12 best quiet fans to help you sleep better this summer, tried and tested by the Women's Health team

The Shark FlexBreeze HydroGo is a quiet cordless fan that works well for bedroom use, especially if you want something compact and portable. Our tester found it quiet enough to sleep with, and while it is not as powerful as larger pedestal fans, she could still feel the airflow from further away in the bedroom when using it on setting 5, the highest setting.

A big win is its cordless design: it's light, easy to move from room to room and simple to take outside, so our tester uses it in the bedroom, kitchen and garden. The misting function is also a standout feature in hot weather, and our tester's kids absolutely love it, often taking the fan around the house or outside into the garden to keep cool.

If you're looking for a fan that cools an entire room rather than simply blasting air at one spot, the MeacoFan Sefte is hard to beat. Thanks to its ability to oscillate both horizontally and vertically, it circulates air more effectively than a standard pedestal fan, helping stuffy bedrooms feel fresher on even the hottest nights.

Our tester was particularly impressed by how quiet it is. Starting from just 25dB, it was unobtrusive enough to sleep with all night, with lower settings producing little more than a gentle movement of air. 'A few times, it was so quiet I had to check it was actually still on,' she said.

There are 12 speed settings, plus Eco and Night modes. The latter turns off the display, mutes the beeps and gradually reduces the fan speed overnight, while a handy remote lets you adjust settings without leaving bed. The digital display also shows room temperature, making it easy to keep tabs on how warm your bedroom really is.

Unlike most pedestal fans, the Sefte can also be converted into a lower table fan by attaching the fan head directly to the base, making it a versatile option for use around the home. It isn't cheap, but for powerful, whisper-quiet cooling and excellent room-wide airflow, this is our top pick for keeping bedrooms comfortable during a heatwave.

Read our full review of the MeacoFan Sefte 10" Pedestal Air Circulator

This is easily one of the most stylish fans we've used, with a sleek, modern tower design that looks smart in any room. Our tester found it really easy to assemble, with just three pieces to put together, and it's surprisingly light, so she found she could pick it up and move it to another room with one hand.

There are 10 powerful airflow settings, and a curved, magnetic remote control that stores neatly on top of the fan, which makes it much harder to lose.

Our tester has two children and a busy, bustling household, and found this fan suited her family perfectly. 'The bladeless design is another big plus, as there are no spinning blades for little fingers to get caught in,' she said. 'Pus it's much easier to wipe clean than a traditional fan.'

It's also a bit cheaper than other Dyson tower models, but you still get the same powerful cooling and innovative night mode, with a handy timer function.

You don’t have to spend big to sleep better – this high-scoring cooler will set you back a little over £30 and had one of the highest wind powers in the lab. This is ideal if you want your bedroom to become something of a wind tunnel. Or use the lower of its three settings if you want something a little less breezy.

It rotates nicely and its lengthy cable is just shy of two metres, meaning it's easy to position just so. Note: it doesn’t have a night mode and wasn’t as quiet as some. But given its price, there's ample change left over for some trusty ear plugs if you’re sensitive to noise.

Testers found this fan effortless to set up and use, thanks to its clear instructions. They also rated the way you can tilt the body of the fan to direct its air flow more precisely and its strong yet quiet high setting.

It boasts a night mode and air freshening technology (it releases ions to achieve this) making it a good pick for cool air while you dose. It’s on the wobbly side and doesn’t have a huge oscillation range. But it will suit avid weather watchers – a quick glance at the fan’s digital display tells you the room temperature.

Dyson simply cannot be beat on design, and we’re big fans of the simple circle shape boasted by the brand’s latest model, the CF1. It blends seamlessly into any decor while delivering on the performance front too (style over substance is not the name of the game at Dyson HQ).

Firstly, it’s hard to understate just how quiet this is. Operating on sleep mode, the highest volume is just 29dB, akin to a whispered conversation or leaves rustling. What little you can hear is a soothing background hum, with no whirring or chopping, thanks to the bladeless design. Even at full pelt (level 10, with sleep mode off), you can easily hold a conversation right next to the fan and not have to raise your voice even slightly.

The cooling is impressive too, with 370 litres airflow per second bringing down room temperatures with speed — we put it to work while we get ready for bed, and that 10 minutes is enough time to cool our entire bedroom. The CF1 is also loaded with useful features – you can adjust the oscillation up to 70 degrees (or go stationary), there are 10 speeds to choose from and you can set a timer so it switches off during the night. Sleep mode automatically switches off the display light and takes the level down to a maximum of four to ensure quiet operation – we found this was plenty on hot nights and often reduced it further.

The only drawback is that being a desk fan (and standing at 55cm), unless you’re in the unlikely position of sleeping on the floor, you’ll probably want to put this on a piece of furniture, so bear that in mind when purchasing. That said, it’s light, easy to move around, has a small footprint and doesn’t require clamping, so making space for it on your bedside table isn’t exactly a hassle.

Weighing in at a slight 3.8kg, this fan is perfect if you want one you can cart from your bedroom (it has a night mode) to your living room and back, without it feeling like strength training. It also has a nifty handle and decent length cable.

It’s not the most premium fan (so no voice control here) but it belts out air more powerfully than any other fan on test. While loud on high, crucially, it was quiet on its lower settings and our testers found it made a huge difference to their comfort on balmy days.

This Dyson model is a true all-rounder. Not only does it cool you down during sticky summer nights, but it also purifies the air and doubles up as a heater when temperatures inevitably drop again. In the recent heatwave, our tester found it powerful enough to keep both her and her partner comfortably cool and sound asleep all night long.

Its 76cm height means it reaches the bed easily without any awkward balancing acts on bedside tables or stacks of books, while the adjustable tilt lets you direct airflow exactly where you want it. Combined with the oscillation, it’s ideal for cooling two people at once.

Where this fan really stands out, though, is its air purifying tech. It monitors air quality in real time and filters out pollutants, gases and pollen – something our city-dwelling tester noticed made a genuine difference during peak hay fever season. After weeks of waking up with itchy eyes, sore throats and blocked noses, sleeping with this running overnight noticeably eased symptoms.

Despite its powerful airflow, it remains impressively sleep-friendly too. Night mode dims the display and quietens the machine down to a gentle hum that our tester found genuinely soothing – more calming white noise than disruptive fan racket. We’re also big fans of the neat magnetic remote, which snaps satisfyingly onto the top of the machine, meaning no more rummaging around under the bed at 2am.

The only catch? It’s undeniably an investment. But if you want heating, cooling and purification wrapped into one sleek machine, this Dyson earns its spot on the bedside table.

Luxuriously, voice command lets you switch this fan on without even leaving the comfort of your bed. Don't worry if you don’t have an Alexa, either – it also has a remote control and an accompanying app, meaning if you need it on for longer than its programmed night mode, switching it back on shouldn’t delay your sleep too much.

Testers praised its three, notably different air flow settings, finding them quiet, even on high. It’s more of a ‘just for one’ fan as it rotates slightly under 80 degrees. But this is the fan tech-y dreams are made of.

If you’re worried about a tower fan drying out your skin and rendering your vitamin C serum worthless, then this Dyson is here to help. It’s the brand’s latest tower fan and as well as keeping you cool, it also humidifies (and purifies) the air.

It has 10 air settings and scored nearly full marks with our testers for the comfort it provided in the heat. It was loud on its highest speed setting, but if you’re not a white noise lover, you can activate the night setting for an undisturbed beauty sleep. Testers found both the fan and its accompanying app intuitive to use, making it another sleek all-rounder.

What we’re enjoying so far:

The misting function delivers an ultra-fine cooling spray that makes sitting through humid summer days far more bearable – particularly outdoors, where it genuinely feels refreshing rather than clammy.

We’ve also been impressed by just how versatile it is, switching easily between pedestal and tabletop mode for use everywhere from the bedroom to the garden.

Despite its powerful airflow, it’s surprisingly quiet, even on stronger settings, and the cordless design makes moving it around blissfully easy.

The long battery life is another major plus during heatwaves, while the oscillation and tilt mean the cooling reaches far beyond whoever’s sat directly in front of it.