Buy it for Life

I feel like I might be decently equipped to answer this. My house is older, I have no ceiling fans but I do like constant airflow especially sleeping.

I've went through a few models of tower fans and ran them virtually 24/7 and I think the one I have now has been my best choice.

I've tried a handful of vornado fans, months of use they begin getting louder, more noises start happening until the fan makes such noises that peaceful sleep or presence by them aren't possible.

Vornado fans were nice, until they failed from use.

My current fan is a Dreo. It's a tower fan but it uses a brushless motor which I didn't think any of my other fans had. It's been by far the quietest, which gives me confidence that it'll last much longer too.

Might be worth considering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N3HKY79

For BIFL you want a full metal cage & blades typically marketed to warehouses. A brushless motor will further extend the life. Buy them used.

A more effective way is a ceiling fan. Hunter isn't a high end brand. But, if without a remote and excessive dust it'll last at least a couple decades.

I would recommend getting an adjustable angle oscillating desk fan, but one made of metal (not much difference in price tbh) when you can unclip the front guard to access the blades.

That way you can wipe the dust off and give the spinning part a blast of WD40 once a year to keep it running nicely for a long time.

Something like this

For context about 30cm in diameter. Should cost around €25.

If you need the height but lack the table space a similar floor fan should do though will probably cost a bit more.

Aren't basically all fans BiFL? They're very simple devices, without much to go wrong. I've never had a fan, even base-budget home-brand department store ones, ever break, unless they fell over, or got hit enough to snap parts, but even BiFL things will break if you abuse them.

At most, the pedestal fans I've used wilt slightly, and that's easily fixed by tightening the screw in the neck.

Window fan with removable feet. It can sit on a table, floor, or in the window. The cheap ones have both fans running in the same direction - they suck. Get one with controls for each fan.

Edit: The brand I'm using is Intertek Model WDF9-2 but I doubt if it's still being produced, had this thing for years.

I know this sounds silly, but I once needed a cheap fan to blow away the farts in my computer corner (no air circulation there). It was ~€25 I guess (should be the same in $)

It’s a rotary fan, you can tilt the head and it’s oscillating.

I moved, but I took it with me and now it circulates the air in the living room.

7 years later this thing still rocks!

Here’s the label. It’s pretty quiet and built sturdy, despite being a plastic-bomber.

After narrowing down the "high velocity" tower fan options on Amazon two years ago to two options that seemed to have the best reviews, I ended up going with the "Dreo Pilot Pro", ordering two and for some reason being sent three. Anecdotal experience of course, and their use has been largely limited to the summer, but they seem to work a bit better than the Lasko fans they replaced without being distinctly louder. Specific settings probably depend on the exact model one chooses, but the ones I got have nine speed options.

I swear by my Honeywell Turbo Velocitor. It's a circulator, fits on a desk, and isn't exceptionally loud like most other circulators. On just low and angled at a corner, it keeps my bedroom cool and not stuffy by actually having the air move around the entire room. I have had this thing since high school. I graduated in 2003. Longest lasting and absolute best fan I have ever had.

Every tower fan I've ever owned has been a piece of junk. Which is only a sample size of two but that was enough to put me off of the form factor. Pedestal fans are cheaper and more reliable but take up much more floor space. Anything bought at a big box store is almost guaranteed to have plastic gearing in the oscillator which will eventually start to make noise. No clue if there are "premium" brands that aren't overpriced bougie bait but I am all ears if anyone has suggestions.