Which fan blows hardest -- Tower fans and regular fans

Comparing three different tower fans to regular desk fans and pedestal fans, evaluating their ability to move air.
The Dreo fan I used was the Dreo Pilot max tower fan
Get the fan using this link: woodgears.ca/dr/tf

[@ThisOldTony]

clever thrust measuring setup!

[@k20nutz]

Somebody get Integza on the horn

[@ekstrapolatoraproksymujacy412]

actually its flawed, fan is lifting itself a bit when producing thrust because its moving around a pivot point which is short, you might think its neglibigle, but thrust to weight ratio of those fans is so low that I think its not negligible at all.

[@Don.Challenger]

Well, of course, the thrust characteristic of that type of thrust - if you can remember back when, Old Tony.

[@Rich-on6fe]

@@ekstrapolatoraproksymujacy412 good point but it will depend on how much give there is in the electronic scale. They're pretty stiff.

[@fredio54]

You promised to hire that young guy that faked your style a while back next time you went AWOL - I hope his contract is signed and his first upload to your channel is coming soon ;-)

[@Sceme1991]

That plastic bag demonstration was quite impressive. Really nicely demonstrates the difference

[@tmmtmm]

A question remains - if it moves "10 times the air at 1/10th the speed because of conservation of momentum" then how does it fill the bag faster? 1/10th of 10 is 1.

[@litbmeinnick]

@@tmmtmm maybe there's a kind of saturation effect. If you blow on the same spot always, air will stack up and exert back pressure and push air outside again. If air blows at the complete cross section, there's no such effect.

[@shazam6274]

the "magic" of entrained fluidic flow; in this case air.

[@jimdonny]

Bernoullis principle in action

[@xFlRSTx]

@@tmmtmm idrk but i think its because when u blow it inside like the first test, the energy is wasted by bouncing hard off the back of the bag and de-cohering into chaotic swirls. when u blow further away it can turn into a big slow moving sort of piston that can push all the air thats already in the bag and turns the energy that was a quick bounce off the back of the bag into a gradual softened push of all the air already in the bag. so it turns the energy into something thats harder to be wasted in the back of the bag when it just becomes swirly. also i think the piston effect helps it go faster because it can fill it faster than the air is even moving by pushing existing air already in there.

[@AtomsLab]

I am a big fan of this series, it really blows other comparisons away. It's a breath of fresh air!

[@TH-bj1pb]

#metoo

[@jimthesoundman8641]

I think you are full of hot air.

[@jeffreybell436]

We need a channel "Matthias - Only Fans"

[@willhaney96]

I see what you did thair.

[@Paxmax]

When it comes to tech reviews this channel provides a wind of change! I also appreciate the gusty move of going all wood solution for thrust-o-meter. Ok ok, to weather the storm..! I know I spelled it wrong! I don't need to try to be a blowhard, I think it comes naturally..! 🤔 Oh, wait...

[@lutheduck]

I knew Matthias had a huge fan base but it really blew me out how big it actually is :D

[@MrSatchelpack]

Get off the internet dad.

[@Gin-toki]

One of them is even an online fan :P

[@ronidepaula8067]

He definitely has lot of fans! 😅

[@tonyhuang431]

#onlyfans

[@BesthanddryerakaWDA]

@@ronidepaula8067 On KZbin too

[@snookstuh170]

These are the kind of videos KZbin was made for.

[@MandoFettOG]

I love these videos, feels like a sequel to your one a few years ago about the best fan placement in proximity to a window. Very interesting and truly useful information for those who are technically inclined.

[@Haarhzh]

This is data about which I’ve been wondering for quite a while, but for which I never took the time to make the necessary experiments. Thanks for doing the work and for sharing the results!

[@timfischer]

As I posted on your other video, your Dreo talk was enough to get me to buy... and I usually don't jump at buying sponsored content products lol. But I love that it's able to be set in a corner and perform virtually as well as a propeller fan, and look much better doing so.

[@TuProk]

I actually bought this Dreo fan a few weeks ago from seeing your coverage of their Air Purifier, and I have to say I'm not disappointed. One thing you didn't touch on too much is the noise level, but I can't believe how well it blows for being quiet too. I like the white noise when sleeping, but in my office I appreciate less background noise

[@luc9001]

He did in his last video

[@TuProk]

@@luc9001 oh, good call, nothing super scientific but noise is hard that way anyway, thanks

[@leiwa100]

You are building quite the fan base with these empirical experiments. Very interesting to learn what is better/different.

[@WookieChewie13]

Pun intended ?😂

[@Fuogor]

You touched on this, but what about plotting thrust versus power draw, to see how efficient each fan/fan type is at producing wind?

[@AdityaMehendale]

Thrust, not only against power-draw, but also vs. noise-level. Alas, too "grindy" a test for MW, I suspect.. Perhaps this is something for ProjectFarm instead..

[@jakefriesenjake]

@@AdityaMehendale plus versus weight, size, cost, watts, thrust, noise, and fan spread area (fan not oscillating) We need to know this!

[@keto2240]

This is a mad genius video... I bloody love it! The only thing missing (and something VERY important to me) is noise level too. If you had included actual db levels... this would have been hands down the most amazing fan video on all of KZbin!

[@maggru91]

Really love this kind of content. It's obvious you are very intelligent, with how you construct all your tests, so it makes for great trustworthy content.

[@pjmtts]

I’m using your trick to point the fan to blow at the window and boy does it work so well. So far no AC this year, holding out for July or later. 🥵

[@TheFanUniverse]

I guess each fans have their good & bad. Seems like it’s an issue that manufacturers are seriously looking into as nowadays you can get traditional desk/pedestal fan with propeller blades that have like 30 speeds & a brushless motor. I feel like tower fans never really catch on because of their weird wind pattern & the fact that they generally can’t point up & down, but I think Dreo is up to something here. I’d still take a traditional propeller blade fan over tower fans any day though.

[@matthiasrandomstuff2221]

There are some places where a tower fan fits better with the decor. I think that's a big factor.

[@TheFanUniverse]

That's true

[@andyb2339]

The tower fans are also a centrifugal type which seem to be favored for producing quieter white noise. My fancy air purifier uses this type in combination with a resin-packed brushless motor and you can barely hear it. I like the vertical form factor. Would actually buy this Dreo model if it came in white.

[@andrew40]

I like a tower fan because of large vertical area of air moved. It can set behind my desk, and it blows on all of me, legs and arms. It doesn't need to cover a wide area, and doesn't even need to oscillate. The room doesn't need air moving. I'm just after accelerated perspiration evaporation.

[@MandoFettOG]

@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 my wife agrees

[@aa-ron2243]

THANKS DREO!! this is important stuff. now we need a video on hand fans and high velocity fans

[@Lizlodude]

I just want to take a moment to appreciate that you get to do this as a job. That's awesome.

[@FamilyWinn]

Your workshop/lab looks like a great enjoyable place. Always enjoy your videos.

[@pofjiosgjsoges]

Amazing video, and it was an ad. Love it! I use classic fan with DC motor, can go very slow and is whisper quiet, perfect for night use.

[@TheCatanzaroShop]

These videos are always a great application of the scientific method and I love that!

[@pippibird7426]

Thank you for the garbage-bag filled with compressed air/compressed air from a distance. That helped me in my own project.

[@JaMaMaa1]

Enjoy to see more fan meetups in the future. Had no clue you had so many fans living near you!

[@mjarmd9814]

Although it was briefly discussed, evaluating the series of fans in regard to a ratio of some sort such as thrust to overall noise (turbulent flow, motor hum, etc.) may be interesting and potentially useful in helping decide which fans may be more appropriate or desired in particular scenarios; e.g summer workshop vs studying area or office in which zoom conferences may be held and the fan noise might be bothersome

[@ChertineP]

I agree, especially since one of the selling points of the Dyson is that it is so quiet

[@kpv123]

I agree too, but the problem with the Dyson is that it's noisy not quiet like they claim, unless you have it down on a super low setting which makes it pretty useless, hence a ratio comparison would have been good

[@shaidyn8278]

Nice to see the box fan do so well. I have an old box fan (we literally call it boxy) and it's amazing in the summer.

[@gannas42]

Interesting information that seems to confirm my gut instincts regarding box fans... thanks for the extra testing you've done here!

[@user93237]

Would have been interesting to see some thrust vs dB measurements and thrust vs W.

[@comisnor]

I love your tests and interesting findings

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting experiments indeed, Matthias! Thanks! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@MartinShorthose]

Well this little ad campaign has worked. Amazon listing the fan as out of stock right now. Oddly quite important for me is whether you can turn off the display. My wife won't sleep with a fan emitting even the slightest light! Great test - well thought through, as always

[@Kineth1]

I love that my Honeywell air filter let's you turn off the indicators.

[@jameskirk3210]

My wife too, but she can also sleep in an armchair with full light.🤣🤣🤣

[@MartinShorthose]

@@jameskirk3210 Haha! Same here!

[@TheFreeBro]

I never knew how bad I wanted a random “natural” wind speed for a fan before today. I love this style of sponsorship

[@Nick-HBC]

Where else would you find woodworking, and fan thrust measurements!? I totally love this nerdy integration.

[@kk10494]

Did you know the Dreo fans were actually good products before accepting their sponsorship and doing these videos? Or did it come as a pleasant surprise?

[@matthiasrandomstuff2221]

They sent me the fan first, without any commitment.

[@MaxineEveDark]

So hostile, so scary. 😶

[@kk10494]

@@MaxineEveDark Oh that wasn't the intention at all. I just thought it was interesting that of all the crap people promote on youtube, Matthias managed to get behind something that is a good product, and demonstrated it so empirically. In fact if I were in the market for a fan like this I'd just get the Dreo lol

[@J3assbox]

This stuff here is why i love youtube, so glad i found a new good channel to watch. Its like "Technology Connections" but way more practical.

[@DarthRelkew]

This is one of the best demonstrations of the scientific method!

[@surfcello]

Fantastic analysis. Now what I want in an office environment is usually for the air around me to be exchanged with fresh air gradually and quietly. I imagine a steady laminar flow would be ideal. I wonder how these fans compare in terms of turbulence.

[@thsfl23]

Glad to see that you have so many fans now :)

[@kaizen9860]

👍👍👍 I really like the explaination. This man take fan seriously.

[@briantaylor9266]

Is the next in the series a comparison of thrust versus amps? That would give a raw measure of efficiency in creating air movement.

[@markfisher7962]

Wonderful ingenuity of the test setups! I'd like to see a tabulation of thrust vs power and thrust vs noise.

[@FiliusFidelis]

as you were touching on, the problem with traditional propeller style fans is that they usually have 3 settings, and even the lowest one blows really quite hard. Often one just wants a nice gentle breeze. I use a towerfan with 8 settings, much nicer. It also has an ionizer which is surprisingly good at neutralizing bad smells like smoking neighbors.

[@Don.Challenger]

Matthias, you have been reluctant to get into sponsorship arrangements for a long time, luckily Dreo has product with suitable qualities and capabilities worthy of your involvement and, with thought, made both entertaining and understandable enough that your audience approves. Now, if only, some intelligent mice and manic marbles could be added into the mix.

[@Sandreas95]

Bought a cheap fan yesterday and I'm pleased to say that watching this video didn't fill me with regret

[@johnnyllooddte3415]

finally.. thanks for a great comparison

[@korganrivera4659]

Cycling the modes on the Dreo would be really useful for indoor plants. That's a nice feature.

[@antraxxslingshots]

2:47 i love how such a thorough guy like Matt dropped that his platform move without friction :)

[@ehhhhhhhhhh]

I'm curious about thrust per decibel, as well as wattage at the lowest settings. Would be nice to have a quiet circulating fan that uses as little power as possible. Dreo was totally off my radar, except that I remember seeing their Amazon reviews were absurdly good. Nice to see that your conclusion matches the reviews.

[@riba2233]

Nice test, it would be interesting to see them normalized for noise and watts

[@Zawoalowany]

Such a good video. Thanks a lot!

[@RK-ie6op]

Bro did a whole phd thesis on the fans!

[@tristangates2797]

Great demonstration with the trash bag. I've sort of some to the same conclusions as you by anecdote. Back in my old shop we had a big barn fan and a large industrial stand fan. Even though the motor hp was about the same, the stand fan seemed to move a lot more air despite it's smaller blade size. It seemed to me then that the velocity of the air was as important as raw volume, and now I can see why. Those Dysons are just not a good deal unless you want a filter in that particular form-factor. I still use the cross flow fans where it fits in better, but the propeller style fans are what I go to now. There are even a few premium ones out there with nice high quality brush-less dc motors and extra-low speed settings.

[@MiscMitz]

I enjoy your tests

[@enoniemschybaniewiem1847]

You have a room full of fans. You must be very popular.

[@absolutem31]

He must be really cool

[@reynal_omnicide9217]

So interesting, I'm glad I have one of those box fans

[@NoferTrunions]

Finally, someone using thrust (!) WELL DONE! Would love to see how the old Westinghouse high pitch propeller fans in the shrouded cases with radial inlet guide vanes would fare. Their tiny 8 or 10" would blow a silent breeze 20' away (!) Also high velocity propeller Honeywell and Vornado.

[@galidroo]

These videos are great and I love your in depth analysis but you should mention the sponsorship at the start of the video

[@yangguan4070]

Learnt something new today!!

[@zayicza]

Now this is the content a fan fan likes to see

[@henryerivesq.106]

Thank you!

[@MrTtsolo]

I’m actually quite surprised to be interested by an only fans vidéo ! Nice !

[@eef_freef]

thanks for the information!

[@benjaminbrewer2154]

You sold me on more box fans. I like simple.

[@matthiasrandomstuff2221]

but loud and hard to aim

[@KimHarderFog]

An interesting thing to test, is the power/dba, so what produces the most cooling, with the lowest noise

[@HueyGnash]

please make a playlist called "only fans"

[@Shady_Fungus]

Platinum comment by the original post 🤣

[@leandrolefa]

So clever. Love it.

[@andreasu.3546]

That is a serious fan collection!

[@davidotterstetter3829]

I love the sound of the fan, the louder the better in my eyes

[@MatterLabz]

Great idea on the trash bag demo.

[@insevanhouts]

Like another commenter said, thrust vs power usage would be super interesting!

[@MiscellaneousMichelle]

Great video

[@billverant7225]

Bought this fan and returned it immediately. Fan had a grinding noise that could be heard at all speeds. Never spent so much for a fan before, figured I'd splurge and was immediately punished with a defective unit. Not going to bother with a replacement, just going to get my money back and use what I had before.

[@ivokolarik8290]

Excellent video

[@rob4197]

The weights of the fans have a huge impact on the thrust numbers for this test.

[@Nathan_Chao]

absolutely brilliant

[@DullPoints]

The moving platform is such a good idea to unify the fan movements. Did it take long to arrive at a test setup?

[@nikonistic3053]

keep up the good work!

[@Theonekhaled1]

Great endorsement. It really seems like the best product and I want one. Live in Sweden though and seems difficult to buy from here..

[@gretchen3147]

Love your videos

[@IliosIliatoras]

Now I just want to see all the fans working together at full speed.

[@adamflyshotmail]

It is pretty cool of the sponsor to just let themselves be beat by a box fan in a video ostensibly showcasing their product. Lol

[@cosmeticsandpurseswithevelyn]

I like the dreo but at $150 Ill pass it up already own Box fans & stand one. Beside my expensive saddle AC and regular one. Thanks fot the video! 👍

[@robbykidman]

I think I watched a different only fans channel. But i love this 😂 so informative and it's not even biased

[@Br33zeKooL]

Never heard of Dreo before, now imma go research it and maybe buy one.

[@wilbertbirdner1303]

I don't think there's another KZbinr with this many fans.

[@bbg5000]

Dyson is just doing that air effect you talked about (bernoullis principle) in a shorter distance. So it's good for smaller rooms.

[@sapelesteve]

After watching this video, I now know why I am a big fan of Matthias's YT channel! 😁😂🤣

[@samharry7474]

Oh wow this is great!

[@trep53]

I liked the group shot of all the fans, looks like a motley crew at a pub.

[@redhouscv2792]

Very interesting video. If you do another video on this you should try to graph out thrust vs decibel or calculate grams of thrust per decibel or thrust per dollar to see not just the flat out most thrust but most bang for buck or the most efficient while still being quite

[@1HiddenSecret]

I used a three phase industrial motor and a attached a huge belt drive wheel to the spindle and then used a belt on a smaller adjacent belt drive wheel with a fan blade attached..... needless to say the wind blew the window frames off my sill but the suction was mad.... paper would fly out of other rooms and stick to the cage.... unbelievable!

[@adakite6734]

I would love to see a test on what fan produces the smallest amount of noise.

[@solanuskc4303]

The dreo is a pretty nice looking fan, I would consider using it in a place where using the cheap propeller fan would look unprofessional, like in the reception area of my office. It would also look much nicer than the comparable propeller fan in my living room

[@matthiasrandomstuff2221]

Yes, I think the styling is the big factor in favour of tower fans

[@metalhead00xx]

You should do these same tests on the dual window fans (the kinds with two fans that can blow air in, out, or both). Be careful, because not every kind of "dual window fan" has that last setting. Some can only blow in or out.

[@jameskirk3210]

Very efficient "temporary out of stock". Matthias best seller of the month !!!😎🖖👌👍

[@R0STR0P0VIC]

Should't the thrust experiment take into account the weight of the fan itself? The force produced by the thrust is actually lifting the weight of the fan at the same time as It is acting against the weight scale.

[@TJStellmach]

The platform can't actually move much while it's coupled to the scale though, can it? Aside from whatever flex there is in the coupling itself and the surface of the scale.

[@NicosLeben]

I don't think it makes much difference, as the fan only moves as much as is needed to measure pressure at the scale. And that will be a maximum of one millimeter.

[@mieguistumas]

It should. The swing configuration needs to move backwards to push on the scale. While the scale provides the same amount of resistance, the swing is not going to work the same. A very heavy fan could probably produce Dyson levels of airflow while giving no thrust measurements in this setting.

[@matthiasrandomstuff2221]

I showedi t swinging to show how it works, but it doesn't actually swing, cause the scale blocks it from swinging.

[@syber-space]

@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 Wouldn't the fan's weight still cause a slight counterforce to the movement measured by the scale? It's nearly moving horizontally, but there still is a tiny bit of vertical movement given the swing design. Likely the easiest way to be sure would be to place a few bricks on the swing with a fan and see if the measurement changes much. It might be negligible, but I'm not good enough at estimation to say for sure that the weight couldn't affect such a small measurement. Great video as always!

[@undertyped1]

Due to the fact that fans send out more air when it's about half a meter from a window, if you attach one end of a cardboard box to the fan, and the other end to the window, and seal it up, the airflow in the room becomes kind of insane. Just make sure the fan is pointing outside.

[@thomaswiegele9802]

Hi Matthias, just discovered you just now with the Fan series. I had for a long a question in mind regarding fans that maybe you can test out if it gets you curious: When sleeping, how do I get the best airflow in the room ? 1) The fan blows from the floor directly towards a wall (can try a side wall and one opposite to the bed). 2) The fan blows from the floor diagonally towards the ceiling (can try towards a flat wall and towards an upper-corner). You might get other ideas of positions (towards the floor ?) and directions in the process :D. My personal feeling was that towards an upper-corner was best but I might be wrong !

[@swecreations]

The Xiaomi SmartMi Smartfan series is definitely among the best and I'd say better than your top pick, it had 100 adjustable speed settings on the higher end fans and can be battery powered so you can use them wirelessly if you want. Also cheaper than $100. Use mine in the bedroom all the time.

[@RacerX1971]

Did you try the Vornado brand. I have a couple and seems like it very efficient

[@holcos]

This kind of stuff is why KZbin exist, thanks!

[@piercedfreak27]

love to see that done with window fans.

[@teliots]

Does the mass of the fan make a difference with your thrust measuring setup? I'm curious if you would get the same measurement if the fans were set on top of weights to normalize them.

[@matthiasrandomstuff2221]

doesn't make a difference. The fan doesn't actually move back because the scale prevents it from moving back. Also, I tare the scale to zero before the fan is turned on.

[@neilfranciotti1020]

@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 can you calculate cfm directly from that force measurement?