With some air coolers, there’s a risk of adding to the room’s humidity, which can be a problem if it already suffers from excess humidity. Plus, where water tanks are open inside the cooler, there’s also a risk of spillage – which can be a worry if you’re using a desktop model plugged into your laptop or PC. Air coolers are much cheaper to run* than portable air conditioners, averaging 2-4p compared to 20-40p per hour. They’re also much lighter, averaging around 6-7kg rather than 20-30kg, and require no complicated set-up – although it’s wise to leave a door or window open to avoid too much humidity building up in the room, reducing their effectiveness. The question is, can they compete when a heatwave strikes? Even the least energy-efficient – the Princess Smart Air Cooler – wasn't much more expensive, averaging about 2p an hour. Tower fans work by blowing air over your skin, making living, working and sleeping more comfortable when the thermometer rises.

Air Conditioning Units | Portable Air Conditioners | Argos Air Conditioning Units | Portable Air Conditioners | Argos

Opt for the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde and you get air purifying too, but at a cost; for the price, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower delivers excellent performance all year-around. Fully smart, the Wave 2 can be controlled via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which makes it exceptionally easy to set up and control; there are onboard controls if you prefer.

Keep this in mind if you’re after a fan you can easily move around the house. If it’s going to stay in one place, a heavier one should be fine, but opt for a lightweight model if you’ll be carrying it between rooms every day. Smart capabilities Most fans can only be used in the hotter months of the year, taking up space when they’re not wanted. Not so with the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde. As well as being a powerful fan, it’s also a purifier and a heater, complete with thermostat. A fan isn’t just about direct cooling, it’s about shifting stuffy, stale air around and refreshing a room. There’s no fan that can do that better than the MeacoFan 1056 Pedestal Air Circulator. A pedestal version of the desktop model, which is still available, this large fan has horizontal and vertical oscillation, so that it pushes air all around, giving full-room recirculation. The Princess – a Dutch brand – was the first air cooler I tried, in the middle of 2022’s heatwave when all the big-beast proper air conditioners were sold out. It was a bit of a revelation, reducing the temperature in my bedroom from an entirely unreasonable 23 degrees (at midnight!) to a more bearable 19.

air coolers 2023: Evaporative fans tried and tested from Best air coolers 2023: Evaporative fans tried and tested from

Additionally, it should be easy to use and maintain, with features like air cleaning filters, automatic shutoff and timers. You’ll also want to make sure it’s energy-efficient. The more powerful units use more energy, although all air coolers are much cheaper to run than air conditioners.” We found this a good fan for small- to medium-sized rooms. On its high setting, the fan reached an airspeed of 3.2m/s at a distance of 15cm. That’s good but there are more powerful fans that are better suited to larger rooms. At this speed, we found that the fan wobbled slightly, too. At 1m distance, the fan speed was still a decent 2.2m/s, providing a noticeable cool airflow. We were impressed with how quiet this fan was: at 15cm, we measured it at 66.2dB, and at 1m, it was just 50.3dB. Cooling aside, this is a surprisingly powerful fan for its size. Just 15cm away from the front grille, I measured a wind speed of 5.2 metres per second (m/s) on the lowest setting. This rose to 6.6m/s on medium, and a very punchy 7.7m/s at full – that’s equivalent to 17 miles per hour.There’s also a difference in noise at different fan speeds, with lower fan speeds quieter, and faster louder. This is important at night, where you may want a slower, more gentle and quieter fan speed, rather than roar of full cooling power.

Air Conditioners UK (2022) - Mirror Online 14 Best Portable Air Conditioners UK (2022) - Mirror Online

We often see wind speeds dropping sharply with distance away from a tower fan, but at one metre I measured 2.5, 3.2 and 4.1m/s at the three power settings. At two metres away the breeze from the lowest setting fell below my anemometer’s 0.8m/s minimum, but I still measured 1.5m/s on medium, and a moderate 2.1m/s on full. While that’s not the very best, it is more powerful than most tower fans I’ve tested. There are controls at the base of the fan although these are a little confusing: you have to tap, rather than hold, the power button to change modes. Fortunately, there’s a remote control in the box, which makes it easier to use the Duux Globe. The EcoFlow Wave 2 is not cheap, but if you want a highly versatile air conditioning unit, there’s nothing quite like this. You can turn on horizontal and vertical oscillation, so the fan can be used to refresh air over a wider range, which is useful for refreshing an entire room. Our one minor complaint is that this fan could do with a more gentle speed; all speed options are quite intense. Finally, air coolers can help to humidify the air in dry climates. This makes them a great choice for those who want to stay cool while also reducing their impact on the environment. Ultimately, the choice between an air cooler and an air conditioner will depend on your room size, budget, and setup needs. * Air cooler running costsEven without its cooling ability, this is a decent fan. It’s fitted with louvres that offer automatic horizontal oscillation, and manual adjustment of vertical wind direction. At the top, a touch-sensitive control panel lets you choose from three fan speeds, and three modes. You can switch the cooling or oscillation on and off, and set an auto-off timer in one-hour increments up to an unusually long 24 hours.

Best Fan 2023: Dispel the summer heat with our top picks

Having tried other air coolers I now realise it’s a bit of an outlier, with a more efficient motor enabling a greater airflow. It is considerably lighter than other air coolers, too, with a small footprint that makes it better for smaller spaces. There are no controls on the fan’s body, so it’s very important to keep hold of the remote control. That would be easier if the control could be attached or stored on the fan’s body, in a similar way to Dyson fans, where the remotes magnetically attach to the top.

We also like the fact that you can clean the filter under the tap or in the dishwasher, and that the illuminated side panels can be set to glow with a choice of seven colours if you fancy a little mood lighting. While it could be easier to remove the filter and get the water tanks in and out of place, for sheer value and convenience, this cut-price compact cooler is a winner. Many fans offer different breeze styles, allowing you to adjust the feel of the air. For example, the SmartAir Cool+ Purify Bladeless Tower Fan has four different modes on top of its air settings, including a day mode and a night mode. The latter is a key one to look out for as it sets the fan to operate at a quieter volume, and sometimes dims the display, limiting any disruption to your sleep. Oscillation Not all fans do this, but some, including every Dyson and the SmartAir, also help to clean the air they're distributing. Some have filters that trap pollutants, while the Dimplex Ion Fresh Cooling Tower Fan freshens air around it by emitting neutralising ions. Do fans use a lot of electricity? Dyson fans all look so distinctive with their bladeless heads that you can put a hand through that theDyson Pure Cool Meimmediately looks different thanks to its ball head. The reason for the design change is that the fan uses Dyson’s Core Flow technology, which lets the convex surface direct a fine stream of air exactly where you want it, making it perfect for personal cooling. In fact, that is probably the ideal use, because it’s heavy enough to pose a problem getting up and down stairs if used at home, as well as taking up a lot of space and making a fairly industrial noise. You wouldn’t choose it for cooling your bedroom at night, but it’s the only one we reviewed that can stand a chance of cooling a 40 square-metre space.