Old house/non-AC people: what are your best fan strategies?
July 15, 2024 8:48 AM Subscribe
We have a 150-year-old brick house that gets REALLY hot on summer days and our AC system can't keep up. I want to maximize air circulation and take advantage of outside breezes with fans and am debating between those super air blaster room fans and tower fans and on-a-pole fans. If you have a good setup for an old hot house, I'd love to hear all the details.
We do have Woozoo fans in a number of rooms but at full blast they are loud and I am looking for something that can run all day and be a bit more in the background.
We do have Woozoo fans in a number of rooms but at full blast they are loud and I am looking for something that can run all day and be a bit more in the background.
I am not in a hot place now but lived in NYC without AC for many years. I swear by Vornado for taking the temperature down a few degrees without sounding like a jet engine taking off.
I also swear by ceiling fans, if they're an option for you.
posted by amandabee at 9:04 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
I also swear by ceiling fans, if they're an option for you.
posted by amandabee at 9:04 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
We rigged up a 'whole house' fan with one of these, attached to one of these, followed by one of these, attached to a piece of plywood cut to fit directly into one window. It pulls about 1500 CFM I think.
We run it at night, pulling air out of the house, and fans in a few windows blowing in; it routinely brings the house temp down to about 5-8F of the outside temperature if left overnight. This lets our window AC units get a break, and with a lower 'starting' temperature each day, are more likely to be able to keep up.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:06 AM on July 15 [8 favorites]
We run it at night, pulling air out of the house, and fans in a few windows blowing in; it routinely brings the house temp down to about 5-8F of the outside temperature if left overnight. This lets our window AC units get a break, and with a lower 'starting' temperature each day, are more likely to be able to keep up.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:06 AM on July 15 [8 favorites]
I don't know if it can be retrofitted, but two of the houses I grew up in had very powerful fans in the attics. It was pretty amazing how strong the air flow was, and how much more pleasant it would make things. Turning on the fan and feeling the 'Whoosh!' was always a satisfying moment.
One of the houses was in Pennsylvania, the other in Southwest Florida. The PA house was a more than a century old two story northern home, while the Florida one was a classic single floor home built probably in the 20s or 30s. Back in the 90s, it was still pretty pleasant even in the heat and humidity of Florida, but it had been built with cooling in mind. Between the eaves, and all of the windows were slatted and opened such that they wouldn't let rain in even with the daily strong summer thunderstorms... I think the fan in that house was actually in kind of a chimney style design, but it has been decades since I was last there.
As for contemporary fans, the classic Vornado is an excellent fan, and moves large volumes of air with a surprisingly little amount of noise. Maybe combine them with some good window fans to increase the air flow. I usually try to build consistent flows in our place, to maximize air movement as best as possible.
When I lived in Western Florida, an apartment I lived in had an excellent ceiling fan, and I could skip the AC for all but about 3 weeks of the year. Ceiling fans are the best!!!
posted by rambling wanderlust at 9:08 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
One of the houses was in Pennsylvania, the other in Southwest Florida. The PA house was a more than a century old two story northern home, while the Florida one was a classic single floor home built probably in the 20s or 30s. Back in the 90s, it was still pretty pleasant even in the heat and humidity of Florida, but it had been built with cooling in mind. Between the eaves, and all of the windows were slatted and opened such that they wouldn't let rain in even with the daily strong summer thunderstorms... I think the fan in that house was actually in kind of a chimney style design, but it has been decades since I was last there.
As for contemporary fans, the classic Vornado is an excellent fan, and moves large volumes of air with a surprisingly little amount of noise. Maybe combine them with some good window fans to increase the air flow. I usually try to build consistent flows in our place, to maximize air movement as best as possible.
When I lived in Western Florida, an apartment I lived in had an excellent ceiling fan, and I could skip the AC for all but about 3 weeks of the year. Ceiling fans are the best!!!
posted by rambling wanderlust at 9:08 AM on July 15 [3 favorites]
I also swear by ceiling fans, if they're an option for you.
Second this, and you should buy the largest (they have more airflow) fans you can find, and judge by the airlow at low or medium speeds. They are nearly silent if you buy DC motor versions, and look for the highest airflow at those speeds you can get. 52-55" for bedrooms if you have unobstructed space for them. Most ceiling fans are judged by the airflow on 'high', which can be annoying and the noise can be noticeable.. It's actually somewhat hard to search online, you generally have to compare boxes in stores to compare the medium and low airflow speed settings. It's written on the box.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:17 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Second this, and you should buy the largest (they have more airflow) fans you can find, and judge by the airlow at low or medium speeds. They are nearly silent if you buy DC motor versions, and look for the highest airflow at those speeds you can get. 52-55" for bedrooms if you have unobstructed space for them. Most ceiling fans are judged by the airflow on 'high', which can be annoying and the noise can be noticeable.. It's actually somewhat hard to search online, you generally have to compare boxes in stores to compare the medium and low airflow speed settings. It's written on the box.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:17 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Oh, to be clear, the whole rig I mentioned lives outside: the motor on the ventilator is fairly noisy (it's meant for a construction site; the flexible tube is to make sure it can be placed away from the house a bit. We pop the plywood slab in a window once the sun has gone down, and let it do it's thing. It is quieter than an outdoor AC air handler, and it is outside so you don't really hear it inside.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:19 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
posted by furnace.heart at 9:19 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
I pull air from the outside of the cooler side and vent it out on the hotter side. For example, right now I have a dual window fan on the unshaded east side (it's 9:20 in morning here) pushing air out, and a regular ole box window fan on the shaded south side pulling in cool air. The ambient air temps are still in the 60s, but objects in the sun are already way hotter.
The difference between the external building (wall) temps in shade versus sun can be huge. In this example in Tucson, it's a 24 degree Fahrenheit/ 13 degree Celsius difference.
Agree that the tower fans are not very useful.
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:20 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
The difference between the external building (wall) temps in shade versus sun can be huge. In this example in Tucson, it's a 24 degree Fahrenheit/ 13 degree Celsius difference.
Agree that the tower fans are not very useful.
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:20 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Seconding pulling air from the cool side and venting out he hot side using ordinary box fans (and shutting windows, doors, and curtains before or right at dawn if the day is planned to be a scorcher). A whole house fan in the attic if it can be retrofitted is also a miraculous thing.
posted by shadygrove at 9:29 AM on July 15
posted by shadygrove at 9:29 AM on July 15
The time-tested non-loud, non-annoying solutions to this are ceiling fans (great in all climates) and whole house fans in the attic (can be useful if outside temperatures drop at sunset).
Unless your home was designed to take advantage of cross breezes (i.e. it benefits from shade, especially to the south and west) then powerful floor fans and open windows will simply make the inside of your home the same temperature and humidity as outside. This is likely not an improvement in the daytime. If you live somewhere humid that does not cool down quickly when the sun sets it may not be an improvement in the evening either.
The AC system should have been designed to cool the house. If it's not doing that, it might be worth speaking to HVAC people. If you have the budget, or are worried HVAC people will focus on the wrong thing, I would get a consultation from an expert (i.e. an energy audit).
posted by caek at 9:41 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Unless your home was designed to take advantage of cross breezes (i.e. it benefits from shade, especially to the south and west) then powerful floor fans and open windows will simply make the inside of your home the same temperature and humidity as outside. This is likely not an improvement in the daytime. If you live somewhere humid that does not cool down quickly when the sun sets it may not be an improvement in the evening either.
The AC system should have been designed to cool the house. If it's not doing that, it might be worth speaking to HVAC people. If you have the budget, or are worried HVAC people will focus on the wrong thing, I would get a consultation from an expert (i.e. an energy audit).
posted by caek at 9:41 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Get shades or blinds to keep out the sun, esp on the south siide of the house. Well worth the investment. I love sunshine, but I'd rather keep the power bill down. Is there an attic? Make sure there's a vented attic fan, and a vent to allow the heat to rise to the attic. This can make a huge difference. I grew up in So. Ohio w/out AC, and the attic fan really made it manageable. I do not have AC, and ceiling fans make rooms more pleasant.
Plant shade trees because it's getting warmer, and they make such a difference. I have a southwest facing deck and patio umbrellas help keep the sun out. Consider awnings, pergola, etc.
posted by theora55 at 10:00 AM on July 15 [6 favorites]
Plant shade trees because it's getting warmer, and they make such a difference. I have a southwest facing deck and patio umbrellas help keep the sun out. Consider awnings, pergola, etc.
posted by theora55 at 10:00 AM on July 15 [6 favorites]
If your house has double hung windows, simply using them properly will help a lot. You may need to test whether opening the top and bottom of the same windows works better than opening the tops of windows on one side of the house and the bottom of windows on the other side of the house, but the simple convection of hot air going out the top sashes makes a huge difference. Similarly, if there's an attic level whole house fan as mentioned above, learn to love it.
Our old house (100 this year) has two floors above the basement, so we have a stratification problem. Before we commit to the expense of turning the A/C on, I'll open the top sashes upstairs and the bottom sashes downstairs, and let the fact heat rises work to circulate air through the whole house. (Also, for some dumb reason our double hung windows only have half height screens, so I don't have the option of opening both sashes at once.) We do have central A/C, but the ducts are poorly sized, so even when we do have it running we have to put Vornado fans at the bottom of both staircases, pointing up. That also helps, but just using the windows properly will help more.
posted by fedward at 10:07 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Our old house (100 this year) has two floors above the basement, so we have a stratification problem. Before we commit to the expense of turning the A/C on, I'll open the top sashes upstairs and the bottom sashes downstairs, and let the fact heat rises work to circulate air through the whole house. (Also, for some dumb reason our double hung windows only have half height screens, so I don't have the option of opening both sashes at once.) We do have central A/C, but the ducts are poorly sized, so even when we do have it running we have to put Vornado fans at the bottom of both staircases, pointing up. That also helps, but just using the windows properly will help more.
posted by fedward at 10:07 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Seconding theora55 that shading the OUTSIDE of the building is most effective. We hang pale shade cloth from the first-floor eaves on the treeless side of our house and it makes an enormous difference. (Pale doesn't reradiate heat and the pale light through the windows is nice. Aluminized is probably most heat-effective but pretty mean to any neighbors who can see it.)
Annual vines also work.
posted by clew at 10:08 AM on July 15 [4 favorites]
Annual vines also work.
posted by clew at 10:08 AM on July 15 [4 favorites]
I live in a century-old house and have recently acquired just such a super air blaster fan as you linked. My house is under a big maple tree and I have a window AC unit upstairs, so I typically have all the windows open in the mornings, close them before things get too hot and run the AC, and then reopen the windows in the evening once it's cool enough and turn the fans on full bore to air out the house. The vornado has been great both at moving air around to cool the house when the windows are open and also to provide a nice cooling air current indoors with the windows shut. The volume of air it moves is really nice.
posted by lhputtgrass at 10:30 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
posted by lhputtgrass at 10:30 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
You asked about different styles of standalone fan, and a lot of the comments here have been much more holistic (optimize whole-house airflow, install ceiling fans, etc.) Those are good approaches in terms of reducing actual temperature by some number of degrees. However, if the temperatures in your house are safe and livable but just not comfortable, then I personally have found fan air blasted directly at me the only thing that really works. Window fans sucking hot air out or cooler air in, or creating cross-breezes, or whole-house fans that do the same, don't provide anywhere near the same amount of tangible relief. The best fans I've found in terms of shooting a good amount of air at you without too much noise are the simple, cheap, old-fashioned style that everyone used to use, like the on-a-pole fan you linked; there are also desktop and wall-mounted versions instead of floor-standing ones. I've never found the tower ones very strong, and all the Vornado-style ones I've tried have made more noise than the old-fashioned ones, without enough added payoff to justify the din. (Note that I've never tried the actual Vornado brand though.)
Ceiling fans can be okay (though many are not great), but I'd still have some plain regular fans around, for more targeted airflow and also less chance of all the papers in your room flying around. In general I would supplement any holistic circulation-focused approach with some regular fans for direct targeting. I also vote for simple fans that can be taken apart to clean, especially if it's dusty where you live.
Beyond that, agreed with all the advice to keep the sun out or off of the house as much as possible. If you have rooms that get especially hot during the day, and that you don't actually need to spend much time in, keep their doors closed and blinds shut as much as possible during the hot hours. Avoid using ovens or stoves during the day if you can. If humidity isn't super high, get a laundry rack (just an example, not a recommendation; that price is ridiculous) and dry your laundry on it; you'll notice the room the rack is in will get cooler than the others. (If humidity is low in your area you might also look at swamp fans.)
posted by trig at 10:41 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Ceiling fans can be okay (though many are not great), but I'd still have some plain regular fans around, for more targeted airflow and also less chance of all the papers in your room flying around. In general I would supplement any holistic circulation-focused approach with some regular fans for direct targeting. I also vote for simple fans that can be taken apart to clean, especially if it's dusty where you live.
Beyond that, agreed with all the advice to keep the sun out or off of the house as much as possible. If you have rooms that get especially hot during the day, and that you don't actually need to spend much time in, keep their doors closed and blinds shut as much as possible during the hot hours. Avoid using ovens or stoves during the day if you can. If humidity isn't super high, get a laundry rack (just an example, not a recommendation; that price is ridiculous) and dry your laundry on it; you'll notice the room the rack is in will get cooler than the others. (If humidity is low in your area you might also look at swamp fans.)
posted by trig at 10:41 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Growing up I had a friend whose house had a monster exhaust fan in the attic, and when it was on you could feel airflow through the whole house. Always thought that was cool.
posted by entropone at 11:01 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
posted by entropone at 11:01 AM on July 15 [1 favorite]
Changing your thermostat settings so that your AC/HVAC blower fan is always on may help if part of the problem is uneven cooling (for example, if your upstairs is always much hotter than downstairs). The trade-off is the system will dehumidify less effectively.
posted by AndrewInDC at 11:27 AM on July 15
posted by AndrewInDC at 11:27 AM on July 15
Here's what I'm doing in my old house:
Overnight, if the temperature drops or is forecast to soon drop below, say, 75, and especially if it's going to go below 70, I open as many windows as widely as possible (some are stuck/painted shut) and run one or two box fans in the windows (resting in there, not any kind of fixed set up) in the upstairs, to try to pull in as much cool air as possible overnight. Ideally I'd run fans in all the upstairs rooms. I don't worry too much about trying to create some kind of in/out flow because I don't have fans in all the windows, and I don't know if it really makes a difference since the fans aren't snug in the windows. Box fans are cheap and widely available.
In the morning, if I'm home, I then also open up the back door and try to remember to run the overhead fan in that room. When the temperature starts to move up, I close the windows and doors. I keep the shades drawn (which means pulling them down fully over the windows that had been open). I don't like it, but it helps a lot, especially on the southern and western sides of the house, but I also keep the shades down on the north and east if it's forecast to be very hot. For most of the past week, I have had the shades down in my house all the time.
If it's not going to cool down that much overnight, then we keep the a/c on and aim a box fax at us in our rooms. It does make a difference. If it is cooler in the morning, then I will open the windows and door for a bit.
My understanding is that a/c is only going to drop things about 20 degrees below outside temperature, even when it's working well. My a/c is also old and I am getting a heat pump installed soon, I hope.
Other things to consider, since the world is burning: planting a native (or native to south of you) tree or trees that will eventually shade the south and west of the house, if they aren't already shaded. If you do already have big trees, make sure you are watering them if you're not getting rain. These old trees need help in hot, dry times.
A whole house fan in the attic might be good, too. Have you ever gotten an energy audit?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:27 AM on July 15 [4 favorites]
Overnight, if the temperature drops or is forecast to soon drop below, say, 75, and especially if it's going to go below 70, I open as many windows as widely as possible (some are stuck/painted shut) and run one or two box fans in the windows (resting in there, not any kind of fixed set up) in the upstairs, to try to pull in as much cool air as possible overnight. Ideally I'd run fans in all the upstairs rooms. I don't worry too much about trying to create some kind of in/out flow because I don't have fans in all the windows, and I don't know if it really makes a difference since the fans aren't snug in the windows. Box fans are cheap and widely available.
In the morning, if I'm home, I then also open up the back door and try to remember to run the overhead fan in that room. When the temperature starts to move up, I close the windows and doors. I keep the shades drawn (which means pulling them down fully over the windows that had been open). I don't like it, but it helps a lot, especially on the southern and western sides of the house, but I also keep the shades down on the north and east if it's forecast to be very hot. For most of the past week, I have had the shades down in my house all the time.
If it's not going to cool down that much overnight, then we keep the a/c on and aim a box fax at us in our rooms. It does make a difference. If it is cooler in the morning, then I will open the windows and door for a bit.
My understanding is that a/c is only going to drop things about 20 degrees below outside temperature, even when it's working well. My a/c is also old and I am getting a heat pump installed soon, I hope.
Other things to consider, since the world is burning: planting a native (or native to south of you) tree or trees that will eventually shade the south and west of the house, if they aren't already shaded. If you do already have big trees, make sure you are watering them if you're not getting rain. These old trees need help in hot, dry times.
A whole house fan in the attic might be good, too. Have you ever gotten an energy audit?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:27 AM on July 15 [4 favorites]
This is the Great Basin Desert, and it gets HOT. We don't have central air, but we have put a small room AC in the spare room we have our computers in. That gets used in the afternoon, mostly July thru the end of August.
What makes this livable:
ceiling fans and a floor fan
big trees to the south and west
light exterior paint and roof shingles
two extra big exterior side vents from the attic that we can close off in cold weather that utilize the prevailing winds
deep eaves on the south
shade cloth on the east (I couldn't deal with the lack of light when we had it on the south windows, so we just close the blinds. There are no windows on the west TG!
We close up the house during the day, and the minute the temps equalize in the evening as measured on our indoor/outdoor thermometer, the windows go open and we move the floor fan to a north window for the night.
One weird trick I'll share if your house has a basement! Our basement steps start on the east side of the house accessible with a turn from our pass-thru kitchen. The bottom step ends about 1/3 of the way into the center of the basement. If you stand at the head wall on the top floor, the dining room/kitchen is to the north, the living room to the south, and a hallway goes west. Mr. BlueHorse installed a vent at floor level in the bottom of the head wall with a fan that brings up cool air from the basement. We leave a northwest window cracked in the basement to bring in air to assist circulation, and a bathroom window in the hall vents warm air. The tile floor for about 5 feet around that is doggone COLD to walk on, and the dining room ceiling fan helps circulate air through the whole house.
I always thought if I had the money to build a house in a hot climate, I'd build it with a barajeel, aka windcatcher.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:59 AM on July 15 [2 favorites]
What makes this livable:
ceiling fans and a floor fan
big trees to the south and west
light exterior paint and roof shingles
two extra big exterior side vents from the attic that we can close off in cold weather that utilize the prevailing winds
deep eaves on the south
shade cloth on the east (I couldn't deal with the lack of light when we had it on the south windows, so we just close the blinds. There are no windows on the west TG!
We close up the house during the day, and the minute the temps equalize in the evening as measured on our indoor/outdoor thermometer, the windows go open and we move the floor fan to a north window for the night.
One weird trick I'll share if your house has a basement! Our basement steps start on the east side of the house accessible with a turn from our pass-thru kitchen. The bottom step ends about 1/3 of the way into the center of the basement. If you stand at the head wall on the top floor, the dining room/kitchen is to the north, the living room to the south, and a hallway goes west. Mr. BlueHorse installed a vent at floor level in the bottom of the head wall with a fan that brings up cool air from the basement. We leave a northwest window cracked in the basement to bring in air to assist circulation, and a bathroom window in the hall vents warm air. The tile floor for about 5 feet around that is doggone COLD to walk on, and the dining room ceiling fan helps circulate air through the whole house.
I always thought if I had the money to build a house in a hot climate, I'd build it with a barajeel, aka windcatcher.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:59 AM on July 15 [2 favorites]
We hang pale shade cloth from the first-floor eaves on the treeless side of our house and it makes an enormous difference.
We also do this on the west side of our 100 year old stucco house. The wall would soak up sunlight all afternoon and then radiate it into our house. You could feel the heat through the wall in the late afternoon no matter how many fans were going. The tan shade cloth really helps.
I also second everyone suggesting Vornado fans. We have a couple window fans that we use to pull cool air in overnight, and we open up the skylight to get the warm air out. You may be able to replicate this by opening a high window.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:39 PM on July 15
We also do this on the west side of our 100 year old stucco house. The wall would soak up sunlight all afternoon and then radiate it into our house. You could feel the heat through the wall in the late afternoon no matter how many fans were going. The tan shade cloth really helps.
I also second everyone suggesting Vornado fans. We have a couple window fans that we use to pull cool air in overnight, and we open up the skylight to get the warm air out. You may be able to replicate this by opening a high window.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:39 PM on July 15
I'm not 100% sure what you're trying to do. While the a/c is on, you definitely don't want open windows in the same space, because you don't want the a/c to need to keep dehumidifying. Depending on how your system is zoned, maybe you could cool one part of your house with a/c and the other with fans/ shades/ etc.?
Or are you only asking which fan is best for a nice breeze, or to move cool air from the a/c throughout the house?
If you have an attic, an attic fan will probably be useful; the sun often heats attics so they're hotter than the outside air temperature. A fan in unconditioned space makes a big difference there.
posted by metasarah at 1:44 PM on July 15
Or are you only asking which fan is best for a nice breeze, or to move cool air from the a/c throughout the house?
If you have an attic, an attic fan will probably be useful; the sun often heats attics so they're hotter than the outside air temperature. A fan in unconditioned space makes a big difference there.
posted by metasarah at 1:44 PM on July 15
Mod note: Helping every be cool by adding this post to the sideblog and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:08 AM on July 18
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:08 AM on July 18
If you have attic space or an upstairs with windows, open those up. Hot air rises, so giving that air an escape route up high will both keep things cooler and help set up a convection of air through the house.
If humidity is low enough and you have a breeze going, spraying yourself with a spray mister can help.
And here's a small but really nice little tip: freeze grapes! They become tiny refreshing popsicles that cool you from the inside.
posted by antinomia at 8:22 AM on July 18
If humidity is low enough and you have a breeze going, spraying yourself with a spray mister can help.
And here's a small but really nice little tip: freeze grapes! They become tiny refreshing popsicles that cool you from the inside.
posted by antinomia at 8:22 AM on July 18
One thing I've really enjoyed playing around with is passive airflow.
Long ago I heard that by opening windows in an imbalanced way you could get stronger airflow, but I've had more luck with leveraging temperature differentials, mostly inspired by Buckminster Fuller's discovery.
If you have windows on opposite sides of the home and one side gets hotter than the other, then the rising hot air on the heated side can end up pulling in cooler air on the shaded side, thus cooling down the indoor space overall.
Also, Technology Connections suggests awnings!
EDIT: I nearly forgot, but if you can rent, borrow, or buy an infrared thermal imaging camera, it can really help you troubleshoot where the heat is coming from. I was really surprised to learn that my apartment gets a lot of heat through a west-facing wall and from heater vents that go through my walls from an adjoining unit.
posted by ericedge at 9:03 AM on July 20 [1 favorite]
Long ago I heard that by opening windows in an imbalanced way you could get stronger airflow, but I've had more luck with leveraging temperature differentials, mostly inspired by Buckminster Fuller's discovery.
If you have windows on opposite sides of the home and one side gets hotter than the other, then the rising hot air on the heated side can end up pulling in cooler air on the shaded side, thus cooling down the indoor space overall.
Also, Technology Connections suggests awnings!
EDIT: I nearly forgot, but if you can rent, borrow, or buy an infrared thermal imaging camera, it can really help you troubleshoot where the heat is coming from. I was really surprised to learn that my apartment gets a lot of heat through a west-facing wall and from heater vents that go through my walls from an adjoining unit.
posted by ericedge at 9:03 AM on July 20 [1 favorite]
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Ceiling fans are really helpful if you can swing them. If install is an issue, you might try these screw-in ceiling fans, which don't require complex installation. I haven't used them yet and I don't know how much air they move or how loud they are, but they might be worth a try.
I really don't like tower fans -- I don't feel like they work well and they're hard to clean. Wirecutter stopped recommending them for this reason. You might check out their recommendations, which rate on effectiveness and noise level as well as ease of cleaning.
posted by ourobouros at 9:03 AM on July 15 [2 favorites]