High velocity floor fans are true airflow powerhouses. Due to their high airflow generation (even more than 5,000 CFM), they can be used to ventilate big spaces, including garages, warehouses, basements, workshops, gyms, and so on. Obviously, regardless of the place you are going to use it for, everybody wants to get the best high velocity floor fan.
Currently, there are over 1,000 floor fan models on the market. With so many choices, it’s easy to get a bit confused about which high velocity floor fans are good and which are, well, not all that great.
Here at LearnMetrics, we focus on specs to choose all kinds of HVAC units. To select which are the best high velocity floor fans, you just have to crack open enough specs sheets, put all the numbers in one big comparison table, and you can quite easily check which is the best high velocity fan on the market.
To help everybody out, we have done just that. You will find the list of the top 4 high velocity floor fans below, complete with a neat comparison table and individual reviews.
First, you need to check all the important things you have to check when you want to pick a good high velocity floor fan:
- Airflow (Primary Specification). Of course, high velocity means high CFMs. The most important spec you want to check is how much airflow (measured in CFM) a floor fan generates. CFMs are (mostly) linearly correlated to RPMs given the same blade size.
The CFMs are the most important spec to check when looking for a new high velocity fan. - Power Input, Energy Efficiency, Running Costs, Price, Brand, Reviews (Secondary Specifications). High CFMs just tell you you have a high velocity floor fan. To check if it’s any good, you should consult these secondary specs.
Let’s break this down before we check the full comparison of the best high velocity fans on the market:
What Does High Velocity Mean? Checking CFMs
High velocity simply means that a floor fan can generate a large amount of airflow (measured in Cubic Feet per Minute or CFMs). You can read more about how to calculate CFMs for any space here.
With high velocity floor fans, you are looking for as much CFM as possible.
The most powerful high-velocity floor fans can generate upward of 3,000 CFM airflow.
In most places, you are looking at ideally 8 air changes per hour (ACH) ventilation. That means that the air in that particular place will be entirely replaced every 7.5 minutes. If you need extra ventilation, it is recommended to use 16 ACH ventilation; this is where the best high CFM floor fans come into effect.
Accordingly, you need this much airflow from a floor fan to adequately ventilate a space (these numbers are for 8 ft ceiling height):
| Airflow (CFMs) | Space Size At 8 ACH | Space Size At 16 ACH |
| 1,000 CFM | 937 Sq Ft | 469 Sq Ft |
| 2,000 CFM | 1,874 Sq Ft | 937 Sq Ft |
| 3,000 CFM | 2,811 Sq Ft | 1,406 Sq Ft |
| 4,000 CFM | 3,748 Sq Ft | 1,872 Sq Ft |
| 5,000 CFM | 4,685 Sq Ft | 2,343 Sq Ft |
| 6,000 CFM | 5,622 Sq Ft | 2,811 Sq Ft |
| 7,000 CFM | 6,559 Sq Ft | 3,280 Sq Ft |
| 8,000 CFM | 7,496 Sq Ft | 3,748 Sq Ft |
Of course, workshops, factories, warehouses, and so on, can have a ceiling height higher than 8 feet. You will need even more airflow for high ceiling spaces.
Example: Let’s say you have a space with a 12 ft ceiling height. With 8 ft ceilings, a high velocity floor fan with 5,000 CFM airflow can achieve 8 ACH in 4,685 sq ft spaces and 16 ACH in 2,343 sq ft. With higher 12 ft ceilings, a 5,000 CFM high velocity fan will be adequately sized for spaces up to 3,092 sq ft (8 ACH) and 1,546 sq ft (16 ACH).
In short, the safest bet is to just get a floor fan that can generate a large amount of airflow. This will help you achieve sufficient ventilation in any space you place the floor fan in.
On top of that, you also have to check that the floor fan doesn’t only generate massive airflow, but that the secondary specs are also in order:
What Specs Should A Good High Velocity Floor Fan Have?
All floor fans have basically the same design. Despite that, however, they can have quite a difference in specs due to different fan motors used, blades, and so on.
Here are the specs you also want to check before you buy one of these units:
- RPMs. High RPMs will generate more airflow even with smaller fans. The most fast-rotating fans have 1,000 RPMs or even higher.
- Blade Length. Most high velocity floor fans have a blade diameter of 16 inches to 24 inches. Fans with longer blades generate more airflow.
- Power Input And Running Costs. Needless to say, if you have a high velocity floor fan, you will have to supply it with ample power input. Most high velocity fans have a max. wattage of about 150W. Based on this, you can also check how much does it cost to run a fan. Example: Let’s say you run a 150W fan. In 1 hour, it will have an energy consumption of 0.15 kWh. If you pay a national average electricity price of 0.1319$/kWh, that means that running such a high velocity floor fan will cost you about 2 US cents per hour.
- Energy Efficiency. You want a floor fan that will have the best power performance. The question here is how much airflow can a floor fan generate per watt. Most energy efficient high velocity fans can generate more than 30 CFM per watt.
- Noise Levels. High velocity fans can be quite loud; a lot of airflow will generate more than 60 dB of noise.
- Brand. The floor fans market is flooded with cheap and low-quality fans that can be unreliable. The best way to find a reliable and durable high velocity fan is to check the brand; Dewalt, Lasko, and Tornado are generally considered the best brands for high velocity floor fans.
- Price. No high velocity floor fan should cost more than $250. The best ones can cost more than $100 but you can also find some very good below $100 options.
With all this in mind, let’s have a look at which high velocity fans on the market are the best:
List Of Best High Velocity Floor Fans (3,000+ CFM)
| High Velocity Floor Fan: | 1. Tornado HI-FAN-DRUM24-1P | 2. Dewalt DXF-2042 | 3. Lasko 2264QM | 4. B-Air FIRTANA-20X |
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| Airflow (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 7,800 / 6,000 / 5,000 CFM | Up To 5,000 CFM | 3,460 / 3,160 CFM | Up To 4,650 CFM |
| RPMs (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 1,100 / 1,000 / 860 RPM | 1,405 / 1,105 / 847 RPM | N/A | 1,507 / 1,360 / 1,253 RPM |
| Blade Length: | 24 Inch | 20 Inch | 20 Inch | 20 Inch |
| Power (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 220 / 190 / 170 Watts | 158 / 142 / 130 Watts | N/A | 157 Watts |
| Noise Levels: | Up To 72 dB | Up To 60 dB | N/A | N/A |
| Energy Efficiency: | 35.5 CFM Per Watt | 31.6 CFM Per Watt | N/A | 29.6 CFM Per Watt |
| Max. Running Cost: | 2.90 US Cents/Hour | 2.08 US Cents/Hour | Below 2 US Cents/Hour | 2.08 US Cents/Hour |
| Price: | $$$$ | $$$$ | $$$$ | $$$$ |
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| Availability: | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price |
1. Most Powerful High Velocity Floor Fan: Tornado HI-FAN-DRUM24-1P
| Airflow (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 7,800 / 6,000 / 5,000 CFM |
| RPMs (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 1,100 / 1,000 / 860 RPM |
| Blade Length: | 24 Inch |
| Power (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 220 / 190 / 170 Watts |
| Energy Efficiency: | 35.5 CFM Per Watt |
| Max. Running Cost: | 2.90 US Cents/Hour |
| Noise Levels: | Up To 72 dB |
| Dimensions (LxWxH): | 11 x 29.5 x 29.3 Inches |
| Price: | $$$$ |
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Tornado HI-FAN-DRUM24-1P is a high velocity drum fan, positioned on the floor. If you check all these high CFM fans, you will see that this unit has one of the highest possible airflow generation for a floor fan. With a robust design and high energy efficiency, this is the best high velocity floor fan on the market.
Most high velocity floor fans can generate more than 3,000 CFM airflow. Tornado HI-FAN-DRUM24-1P, however, can easily generate more than 5,000 CFM airflow. In fact, at the low setting, the airflow generation is already 5,000 CFM. At the highest setting, this fan can produce an incredible 7,800 CFM airflow.
To achieve this, it uses its wide blades. Coupling 24-inch blades with high RPMs (1,100 RPM at the highest setting) is the basic recipe for a high-velocity floor fan.
Obviously, due to such a massive airflow, the Tornado HI-FAN-DRUM24-1P requires a higher-than-average power input. At the lowest setting, it is powered by 170 watts and at the highest setting, you have to supply it with 220 watts. That means that when running at 100% airflow output it will cost you 2.90 US cents per hour to run (given the average national electricity price of 0.1319$/kWh).
Tornado HI-FAN-DRUM24-1P has some noise-reducing capabilities but you simply can’t produce a 7,800 CFM airflow without making some noise. Its top noise level is 72 dB.
With 35.5 CFM per watt, however, this is also the most energy efficient high velocity floor fan.
All in all, the Tornado HI-FAN-DRUM24-1P is a floor fan with the most powerful CFM output. It can generate incredible 7,800 CFM airflow, is energy efficient, but it’s also a bit loud and pricy:
2. Quiet High Velocity Floor Fan: Dewalt DXF-2042
| Airflow (Hi/Mi/Lo): | Up To 5,000 CFM |
| RPMs (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 1,405 / 1,105 / 847 RPM |
| Blade Length: | 20 Inch |
| Power (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 158 / 142 / 130 Watts |
| Energy Efficiency: | 31.6 CFM Per Watt |
| Max. Running Cost: | 2.08 US Cents/Hour |
| Noise Levels: | Up To 60 dB |
| Dimensions (LxWxH): | 10 x 26.5 x 27.5 Inches |
| Price: | $$$$ |
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Noise levels are a major pitfall of all high velocity floor fans. You just can’t make a silent floor fan if it has to produce 3,000+ CFM airflow. You can, however, minimize. For that, you will need a superb engineering team; something that Dewalt undoubtedly has. They have come up with one of the best and certainly the quietest high velocity floor fan; the Dewalt DXF-2042.
This is a very finely engineered fan that can generate 5,000 CFM airflow at the highest setting. Given the high velocity airflow, the Dewalt DXF-2042 is useful in all sorts of places, like garages, warehouses, construction sites, and so on.
The primary quality, in addition to the durability Dewalt products are known for, are low noise levels. Even when the Dewalt DXF-2042 is running at 100% output, the fan generates only 60 dB of noise. That’s incredibly silent for a high velocity floor fan.
The trick here is the use of 20-inch blades with higher-than-average RPMs. By the blades spinning faster, the airflow that is generated as the result makes less of that whooshing sound.
Electricity-wise, the Dewalt DXF-2042 fan motor requires a 158-watt input at the highest setting. With a high energy efficiency (31.6 CFM per watt), it is going to cost you about 2.08 US cents to generate 1 hour of 5,000 CFM airflow. That’s quite amazing.
Needless to say, Dewalt is the best brand here and the Dewalt DXF-2042 is the best quiet high velocity floor fan but it does cost about $150:
3. Top Rated High Velocity Floor Fan With Wall-Mounting Option: Lasko 2264QM
| Airflow (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 3,460 / 3,160 CFM |
| RPMs (Hi/Mi/Lo): | N/A |
| Blade Length: | 20 Inch |
| Power (Hi/Mi/Lo): | N/A |
| Energy Efficiency: | N/A |
| Max. Running Cost: | Below 2 US Cents/Hour |
| Noise Levels: | N/A |
| Dimensions (LxWxH): | 12 x 21.75 x 21.5 Inches |
| Price: | $$$$ |
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Now, Tornado and Dewalt floor fans generate 5,000 CFM or more but they also cost more than $100. If you don’t need all that powerful airflow (find about 3,000 CFM sufficient) and would like to pay less for a high velocity floor fan, the Lasko 2264QM is the top budget-friendly choice.
This is a simple 20-inch floor fan that can generate up to 3,460 CFM of airflow. That’s more than half less than the Tornado unit but it also costs about half of what the Tornado floor fan costs.
With the price tag of about $75, Lasko 2264QM is one of the cheaper high velocity floor fans. Due to this low price, it’s quite a popular choice because not everybody needs a robust and reliable Dewalt floor fan, for example.
The problem with fully analyzing the performance of Lasko 2264QM is the lack of specs. We don’t have RPMs, power input, noise levels, and so on. We can only presume that it is powered a motor that can generate less than 150 watts and requires less than 2 US cents per hour to run.
All in all, Lasko 2264QM is a cheaper high velocity floor fan that’s quite popular but can’t really compare to the performance of the best high CFM floor fans:
4. Best-Selling High Velocity Floor Fan: B-Air FIRTANA-20X
| Airflow (Hi/Mi/Lo): | Up To 4,650 CFM |
| RPMs (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 1,507 / 1,360 / 1,253 RPM |
| Blade Length: | 20 Inch |
| Power (Hi/Mi/Lo): | 157 Watts |
| Energy Efficiency: | 29.6 CFM Per Watt |
| Max. Running Cost: | 2.08 US Cents/Hour |
| Noise Levels: | N/A |
| Dimensions (LxWxH): | 12.6 x 22 x 22 Inches |
| Price: | $$$$ |
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B-Air FIRTANA-20X is one of the more interesting high velocity fans. This is because, well, nobody has ever heard of B-Air brand but this specific home floor fan has more than 10,000 positive reviews on Amazon.
Let’s see why this is:
First of all, it’s quite a powerful floor fan. With the input of 157 watts, it can generate up to 4,650 CFM airflow. That’s not 5,000+ CFM airflow as we have seen with the absolute best high velocity fans but it’s not lagging behind as much as the Lasko unit.
One of the key reasons why this is a best-seller is its incredibly low price. While most good high velocity floor fans cost more than $100, the B-Air FIRTANA-20X with a $55 price tag is an incredible bargain.
Nonetheless, it has to be said that buying a ‘no name’ brand without a long and successful track record is generally a bad idea. Specs-wise, the B-Air FIRTANA-20X seems like a very good unit but if you check how robustly it is built (very fragile compared to lets say the Tornado and especially Dewalt unit), you quickly see that this fan will probably not last all that long.
All in all, however, if you need a cheap high velocity floor fan that will last for a few seasons, the B-Air FIRTANA-20X is your most affordable choice:
This has been a short illustration of which specs you should check out when buying a high velocity floor fans. CFMs matter the most. Based on this, and a number of secondary specs, you can see the selection of the best high velocity floor fans on the market and choose the one that fits your needs.