5 Best Quiet Fans of 2024

Whilst some fans just happen to be relatively quiet by nature, others have been intentionally designed to keep noise levels down. With these fans in particular, manufacturers have often gone to extra lengths to further reduce sound output, with intelligent settings intended to keep things quiet.

If you’re a particularly light sleeper, the MYCARBON Bedroom Fan is one of the best quiet fans you’ll find, with a specific ‘sleep setting’ that drops the sound of the fan down to 25 dB. To put this figure in context, 25 dB is roughly comparable to the noise created by whispering, or rustling leaves. It’s one of the quietest fans on this list.

It’s got more settings and features than some of the more basic quiet fans on this list, which is reflected in its higher price tag. However, it is much more intuitive than most, with thoughtful design elements that are specifically aimed at making it a practical bedroom fan for night time. This is a case of paying more to get a product with additional settings that do actually improve the user-experience, as opposed to unnecessary extras.

The fan has ‘3D oscillation’ which means it circulates air around the entire room, both vertically and horizontally, encouraging air to keep moving and stay cool. There is also a remote control, which allows complete control of the unit no matter where you are in the room. You may choose to place the fan away from the bed, near an open window to draw in cool air, and you won’t have to get up in order to turn it off or adjust its settings.

On the unit itself, the buttons are ‘touch’ sensitive, but can also light up to be visible in the dark. However, if this sounds disruptive, it’s also easy to turn off the display lights, so that they don’t shine on through the night.

When using the night/eco mode, the fan adjusts its air output depending on the temperature. When it’s cooler, it won’t use such a powerful setting, but if temperatures start to creep up, the output of the fan will increase to keep you cool.

In terms of size, this is suitable for bedside tables, although it will take up more space than the mini fans featured on this list. It has a 22.8 cm diameter and is 34.5 cm tall, with a footprint diameter of 24 cm.

There is a small amount of maintenance/upkeep required with this fan, as it can get slightly noisier if it isn’t cleaned regularly enough. This is a result of the components getting clogged with dust, so cleaning it everything 2 months or so can help keep it running smoothly and (almost) silently.

Overall, it’s one of the best quiet fans if you want a desktop option. It can sit neatly on a bedside table and keep you cool as you sleep.

If you don’t have a lot of space on your bedside table or office desk, but really need something that will keep you cool during the stifling summer, the Honeywell Turbo Fan succeeds at being compact yet powerful (and quiet!).

With a fan head as large as a standard handspan, the whole unit measures roughly 28 cm high and 26 cm wide. It can sit on a table or even on the floor, angled upwards, and also has the potential to be wall mounted if required. Having these different placement options can really come in handy if available surface space is at a premium.

Generally speaking, it’s great as a standing unit because it can be easily moved around the house, with a 30 W output that is powerful enough to cool even relatively large rooms.

There’s no oscillating function, so air may not circulate as much as with other quiet fans, but the head can be tilted through 90 degrees. Given the strength of the airflow, this means it can be positioned anywhere in a room, at any level, and still be angled to reach you.

With three air speeds available, there’s also no reason to sit unnecessarily in an icy blast if you just want a cooling breeze, but more powerful settings can be used when the heat gets too much.

It’s also quiet enough to have on whilst sleeping without being disruptive, creating a soothing background hum that isn’t grating when positioned near to the bed.

The main downside to this fan is the position of its ‘settings’ dial. It’s been placed at the back of the fan, behind the fan head, with an overhanging cover that makes it quite difficult to access easily from the front. Therefore, changing the setting in the night can be a bit challenging – you’d probably have to sit up, as it’s difficult to adjust from lying down.

This 4UMOR Standing Quiet Fan is the quietest fan featured here, and it’s also very flexible when it comes to height. The height can be altered from 75 cm to 98 cm so there is a lot of flexibility depending on the space you have available and where you choose to position the fan.

Also, as a standing fan, it doesn’t need to use up valuable surface space on desks or bedside tables, but it also doesn’t encroach too much on the room either.

Whilst some freestanding fans can be too large to be practical in smaller rooms, this is still quite a compact model with a base diameter of 38 cm.

It also excels when it comes to keeping quiet. On Sleep Mode, this fan emits a mere 20 dB, making it the quietest fan featured here. This makes it very comfortable to have on whilst sleeping, unlikely to disturb even very light sleepers.

The LED smart panel clearly displays the current fan setting, and makes it straightforward to choose between different options. There is also a remote control that can be used up to 6 m away from the fan, so whether you’re sitting watching TV, or in bed about to doze off, you can adjust the fan setting without getting up.

There are also a lot of options to choose from, making this fan one of the most intuitive and adjustable on this list; there are nine wind speeds as well as a sleep mode and eco mode.

Whilst nine might seem like a lot, having such a choice of settings can really help find the most comfortable temperature, no matter the size of the room. However, it should be noted that the airflow may not be quite as evenly spread as you might expect; the difference between some of the settings are more dramatic than others, so it can take a bit of time to find the perfect adjustment.

When using the Eco Mode, the fan automatically adjusts depending on the surrounding temperature, saving up to 80% energy by stopping the fan from blasting out air unnecessarily.

Overall, this is one of the best quiet fans. Not only is it the quietest in terms of decibels, but it also has a lot of speed settings, and is easy to move around, making it useful in a lot of different contexts.

For a truly portable quiet fan, this extremely practical Pro Breeze Professional 6” Mini Clip Fan can clip onto the edge of any surface, able to be used anywhere that there’s a plug within reach.

Whilst its 15 cm fan head might sound small, given that this fan can easily be clipped onto the desk directly beside you, it really doesn’t need to be any bigger to provide a really decent level of cooling power. The large clip has rubber pads so it won’t damage the surface, and it’s just as useful to have in the office as it is at the bedside.

One of this fan’s best features is its transportability, measuring just 20 cm x 20 cm x 14 cm it can even be put in a backpack or suitcase, ready to take away on holiday or use on the train.

The combination of the movable clip and the fan’s tiltable head make it simple to sufficiently adjust to wherever it’s needed. The fan itself can’t rotate, but the clip can be moved around to change the direction that the fan faces.

In general, this is a great choice for sleeping because the fan can be clipped to the bed, even when travelling or using bunk beds in hostels. It’s also ideal if you have limited space and can’t fit a desk or pedestal fan near your bed.

Producing 46 dB of sound, it’s slightly noisier than some of the fans featured on this list that have specific ‘quiet’ or ‘sleep’ modes; however, 46 dB is still considered to only be as loud as the hum of a refrigerator. There are also two fan speeds: high-power and low-power, so it is possible to make the fan slightly quieter by using the low-power mode.

The Dyson AM07 Air Multiplier Bladeless Tower Fan is a fan that I’ve owned for 5 years now. Needless to say, I come at this review with a lot of experience using this it. Especially with the hot summers we’ve been having in recent times!

Although it isn’t cheap, this Dyson fan has proved to be great value for money. It’s brilliantly designed, safe to use and powerful too. But the question is, is it quiet enough for bedrooms – and for a good night’s sleep?

At 64dB it’s certainly got more about it that some of the other smaller quiet fans on this list. In fact, at just 20dB the 4UMOR Standing Quiet Fan is significantly quieter. To give you a point of reference, decibels in the 20’s can be compared to rustling leaves or whispering. Whereas in the 60’s we’re more on the level of soft background music.

But what the others can’t compete with, is the power and air flow of the Dyson. We all know about the company’s clever air-flow technology, so if you’re looking for a fan to keep you cool when the temperatures push into the 30’s at night, other models will struggle to compete.

And this is what I think your purchase decision comes down to. It’s noise vs power. If you need something super quiet, otherwise your sleep will be disturbed, go for one of the other models on this. But if you hate being too hot at night, and need a fan that can genuinely cool you, the Dyson is my top recommendation.