These box fans are life savers. I find they last a good 4-7 years. I bought 2 new ones this time, and was happy to see that the feet have been engineered to be more more stable and to stay attached to the fan much better than they used to. I did a test of the sound level at the lowest setting, and found one fan was significantly quieter than the other. Upon close inspection, there didn't appear to be any differences in construction, etc. Just the luck of the draw, I guess. I am super-sensitive to sound and vibration, but I can easily sleep with this fan running on the lowest setting while positioned on a stool at the bottom of my bed. I've had many Laskos over the years. At one point I bought an Aerospeed box fan, and it is much quieter than the Laskos; the cost was greater as well. I run at least one fan all day in the summer, and my electric bill goes up by about $8 a month, which is much lower than running the window air conditioners.