower looks more like a classic audio speaker than a fan, and it will blend well with the interior design of a bedroom, office, or living room.

At $82.22 it's not a steal, but the Ozeri is well worth its price. More than 130 Home Depot customers have left reviews of the fan and given it an overall 4.4-star average. One owner called herself "super impressed" with the fan and said its looks "will go with most any décor." Another called it "surprisingly quiet."

A few customers did take issue with the hard-to-follow instructions that came with the fan, but overall the unit itself received high praise.

Pros: Very quiet operation, three fans can work independently, sleek style

Cons: Comes with confusing instructions, pricey

There are thousands of tower fans out there and plenty of them are nearly as good as those we featured. Here are three others that almost made the cut but for various – and mostly minor – reasons got booted to the second tier.

The PELONIS FZ 10-19MB Quiet Tower Fan costs less than $40 and was a close second in the low-cost category, but as it stands only 28 inches tall, it's just too petite to move enough air for a decent sized room. For a smaller bedroom or office, though, it's a fine choice.

The AmazonBasics Oscillating 3 Speed Tower Fan stands 40 inches tall, easy to use, and is a great price, but it is underpowered and often makes a clicking noise during oscillation.

Finally, the sleek, narrow TRUSTECH Oscillating Tower Fan has great airflow output, a 12-hour timer, and easy controls on the unit or via remote, but it's overpriced at $104.99.