Customer Reviews

Holmes HAWF-2041 Twin Window Fan

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recently compared the Holmes and Honeywell (Kaz) twin window fans side by side. Both were reasonably quiet, electronically reversible, and were similarly priced (Lowes and Target, respectively). The Holmes fan is more attractively designed but the Honeywell had 2 to 3 times the blowing strength as the Holmes. Also, the Honeywell fan (but not the Holmes fan) has angled louvers which can be turned to direct the flow from each fan in a different direction. I don't know which fan is built more to last, but based on the airflow, I purchased the Honeywell.

We recently moved from the High Desert of California (which was very hot and dry)to Hawaii (which is very hot and humid). In California, we surrvived using a swamp cooler to provide cool, moist air. In Hawaii, good air flow is necessary to surrvive the humidity. Room fans just blow hot, humid air around inside the house. It is better than nothing, but not very effective.

We found the Holmes Window Fan which features both Intake and Exhaust options. One is installed in our kitchen window to Exhaust hot air when cooking and Intake cool air the rest of the time. Other fans are installed in bedroom windows. The one on the cool side of the house is set to Intake cool air and the other one is set to Exhaust hot air. This provides constant circulation and makes our home very comfrontable.

The only complaint we have is cleaning. One side of the fan comes completely off for easy cleaning. The other side is attached to the motors. We have to unscrew the motors and put them in zip lock baggies while we clean the rest of the fan. This could be easily corrected by making both sides independent of the motors.

Even with this inconvenience, this is the Best product we have found to keep our home cool and comfortable in a humid climate.

I've had this fan now for over two years and use it in the summer to keep my home office cool. It is fairly quiet and moves a lot of air either into or out of the room. The build quality is good using quality plastic and tasteful styling.

At first, I found no way to easily clean the unit of dust at the end of the season. Disassembly seemed a bit complicated for the task of cleaning. So I just give it a good spraying with "Simple Green" cleaner on the back deck and hose it off after 30 seconds with a light spray from the garden hose. I let it dry well on the deck, then store it for the winter. Good product at a good price.

The breeze provided by this fan can only be likened to the movement of air inside a sealed jar sitting in the sun: the air moves, but that movement is only detectable at the molecular level. With both motors of this fan running on high intake, you can feel the air move only if you're seated directly in front of it, at a maximum distance of about 24 inches. In fact, when I plugged in this fan for the first time and turned it on, I at first thought that the fan was set on outake (i.e., pulling air out of the room); instead, the most gentle imperceptible breeze was wafting directly at me. This fan is very quiet; however, no fan would be quiet as well, while the breeze coming through the window would be about the same. To properly summarily evaluate this product, I wanted to give it no stars, to indicate the fan's complete abandonment of its function, but alas, ... rating system's lowest rating is one star. Purchase this product only if you wish to circulate air inside a small box.

I bought this fan at my local (independent) hardware store. It's served me faithfully for three years, all year long (I live in a prewar Manhattan apartment building with steam heat, and this fan is used all winter long!) The fan is whisper-quiet, even at the highest setting, and I love the thermostat function as well as the intake/exhaust function. However, with regular use, it gets filthy, and as I just discovered, impossible to clean without damaging. I feel bad that I killed my faithful fan! :( Why oh why do they make these without being able to easily disassemble and clean? The buildup of New York soot and grime requires a good soap-and-water cleaning!

Works as advertised.

If you plan to use this fan in cold weather (as an exhaust fan) the thermostat may keep the fan from operating. This isn't a design flaw, since most people buy this type of product for use in hot weather; if the thermostat were calibrated for cold weather, it wouldn't work properly during those hot summer months.

This window fan works OK. It has served us fine since we bought it. A bit noisy when wanting to move air on the MED or HIGH setting. I don't like the design as well as an older model of same type we bought 6 years ago, but I suspect it's all part of cost-cutting and productivity. Example: older model had a definite carry handle molded it, worked very well, fit your hand nicely when moving from room to room. New model has only a thin plastic 'ledge' that acts as a handle but is 'flimsy' and beginning to crack from use. You can barely get the tips of your fingers under the ledge so as to grip it for transport. It's not a 'deal-breaker', but I don't like it. Also, on the older model, the two individual fan controls rotated in the same direction for increase/decrease of fan speed. On this new model they rotate in opposite directions, ...not a logical layout as before. Again, not a 'deal-breaker', but I don't like it. One REALLY BIG deal is that the older model came with two 'extensions' so as to handle

w-i-d-e windows, of which we have two. This newer model only came with one extension,...so I've had to rig up my own. Had I known this when I bought the fan, I would have bought a different brand/model.

It works, we don't ever use the built-in thermostat,...the fan is either on, or off. I'd trade a thermostat for an extension or a better handle.

A great fan for the window. Like the exhaust/intake option and temperature controls. We use it at night to intake when the air is in the 60s-70s. We've had ours several years and it seems to create a breeze just fine.

I was VERY disappointed in this Holmes Twin fan. When set on the HIGH setting it is at best, equal to the LOW setting on most SMALL fans! Wish I would have sent it back! Win some...lose some!! :-)

Let me start by saying I realize this is a window fan, not a industrial strength blower. It is not supposed to have a million CFM. It is, however, advertised to "draw in cool air or exhaust hot air"....and it does not. After finding this item $10 cheaper at a local Menard's, I purchased 2, installed them both at opposite ends of my apartment, and watched as the temperature stayed the same over the next hour. Granted, I know sometimes temperature can stay the same and still feel cooler because of the air being moved, but this is not the case with this fan. Just not enough air is being moved to make any real difference. After about a foot or so, you fail to feel any air move your way. The noise level was medium, but I think considering the low amount of air being moved, it's probably a pretty high CFM/decibel figure. I think this could be a great fan despite it's small size if each blade was more powerful because utilizing the exhaust and intake independently could make a difference. It did fit rather well in my window @ 34" with both the separate plastic mold you slide on and the extendable accordion like piece utilized. The controls were easy enough to figure out; an exhaust and intake slider knob for each fan, 2 speed knobs, one for each fan and a center "thermostat" knob to control the fan coming on or going off after reaching a certain level its turned to. This product gets 2 stars because I didn't want to totally bash it with one star. I think the only situation where the fan might be useful is if you had a very small room or possibly in an attic where you wouldn't be all the time to notice how weak it is. Personally, I've found using a box fan in each window is much better as they move a lot more air, cost about half the price and can be easily cleaned. (Holmes HABF20-UM 20-Inch Box Fan - http://www.amazon.com/Holmes-HABF20-UM-20-Inch-Box-Fan/dp/B0037W4YD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1275050605&sr=1-1) So to wrap up, save yourself some money, stay away from this window fan and invest in box fans.