After a lifetime of brutal East Coast winters, I made the decision to move to the desert a few years ago. I look forward to the winter and early spring as the cooler months, and dread it when summer rolls around. I have a gorgeous patio that provides great views of the Arizona sky, but in metro Phoenix, it’s unbearable in the summer heat. Eventually, I became tired of the balcony and patio space becoming unusable for months of the year, so I invested in an affordable Ryobi tool that works with the ONE+ ecosystem.
I have a modest power tool collection, and they’re all powered by Milwaukee’s M18 batteries. But when I started looking for a misting fan for my balcony, Ryobi’s bucket top misting fan quickly proved to be the best option. Cheap USB-powered fans wouldn’t cut it, and Milwaukee’s upcoming oscillating misting fan wasn’t worth the wait. At $249, I couldn’t justify paying the “red tax” for an outdoor fan. Ryobi’s alternative turned out to be one of the most versatile tools in my kit.
Ryobi ended my search for a patio misting fan
I needed something affordable and cordless that could work without a hose
In the desert, you’ll find misters just about everywhere you go. They’re at coffee shops, restaurants, outdoor malls, and theme parks. The subtle mist of water hitting your skin is enough to make a 110°F day feel bearable. So, I wanted to replicate that experience on my own balcony. I needed a cordless misting fan that didn’t require a garden hose hookup. That way, I could use it on my balcony or in my apartment’s shared patio with ease.
I started my search on Amazon, and was blown away at the cost of misting fans. There were really cheap options with questionable reliability and small form factors, but I needed something more powerful. The next step up revealed alternatives like the Shark Flexbreeze HydroGo, which retails for $99. It looked relatively powerful and came with a convenient carrying case, but it runs on a built-in battery and uses a proprietary charging cable. This was a non-starter for me, as I wanted a misting fan with a removable battery that I could swap in seconds to keep the cooling active.
I expected misting fans compatible with power tool batteries like the Milwaukee M18 or Ryobi ONE+ to cost a fortune. In my defense, the oscillating misting fan coming soon from Milwaukee is comically overpriced, but the misting fan I found from Ryobi isn’t. It checks all my boxes. It uses standard ONE+ rechargeable batteries, has a pump hose for misting water out of a bucket, and sports a rugged IPX4 design.
Right now, it’s priced at $59 for just the tool, and I paid $79 for the tool, battery, and charger kit. Considering that it’s $20 less than the Shark Flexbreeze HydroGo and other comparable alternatives, and the Ryobi option has better features, I thought the price was affordable. Plus, having a ONE+ charger and battery gives me flexibility as I expand my power tool collection. I can choose between Milwaukee or Ryobi depending on which ecosystem makes more sense for the tool.
Ryobi’s misting fan turns a bucket into cooling relief
I don’t need to worry about finding a hose hookup or filling a tank
I’m not too interested in the specs of a misting fan — Ryobi claims it can move 840 feet per minute of air and provides up to 14 feet of misting coverage, for whatever that’s worth. Instead, I wanted to know how long the battery lasts and whether it actually cooled down my outdoor space. It’s borderline too powerful. With the standard misting nozzle, and the fan and mist switches set to low speed, it’s easy to get drenched by this fan.
I toyed with distances and angles, as you can point the fan and misters up or down. Still, the misting fan was pushing out a lot of water. This is great for watching a ballgame with your kids or chilling by the pool, but it wasn’t ideal for reading a book or working on your laptop nearby. I swapped the standard 0.3mm nozzles for 0.1mm nozzles ($7 on Amazon), and they completely solved my problems. Now, the fan produces a gentle mist and I don’t end up soaking wet.
That’s my main gripe with the Ryobi misting fan, and other buyers expressed similar sentiments online. So, I’d immediately place an order for smaller nozzles if you end up buying this tool. The misting fan uses a 10/24 connection size, so you can pick any nozzle with that thread, depending on how much mist you want.
Aside from that, the Ryobi misting fan is painless to use. I bought a basic five-gallon bucket from Home Depot to go with it, and fill it up halfway with water. Then, I throw a few solid ice packs into the water to keep it chilled. It comes with a 1.5Ah battery if you buy the complete kit. A few gallons of water and a fully charged battery keeps the misting fan running for hours on my balcony.
I also like that the Ryobi fan includes hoses for a water hookup and a pump on the bottom. They both fit neatly into clips on the bottom of the fan, so they’re completely out of the way when not in use.
As I mentioned, the fan gets wet when the misters are going. That’s why it’s nice that Ryobi included an IPX4 rated battery compartment to keep the electrical components safe from potential water damage. It fits up to a 6.0Ah battery, which is ideal for those that want to use a bigger ONE+ battery for longer outdoor days.
I can use it indoors when the AC is out or bring it with me on road trips
I bought this misting fan for my balcony and patio, but it ended up being useful in other situations. The misting gear tucks away neatly, and I don’t mind using it indoors on particularly hot days. My air conditioning unit went out for a few days in July, and I could’ve used this fan indoors — with the mist turned off, of course.
I also plan to take it on road trips while car camping. Using the portable ONE+ batteries and a simple five-gallon bucket, I can cool down from anywhere, from hot trailheads to final campsites. If I don’t need the mist on a particular trip, I can leave the bucket at home and use this tool as a basic fan.
All told, it’s become one of my favorite power tools despite costing only $59 for just the tool. I’m glad I went with Ryobi instead of paying four times more for Milwaukee’s upcoming competitor. Best of all, I can bear using my outdoor spaces in the summer again.
- Air Flow Capacity
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840 FPM (feet per minute)
- Style
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Up To 14 ft. of Misting Coverage
- Speeds
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2 speed and 2 mist settings (high/low)
Ryobi’s Bucket Top Misting Fan is a versatile cooling solution that can be used indoors and outdoors. It moves 840 feet of air per minute, and has separate controls for the fan speed and mist power. This fan uses ONE+ batteries and connects to a standard garden hose or pumps water from a five-gallon bucket. You can buy it with or without a battery and charger.