Head to head
Air King 9723 vs Vornado Model 80
The two serious 20-inch box fans. One tells you what it moves; the other asks you to take five speeds and a five-year warranty on trust.
By Sawyer V. · Published
The short answer
Buy the Air King 9723 if you want to know what you are getting — it publishes 2,163 / 1,900 / 1,463 CFM on 105 / 87 / 65 W and 1,220 RPM, so its airflow, efficiency and running cost are all checkable. Vornado publishes no CFM figure for the Model 80. Buy the Vornado instead if you want five speeds and a five-year warranty in a living room, and accept that its airflow is unquantified.
Fan & Frost earns a commission when you buy through our links, at no cost to you. It never changes a ranking, and we say so when the right answer is the cheaper unit or nothing at all. Full disclosure · How we pick.
At a glance
The picks, ranked
Tap any row to jump to the full reasoning. Prices are live from Amazon where we have them, and read “check price” where we don’t — never a number we cannot verify today.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Air King case Air King 9723 20" Commercial Grade Box Fan 2,163 CFM on 105 W, published with blade speed and amperage. It is the only 20-inch box fan whose performance can be verified against a specification sheet. | A window, a garage or a workshop — anywhere you want measurable air and a motor rated to run all day | |
| 2 |  The Vornado case Vornado Model 80 High-Velocity Box Fan Five speeds instead of three, a removable grille and a five-year warranty — the longest in the category — on a smaller blade in a deeper shroud. | A living room or bedroom where the lowest useful setting and a long warranty matter more than a spec sheet |
These are the two box fans people cross-shop once they have decided against a $30 one, and they are built on opposite philosophies. Air King sells a documented industrial fan. Vornado sells a designed domestic one and keeps its numbers to itself.
Head to head
Every published figure, side by side
| Air King 9723 | Vornado Model 80 | |
|---|---|---|
| Air delivery, high | 2,163 CFM | Not published |
| Air delivery, low | 1,463 CFM | Not published |
| Power | 105 / 87 / 65 W | 120 / 90 / 70 W |
| CFM per watt, high | 20.6 | Not calculable |
| Blade speed | 1,220 / 1,075 / 855 RPM | Not published |
| Blade diameter | 20 in | 16.15 in |
| Speeds | 3 | 5 |
| Noise | Not published | Not published |
| Weight | 11.4 lb | 12.96 lb |
| Depth | 6.38 in | 6.41 in |
| Warranty | Not published | 5 years |
Every figure is the manufacturer’s own. CFM per watt is our arithmetic. Prices checked 11 October 2026: the Air King was $46.25 and the Vornado $76.00 — the buttons above carry the live figure and the date it was read.
The real difference
One of them can be checked
There is no mandatory airflow test procedure for portable fans in the United States. That makes a published CFM figure a voluntary commitment, and it means the gap between these two fans is not really about air — it is about whether a claim exists to hold anyone to.
Air King publishes airflow, blade speed, amperage and wattage at three speeds. Vornado publishes wattage at three of five speeds and nothing else. The Vornado may well move more air than the Air King at full tilt; there is simply no way to establish it, and retail listings that quote a figure for it are quoting something Vornado does not say.
This one is not a DIY job
If the fan is going in a window, neither of these is the right buy. Both are over six inches deep, so the sash will not close on top of them. A purpose-built window fan seals the opening and publishes 27.4 CFM per watt against the Air King’s 20.6. The window fan category.
Which one
How to choose between them
- A garage, workshop or job site: the Air King. A rated motor and a published duty figure are what that use needs, and the noise it does not publish matters less in a space nobody relaxes in.
- A living room or bedroom: the Vornado. Two settings below a conventional low is the single most useful thing a manufacturer can do about perceived noise, and five years of warranty on a fan you keep is worth real money.
- You want the most air for the money: the Air King, and it is not close on price per published CFM, because the Vornado has no published CFM.
- You want the cheapest of the two to run: the Air King on low, at $2.86 over a month of eight-hour nights against $3.08. The difference is pennies; do not choose on this.
Say the unwelcome thing
Do not choose between these on a listing's CFM number.
Retail listings for box fans routinely quote airflow figures that appear nowhere on the manufacturer’s own specification page. For the Vornado Model 80 specifically, any CFM figure you see in a listing is not Vornado’s.
Compare the two published tables instead. One of them is complete and the other is mostly empty, and that asymmetry is the most useful thing about this comparison.
In full
Every pick, and what is wrong with it
Published specifications only, each linked to the page it came from. Where a manufacturer publishes nothing, the row says so — we do not fill blanks in.
1. The Air King case
Air King 9723 20" Commercial Grade Box Fan
Air King · model 9723
2,163 CFM on 105 W, published with blade speed and amperage. It is the only 20-inch box fan whose performance can be verified against a specification sheet.
2,163 / 1,900 / 1,463 CFM on 105 / 87 / 65 W, at 1,220 / 1,075 / 855 RPM. That complete table is the entire argument, because nothing else in the box fan category has one.
Our arithmetic on those figures gives 20.6 CFM per watt on high and 22.5 on low. You can check that; you cannot check a number nobody published. An eight-hour night on high is 15¢ at 18.34¢/kWh, or 9.5¢ on low.
The 1/25 HP permanently lubricated motor in a steel body is the other half of what the money buys. It is rated for duty cycles in dusty air, which is why this fan turns up in workshops and on job sites rather than in bedrooms.
11.4 lb and 6.38 inches deep. That depth is worth noting: it is more than the five inches a sash window usually needs to close on top of a fan, so this is a fan you stand in front of an opening rather than seal into one.
The honest gap is noise. Air King publishes no dBA for it, even though the same company publishes 50 to 64 dB for its window fans. Why no box fan publishes a decibel figure.
What’s wrong with it
No noise figure is published, it is a steel commercial object rather than a living-room one, and it has three speeds against the Vornado's five.
Running cost — 9723
| Nameplate power | 65 W – 105 W | manufacturer's published figure |
|---|---|---|
| Energy, 8-hour night | 0.84 kWh | 105 ÷ 1000 × 8 |
| Cost per hour | 1.9¢ | at 18.34¢/kWh |
| Cost per 8-hour night | 15¢ | on the highest speed |
| Cost per 30 nights | $4.62 | 25.2 kWh |
| Same month, lowest speed | $2.86 | at 65 W |
Rate: 18.34¢/kWh, the US average residential price for June 2026 (EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.3). Yours will differ — swap it in: (watts ÷ 1000) × hours × your rate.
| Air delivery | 2,163 / 1,900 / 1,463 CFM (high / medium / low) |
|---|---|
| Power | 105 / 87 / 65 W (0.94 / 0.72 / 0.56 A) |
| Efficiency | 20.6 CFM per watt on high, 22.5 on low (our arithmetic) |
| Blade speed | 1,220 / 1,075 / 855 RPM |
| Blade | 20 in |
| Speeds | 3 |
| Motor | 1/25 HP, 120 V, 1 phase |
| Dimensions | 21.38 W x 6.38 D x 22.5 H in |
| Weight | 11.4 lb |
| Oscillation | No |
| Noise | Not published |
Every figure above is from Air King commercial box fan product page, model 9723. Blanks are shown as “not published” rather than filled in.
2. The Vornado case
Vornado Model 80 High-Velocity Box Fan
Vornado · model 80
Five speeds instead of three, a removable grille and a five-year warranty — the longest in the category — on a smaller blade in a deeper shroud.
Five speeds is the structural advantage and it is a real one. The usual complaint about a box fan is not that it is loud at full speed but that low is still too loud, and on a three-speed fan there is nothing underneath it. Two of the Vornado's settings sit below where a conventional low sits.
120 / 90 / 70 W is published across three of those five. At the published low, an eight-hour night is 10¢ — slightly more than the Air King's low, for air nobody has quantified.
16.15 inches of blade inside a 19.99-inch frame. That is a deliberate choice rather than a shortfall: a smaller blade in a deeper shroud throws a tighter column of air and spills less at the grille, which is the same principle behind Vornado's circulators. It is also why comparing it to the Air King on blade diameter alone would mislead you.
Five years of warranty against nothing published by Air King, and a removable grille, which matters more than it sounds: a blade you can clean properly keeps moving the air it was bought to move.
What you are accepting is that Vornado publishes no airflow figure. We will not estimate one, and we will not repeat a retailer's.
What’s wrong with it
Vornado publishes no CFM at all and wattage for only three of its five settings, so neither airflow nor efficiency can be calculated. It is also the most expensive of the two.
Running cost — 80
| Nameplate power | 70 W – 120 W | manufacturer's published figure |
|---|---|---|
| Energy, 8-hour night | 0.96 kWh | 120 ÷ 1000 × 8 |
| Cost per hour | 2.2¢ | at 18.34¢/kWh |
| Cost per 8-hour night | 18¢ | on the highest speed |
| Cost per 30 nights | $5.28 | 28.8 kWh |
| Same month, lowest speed | $3.08 | at 70 W |
Rate: 18.34¢/kWh, the US average residential price for June 2026 (EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.3). Yours will differ — swap it in: (watts ÷ 1000) × hours × your rate.
| Power | 120 / 90 / 70 W (three of the five settings published) |
|---|---|
| Speeds | 5 |
| Blade diameter | 16.15 in |
| Supply | 120 V, 60 Hz |
| Dimensions | 19.99 W x 6.41 D x 20.19 H in |
| Weight | 12.96 lb |
| Cord | 6 ft, 2-pin polarized |
| Grille | Removable, for cleaning |
| Air delivery (CFM) | Not published |
| Noise | Not published |
| Warranty | 5 years |
Every figure above is from Vornado product page, Model 80 High-Velocity Box Fan. Blanks are shown as “not published” rather than filled in.
Questions people actually ask
Frequently asked
Is the Air King 9723 better than the Vornado Model 80?
For measurable airflow, yes. The Air King publishes 2,163 CFM on 105 W with blade speed and amperage; Vornado publishes no airflow figure for the Model 80 at all. For a living room the Vornado is the better object — five speeds instead of three and a five-year warranty — but you are buying it on design rather than on data.
How many CFM is the Vornado Model 80?
Vornado does not publish one. It publishes 120 / 90 / 70 W across three of the fan's five settings, a 16.15-inch blade diameter and a 5-year warranty, and no airflow figure. Any CFM number in a retail listing for this fan is not from Vornado.
Why does the Vornado have a smaller blade than the Air King?
16.15 inches of blade inside a 19.99-inch frame is deliberate. A smaller blade in a deeper shroud throws a tighter, further-reaching column of air and spills less at the grille, which is the same principle behind Vornado's air circulators. It does mean blade diameter alone will not tell you which fan moves more air.
Which is quieter, the Air King 9723 or the Vornado Model 80?
Neither publishes a decibel figure, so there is no measured answer. The Vornado has two settings below where a three-speed fan's low sits, which is the better structural answer to a fan being too loud on its lowest setting. The quietest box fan.
Which costs less to run?
The Air King, marginally. On low it draws 65 W against the Vornado's published 70 W — $2.86 against $3.08 over a month of eight-hour nights at 18.34¢/kWh. The difference is not a reason to choose either one.
Can either of these sit in a window?
Not properly. Both are over six inches deep and a sash window generally needs under five inches to close on top of a fan. Stood in front of an open window they still help, but a purpose-built window fan seals the opening and publishes better efficiency — 27.4 CFM per watt against the Air King's 20.6. Window fans.
Sources
Where these numbers came from
- Air King commercial box fan specifications, model 9723 — 2,163/1,900/1,463 CFM on 105/87/65 W, 1,220/1,075/855 RPM
- Vornado Model 80 High-Velocity Box Fan — 120/90/70 W, 5 speeds, 16.15 in blade, 5-year warranty
- Air King whole house window fan, 9155 — 2,470 CFM on 90 W, for the window comparison
- EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.3 — electricity rate
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