The new AirCraft LUME fan is the most powerful of any I’ve tested – its clever design means you you get two fans in one, plus it's whisper-quiet
This fan's wind speed will blow your socks off
You're essentially getting two fans in one as this AirCraft LUME Quiet Air Circulator Fan as it can be configured in either pedestal or desktop mode. Whichever you choose, this fan offers the highest wind speeds of all of the models we've tested so it can make quick work of circulating the air around your home. While it offers impressive wind speeds, it's really quiet about it, operating in the background with ease without drawing your attention.
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Most powerful wind speed
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Really quiet
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Backlight is a nice additional feature
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Base is small enough to fit on bedside table
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Bit short in pedestal mode
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Some functions only possible on remote control
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As I write this review, it's 27°C outside. And I have never been more grateful that a part of my job is to test a whole host of cooling products in my own home.
I've been putting the best fans through their paces ahead of summer, but a surprisingly roasty toasty May heatwave has meant that I really get to see what they are made of.
Lately, I've been putting the AirCraft LUME Quiet Air Circulator Fan to good use, and this is how it fared in our fan testing process.
In a nutshell
If you want a fan that can blow your socks off, this is it. The AirCraft LUME Quiet Air Circulator Fan offers the highest wind speed of any fan on our best fans round up, which means it can get the air moving quickly to alleviate stuffiness in seconds.
While it's powerful, it's also really quiet. I could barely hear it in the low-mid power settings when testing it in my own home, which is a huge bonus in my book. The multidirectional oscillation is also great for giving the air flow a boost.
What sets this fan apart from others on our round up is the inclusion of a ambient light on the back of the fan head. While I was testing this at a time of year where it's still light well into the evenings, this light is a nice option for glow.
Adaptable between a desktop and pedestal configuration, I liked that the base was compact enough to easily fit on a side table, which made using it on a table top much easier. However, I do wish that it was a little bit taller in pedestal mode.
As well as being Ideal Home's Renovation Editor, I also look after all of the website's heating and cooling content, which means I'm well versed in what it takes to keep your home a comfortable temperature year round and how you can do that in the most energy efficient way possible. I tested the AirCraft LUME Quiet Air Circulator Fan in the living room, kitchen diner and bedroom of my 1970s three-bed home, for more than three weeks. Find out more about how we test fans.
Specification
- Type of fan: Pedestal (but adaptable to desktop)
- RRP: £149
- Weight: 4.2kgs
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 36.5 x 63-95 x 28cm
- Wattage: 24W
- Wind speed (metres/second): 1.4-5.3m/s
- Running costs per hour (based on energy price cap at the time of writing): 0.59p/kWh
- Number of fan speed settings: 12
- Noise in dB: 36-60dB
- Smart features: None
- Dual functionality: Fan, ambient light
- Oscillation: Multidirectional (30/60/90°)
Unboxing, setting up and first impressions
The first thing that struck me when the AirCraft LUME arrived was that there was plastic wrap around the cardboard box, which felt a little unnecessary. However, I was pleased when I opened the box to find that inside, the fan was contained in moulded cardboard forms, with the pieces wrapped in paper.
In the box, you get the fan head, base, power cable and pole, as well as a remote control and clear instruction manual.
Assembly feels very intuitive. All I needed to do was to twist the fan head into the base (if I wanted it in desktop mode), or to twist the additional pole into the base first and attach the fan head to that if I wanted it in pedestal mode. I first opted for pedestal mode, which I instantly noticed was shorter than the pedestal mode of other fans I'd tested.
Then all I needed to do was plug it in and turn it on. All in, it was out of the box and ready to go in about 60 seconds.
When it comes to looks, my first impressions were largely positive. It's a similar design to models I've tested from Pro Breeze and Silentnight, with the fan head attached to the base via two arms to the side, rather than a hinge at the base. Despite it being a modern fan, something about it feels a little retro, which I liked. That might be down to the off-white and black colourway.
What's it like to use?
The first thing I like to do when I test any fan is to run through the wind speeds to see what we're dealing with. And I like it when a fan can offer everything from a very gentle and comfortable breeze to a much stronger wind that feels like it could blow cobwebs off the ceiling. And I wasn't disappointed.
In the lowest speed setting, my anemometer (which measures wind speed) clocked the AirCraft LUME at 1.4 metres per second (m/s), which is very soft, pleasant and was ideal when I was sitting close to the fan. Over the 12 speed settings, there is a noticeable difference between each one, up to the most powerful, which I recorded at 5.3m/s. That was the strongest wind speed I'd recorded of any of the fans in our best buy round up.
At top speed, the fan was easily rustling wall hangings on the other side of the room, a good four metres away. Turning on the vertical and horizontal oscillation, I could feel the effects of this speed setting wherever I was in the room, which was very nice, especially when the heatwave hit towards the end of my testing period.
It's quiet too, with my decibel meter recording noise levels of 36-60dB, which is the equivalent of a whisper up to gentle background noise, like the hum of a fridge.
When I used the fan in desktop mode, I really appreciated the fact that the base was small enough to fit easily on a side table in my living room and my bedside table (some similar fans I've tested have large bases that felt a bit cumbersome when on a table top). However, in pedestal mode, I did find that I wished it was a bit taller. At full height, it's 95cm, which is about 14cm shorter than the Meaco Sefte 10'' Pedestal Fan that takes the top spot as the best fan in our list.
In terms of using the controls, it's pretty easy. Five touch buttons on the fan itself allow you to turn it on, adjust the wind speed and oscillation, as well as turn on and adjust the brightness of the ambient light. You can do the same on the simple remote control. You do get a little extra functionality via the remote, however. Switching between normal, sleep and natural modes can only be done via the remote.
In normal mode, the fan will remain at your chosen wind speed until you change it. In natural mode, you can select an average speed and it will alternate speeds to mimic natural breeze. Rather than showing a symbol on the LED display to indicate natural mode, it instead displays the letters CF. Sleep mode will show SL, and once you select a starting wind speed, it will decrease speed every 30 minutes until it gets to speed 1 where it will remain.
I enjoyed using this fan at night. Not only does the display automatically turn off after a few seconds, but you can also mute the button-press tone, which is a lifesaver if you want to change the settings but share a room with a very light sleeper. There's also a handy timer, which meant I could set it to turn off when I'd dropped off to sleep.
The ambient backlight is a welcome addition to the design. It's not a light to read by, but it offers a nice glow, with three levels of customisable brightness.
Running costs
If you are looking for a fan to see you through the next summer heatwave, you'll be pleased to know that this one won't cost you the earth even if you need it on all day. Based on the April 2026 energy price cap of 24.67p per kilowatt hour of electricity, the AirCraft LUME will cost around 0.59p per hour to run.
Cleaning and maintenance
As with most fans I've tested, there's not much that's required in terms of cleaning or maintenance. To keep this fan in good and efficient working order, it's best to keep it free from dust with a dry cloth. If dust builds up in the grills on the fan head, you could use a vacuum cleaner (or a hair dryer on a cool setting) to remove it.
When not in use, it's best to store it somewhere clean and dry. It might be a idea to hold on to the original packaging so you can safely store it's dissembled parts.
Who should buy this fan?
If powerful wind speed is what you're after, then the AirCraft LUME is absolutely the fan to buy. It'll be suitable for effective air circulation in even large spaces, benefitting everyone in the room rather than just the one who ends up sitting closest.
However, if you want something with a similar look that you can control via an app, then the Pro Breeze Air Flo 43'' Hybrid Pedestal Fan with Smart App may be a better fit.
For the lowest running costs possible, and for something even more stylish, the Duux Whisper 3 looks great and costs between 0.04-0.46p/kWh to run.
If you want something more affordable, the Silentnight Airmax Pro360 Pedestal Fan with Remote Control has similar proportions and functionality, although it doesn't quite reach the same wind speeds.