Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
My comparison of 2 Lakewood Brace Blade box fans, the model 200 from the late 90s with the McMillan shaded pole motor, and the model 101 from the mid 2000s with the RRS PSC motor.
These results are not at all what I was expecting. Despite all the hate the newer unit receives, it's overall just about as good as the old one in regards to performance. The only area where the older one is significantly superior is the volume of air flow, which is really only relevant for window usage. For general air circulation in a room, I have found little to no correlation between the air flow volume and the efficacy of the circulation.
The blades are the same shape between the two but have significantly different amounts of pitch. The newer unit only has about 2/3rd the pitch of the old one. It has to run significantly faster than the old blade to create the same amount of air flow. There's a little more noise in the process, but not a significant amount. In fact, it seems to be a little more effective at pushing the air further away from the fan than the deeper pitched blade.
With wind speeds and noise levels about the same between the two, I would take the newer one for the increased efficiency. It uses about 100 watts less on high, which is a significant reduction in operational costs.
I think it's very noteworthy that despite all the cost-cutting measures that took place during the design, Lakewood didn't fully abandon trying to make a good product. The new unit still puts out good air on high, still has a gentle low, and still maintained bare-bones reasonable design requirements, such as a handle and switch on top. There's reasons to prefer either of these over the other, but I think the newer unit deserves a lot more respect than it usually gets.
These are the specifications I measured and calculated during the video:
Lakewood 200:
Power (watts)/Noise (dB)/Airflow (CFM)/Efficiency (CFM/watt)
Low - 64/45/854/13.3
Medium - 90/55/1,211/13.5
High - 172/65/1,652/9.6
Wind speed measured in MPH, up close/~5ft/~10ft
Low - 7/3.5/1.5
Medium - 9.5/5/3
High - 13/7/4
Lakewood 101:
Power (watts)/Noise (dB)/Airflow (CFM)/Efficiency (CFM/watt)
Low - 41/47/754/18.4
Medium - 52/54/967/18.6
High - 77/61/1,156/15
Wind speed measured in MPH, up close/~5ft/~10ft
Low - 7/4/1.5
Medium - 9/4.5/3.5
High - 11/7/4.5
My comparison of 2 Lakewood Brace Blade box fans, the model 200 from the late 90s with the McMillan shaded pole motor, and the model 101 from the mid 2000s with the RRS PSC motor.
These results are not at all what I was expecting. Despite all the hate the newer unit receives, it's overall just about as good as the old one in regards to performance. The only area where the older one is significantly superior is the volume of air flow, which is really only relevant for window usage. For general air circulation in a room, I have found little to no correlation between the air flow volume and the efficacy of the circulation.
The blades are the same shape between the two but have significantly different amounts of pitch. The newer unit only has about 2/3rd the pitch of the old one. It has to run significantly faster than the old blade to create the same amount of air flow. There's a little more noise in the process, but not a significant amount. In fact, it seems to be a little more effective at pushing the air further away from the fan than the deeper pitched blade.
With wind speeds and noise levels about the same between the two, I would take the newer one for the increased efficiency. It uses about 100 watts less on high, which is a significant reduction in operational costs.
I think it's very noteworthy that despite all the cost-cutting measures that took place during the design, Lakewood didn't fully abandon trying to make a good product. The new unit still puts out good air on high, still has a gentle low, and still maintained bare-bones reasonable design requirements, such as a handle and switch on top. There's reasons to prefer either of these over the other, but I think the newer unit deserves a lot more respect than it usually gets.
These are the specifications I measured and calculated during the video:
Lakewood 200:
Power (watts)/Noise (dB)/Airflow (CFM)/Efficiency (CFM/watt)
Low - 64/45/854/13.3
Medium - 90/55/1,211/13.5
High - 172/65/1,652/9.6
Wind speed measured in MPH, up close/~5ft/~10ft
Low - 7/3.5/1.5
Medium - 9.5/5/3
High - 13/7/4
Lakewood 101:
Power (watts)/Noise (dB)/Airflow (CFM)/Efficiency (CFM/watt)
Low - 41/47/754/18.4
Medium - 52/54/967/18.6
High - 77/61/1,156/15
Wind speed measured in MPH, up close/~5ft/~10ft
Low - 7/4/1.5
Medium - 9/4.5/3.5
High - 11/7/4.5
