There are some tremendous advantages to a floor fan as opposed to one that is located on a desk, for instance. A floor fan is usually highly portable so that it can be used in any room where cooling is needed.

A floor fan may be described as a pedestal fan because they sit on a pedestal. The majority of floor fans also feature a certain degree of tiltability. Being able to tilt a fan means greater versatility as to where you wish the air to be directed. The tilting of a fan unit allows the fan to more proficiently direct the desired air circulation in a greater number of directions. Despite the fact that it may be highly desirable to make available an extensive range of tiltability designers have noted that it may result in a fan becoming unstable. This is why the pedestal fan is usually wide and basically heavy to keep the fan from being overly tilted into a position that may cause a floor fan to easily topple over. This of course would be due to its unequal center of gravity.

Thus a floor fan will have the pedestal which is comprised of a base and then to this is attached an elongated fan unit support which extends usually in a perpendicular direction to its base. There are of course, various UL dictates with regard to its stability requirements.

Most floor fans will also be able to oscillate. They cannot oscillate 360 degrees the way that a ceiling fan does but they ordinarily have a range of oscillation. Most of the time a pedestal fan will oscillate 90 degrees or half of a half, sometimes referred to as a quarter oscillating movement.

A pedestal fan will usually also present adjustments to provide adjustable operating height as well as oscillation. Adjusting the height is of extreme importance if the floor fan is being used in a bedroom for instance, as you will probably wish to use it to keep cool while you sleep in a low bed. Most pedestal fans will adjust to range from a low of 20 inches to a height of 54 inches providing you with an extremely wide latitude.

Sometimes a fan has a timer on it, though these are more rare. A timer allows you to fall asleep for instance, but as the night wears on, a sleeping person will have a reduced body temperature, thus you may wish to use a timer to shut off the fan after a certain amount of time being asleep.

Especially in the bedroom, you may truly appreciate a remote control for the floor fan. This would prevent you from having to get up to change the settings, or simply turn it on or off.

A floor fan will naturally collect dust on its blades necessitating occasional cleaning. Carefully study how the grill is attached, and what it takes to remove the blades in order to clean them. Finding out that you are unable to clean it properly is a job best done prior to purchase, or at least while the unit can still be returned.

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