MeacoFan Sefte 10in Pedestal Air Circulator review: The best pedestal fan we’ve tested

Meaco’s 1056 and MeacoFAN 1056P spent so many years in our best fans guide that I almost considered them part of the furniture, only to be squeezed out of the lineup in periods where availability became an issue. In terms of energy efficiency, noise levels and performance, they were about as cutting edge as pedestal and desk fans get.

Yet even the best retire eventually, to be replaced by newer and hopefully better options. Enter the Meaco Sefte 10in Pedestal Air Circulator along with its stablemate, the Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator. These two new high-performance blowers promise to deliver more air at higher speeds with even less noise than their illustrious predecessors, and I’ve spent the last week trying them out.

MeacoFan Sefte 10in Pedestal Air Circulator review: What do you get for the money?

In the case of the Sefte 10 Pedestal Air Circulator, you get a 10in fan mounted on a 26in/66cm pedestal, giving you a total height of roughly 44in or 1.12m. It’s primarily plastic but comes in a stylish white finish with a contrasting black metallic grill covering the blades.

A circular display gives you info on the current temperature, mode and fan speed, with minimalist controls on the fan itself to turn it on and cycle through the 12 speeds. Beyond that, you need to use the bundled circular remote control.

The Sefte takes a little assembly before use, with the fan module and two parts of the pedestal needing to be attached to the base and locked in place. The sections slot in easily with two connections at each end and are then secured with threaded collars that become almost invisible at more than a metre or two away. Once constructed, it feels rock solid and there’s no annoying wobbling during use. Cleverly, you don’t need to use the pillar sections if you don’t want to, enabling you to use the Sefte as a floor fan or shorter pedestal fan if you don’t want it at its full height.

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MeacoFan Sefte 10in Pedestal Air Circulator review: What features and settings does it have?

The fan has 12 speeds, an automatic Eco mode and a sleep-friendly Night mode, plus both vertical and horizontal oscillation. Cleverly, the Sefte allows you to customise the degree of oscillation, so you can have it set to: the maximum 120-degrees horizontal and 65-degrees vertical, a narrower 75-degrees and 30-degrees or a focused 30-degrees and 20-degrees. This can be set independently for both the horizontal and the vertical by toggling through with the relevant button on the remote.

Beyond the oscillation and a 12-hour switch-off timer, the most interesting features are the Eco and Night modes. Eco mode simply sets the fan speed according to the current room temperature, going from 1 at under 19°C to 6 at 24°C and 12 once you’re over 30°C. Meanwhile, Night mode turns off the display along with any beeps on the controls, then keeps the fan going, reducing the speed by 1 every 30 minutes until it reaches 1.

MeacoFan Sefte 10in Pedestal Air Circulator review: How well does it perform?

I was pleasantly surprised by two key aspects of the Sefte’s performance. First, I found it to be shockingly powerful, hitting air speeds of 2.8m/s even on its lowest setting, and getting up to 7.6m/s at its highest speed. At that speed, it will blow paperwork around at up to 2m, but it’s a problemI’ll be happy to have on a stiflingly hot day. At a medium speed of 6 to 8, I got a fantastic 4.7 to 5.9 metres per second airflow, still beating nearly every fan I’ve previously tested at its maximum performance. This is an exceptionally beefy fan, and with its oscillation options, it can cover a wide area or provide a lot of cooling to a smaller zone.

At the same time, when it’s not at its highest speeds it’s very quiet. I recorded sound levels of 32.6dB at its lowest speed, rising to 35.7dB at speed 6 and 38.4dB at the maximum 12; I’d have to say that at settings 1 to 4 you would barely be aware that it’s turned on, and even at 6 it’s quiet enough to snooze through. In Meaco’s tests in a soundproof chamber, noise levels were as low as 25dB.

I measured more noise in the 8 to 10 region, but it’s still more of a low hum and not particularly disturbing. When it comes to nearly silent running, only the Princess Pedestal Air Circulator (£128) and Duux Globe Desk Fan (£80) are in the same league.

Energy consumption isn’t incredibly low – I measured it at 3.66W on its lowest speed and 28.3W at its highest – but it’s not going to cost you much to run even over a long hot summer, if one arrives.

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MeacoFan Sefte 10 Pedestal Air Circulator review: Is there anything we didn’t like?

I found the controls took a little getting used to, just because you have to press the Oscillation buttons several times to cycle through the options and turn the movement off, or keep pressing the Mode button to cycle through the modes. This doesn’t take too long to adjust to though, and there is a Pause button if you want to temporarily halt the horizontal and vertical oscillation at any point.

MeacoFan Sefte 10 Pedestal Air Circulator review: Should you buy it?

Yes. It’s not the cheapest pedestal fan I’ve looked at, and it doesn’t have any smart features to speak of, but it’s a brilliantly-designed blower with a strong set of features and an impressive level of customisation.

It’s the first fan I’ve seen that not only allows you to adjust the speed but also restrict the angle of oscillation to make sure that you get maximum cooling power where it’s needed most. Right now, it’s the best pedestal fan that money can buy, and arguably your best option if you’re trying to keep air moving in a larger room.