Helifan HVLS fans work on the principles that cool moving are breaks up the moister-saturated boundary layer surrounding the body and accelerates evaporation to produce a cooling effect. Ceiling fan produce a column of air moves down and out along the floor. Called a horizontal floor jet, this deep wall of horizontal moving air is relative to the diameter of a fan, and to a lesser degree, the speed of a fan. Once the floor jet reaches its potential, its migrates outward until it meets a side wall or other vertical surface.

Commercial HVLS fans differ from residential ceiling fans with regard to diameter, rotational speed, and performance. While some fans use contemporary bladders to move air, others methods are being used to make it more efficient such as using air foils. Larger diameter fans can move more air than smaller fans at the same speed. Airspeed, combined with fans “effectiveness,” means that when the objective is to co people or animals, very large, low-speed commercial fans are more efficient and effective than small high-speed fans.