Customer Reviews

Lasko Air Director Window Fan, 14 Inches, 2135

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm afraid that my appreciation of this fan is colored by my fondness for, and recent demise of, my twenty-five-year old Sanyo floor fan, surely the best one I ever owned. Unfortunately, small, window-sized fans that can move a lot of air, are durable and relatively quiet (no metal boxes, please) are hard to come by these days; Sanyo no longer makes fans of any kind, so I was forced to hunt about and settled on the Lasko Air Director as the best of a mediocre-to-bad lot.

The Lasko's virtues are as follows;

* It moves a lot of air through its five well-pitched blades (some fans' blades are pitched too flat; this renders them quiet, but rather inefficient at creating the comfortable breeze one buys them for)

* It's light

* Its plastic casing and blades can take a lot of abuse

* Its ability to pivot upward at an angle is quite useful in directing air flow (well, it's an "Air Director," isn't it?) when employed as a floor fan



The Lasko's faults are:

* There's not much range between the "high" setting and the "low": the "low" actually blows much too strongly, as powerful as some fans' "medium" or "high" settings, and sometimes one actually wants a gentle airflow. You won't get that with this fan

* The above renders the fan somewhat noisy

* The pivoting feature, so useful when its used as a floor fan, is a moderate liability when the fan is placed in a window

* The fan is made of white, translucent plastic, which admits a lot of outside light (my old Sanyo fan was made of dark, largely opaque plastic). It also means that dirt, which inevitably accumulates on, and inside, all frequently-used fans, becomes apparent sooner

* Whoever decided that the switch should be ordered "off-high-medium-low," instead of the logical "off-low-medium-high," should be flayed and boiled in oil (with no fan allowed to cool his or her burning flesh). Because of this switch's idiotic order of settings, one must first blast oneself with hurricane-force winds to reach the lowest setting. My Sanyo had push-buttons for each setting, allowing random-access to all air speeds; the switches -- probably more expensive than the Lasko's single switch -- were very easy to use and, in a quarter-century, never failed)

* The soft plastic that's a virtue in the body and blades of the fan is a liability when used as the switch knob, as the knob inevitably loosens from the switch-mechanism's stem over time, making it difficult or impossible to turn the fan on or off (the knob socket in the first Air Director I bought several years ago eventually cracked, necessitating its removal and repair). It's a terrible design, PERIOD; more boiling oil for the designers is indicated

* The fan doesn't have the rotating front louver that my Sanyo did, which allowed the Sanyo to function as an oscillating fan to cool a whole room; locked in place, it allowed fine control of where the air stream was delivered. Quite a brilliant design by Sanyo, really

As I said, I bought the Lasko Air Director because it was the best of a mediocre-to-bad lot, and needed something that could fit in my bedroom window on warm summer nights. That said, if anyone out there has one of the old Sanyo fans of which I wrote, I'll happily trade you ANY fan currently on the market for it, pay for the shipping AND mutter my thanks to you on every one of those summer nights

This fan is extremely loud. The low setting is louder than the high setting on comparable fans. The plastic case looks and feels very cheap. Pieces fit together poorly and the switch sticks out unattractively from the case. However, in my opinion, $35 + shipping is not cheap for a simple fan. It was not reviewed at the time I bought it so I hoped for the best.

I bought the fan from Creative Products. Their return policy requires a 15% re-stocking fee unless you exchange it for another product of equal or greater cost. This was disclosed. However, in the future, I will not buy anything that is not well-reviewed from a vendor that charges a re-stocking fee.

It's loud as hell. I mean loud. The low setting is like its on high x3.
Would work perfect to dry a house that was just painted. I had it upstairs and could hear it downstairs. The design is ridiculous. Sure it fits in the window... if you enjoys having it stick out a foot.

Loud and bad design.

I purchased this fan because I have an 18.5" square window. Amazon's description says this is for 18" windows. Unfortunately, the box states it is for 19"x20" windows. This is no really Lasko's fault, however. The main issue with this fan is it is annoyingly loud -- even on the lowest speed. Not quite as loud as my portable air conditioner, but close to it. If you plan on spending much time within 12' of this fan, I suggest you look else where. That being said, it does move a lot of air and if you are looking for a window fan for an unused portion of the house, then this may be ideal for you.

Moves air like crazy- Works great! We have whole-house vinyl replacement windows. They only open a foot (12 "), so I am limited to shopping little window fans only. Shopped EVERYWHERE last summer- Walmart, Kmart, Ace Hardware, Target, Home Depot & Lowes, etc... All carried various manufacturer models of the "Twin Window Fans" that look advanced, but are like toy fans- barely move any air. This little beauty, in contrast, really gusts in (or out) the air from your window. With the doors closed, this fan definitely turns over the air in a bedroom- within just seconds! It can be mounted either to sit on the light grey base (the top has a groove/slot for the top sash of your window to hold it in place)- OR- you can mount it sideways, with the gray section (also slotted for window sashes to set into) going top to bottom, & the fan jutting out into your room. (Also works great as a floor or table fan!). Not all metal construction, my only complaint- but nothing is anymore (excepting very costly industrial equipment). If my window were larger, I would have purchased the 16" window-installed fan- But, given our limited window openings, this fan BY FAR EXCEEDS anything else on the market! If you need something to REALLY turn over the air in your room, this does the job. It sounds like a fan moving a lot of air- a steady "bzzzz". Don't even notice it. When it's 95 degrees w/ high humidity daytime temps, I just want the air circulated at night! I'm so relieved to have found this little workhorse! This fan does the job, affordably & attractive looking. Buy it!

I bought the Lasko Air Director because of it's pivoting feature. My bedroom window is an an odd angle to my bed, and the fan can be turned to direct air exactly where I need it. It's powerful and moves a lot of air. My only complaint is that it is very loud, even on low I have to turn my television up to ridiculous volumes to be able to hear it over the fan. Other than that and the fact that there is no reverse motor feature to draw air out (you have to manually turn the fan around in the window), I would have given a five star rating.

This fan is great for fitting into smaller windows that those big window fans won't fit in. It also works great as a floor fan, and has 3 speeds ranging from basically high, very high and super high. Great for moving air, but can be noisy, so if you want a quiet fan, keep looking. It fits my needs perfectly, fitting in a smaller than normal window to pull fresh air into a stuffy room. Its pivoting action is great to point the air directly where you want it.

This fan blows some air but the cord is about 3 ft .it is to short for me. have to use extension cord which i do not like.

Excellent purchasing experience. The fan has excellent power and cools extremely well. Love it. One of the BEST purchases I've ever made.

I recently purchased the Lasko Air Director 14 Inch Window Fan, Model 2135, to replace an older version of the same model which was on life support. Generally, the fan does the job that we need it for (mild outside noise suppression at night) and as a bonus, it is assembled in the USA. As many of the reviewers have stated, this fan, from the factory, is definitely LOUDER at all speeds. I passed the issue on to my husband to see if he could figure it out (he was one of those who stayed awake in high school Physics class!). Therefore, the following is really his personal assessment but it sounds good to me.

The fan is very similar in design, functionality, size and construction to the unit being replaced. The old unit is the same Lasko model and is over 6 years old. Some of the plastic parts on the new fan are a bit inferior (thinner, lighter and a bit deformed as a result of the plastic injection molding process, but not noticeably so) to the previous version. This may be due to manufacturing cost considerations. The electric motor looks adequate for the purpose intended. But only time will tell if will last as long as the old one which, BTW, had daily use over its life.

The real difference is somewhat obscure to the casual observer, however. After a little tinkering with both fans (this is not recommend this as this might void the manufacturer's warranty), the problem surfaced. THE NEW FAN BEING SHIPPED HAS A DIFFERENT BLADE. Check the pictures in the listings on Amazon and elsewhere and check the picture of the fan blade in the picture on the box that it comes in. They're different than what's on the fan. Why would that matter? Well, if the blade shape, size, design and pitch change, the amount of air and the path it takes will change (Physics class, again!). This is translated into a change in noise volume. It's not so much the motor noise that has increased as it is the air noise. My solution was to replace the new fan blade with the older fan blade (a little tricky and time consuming, but I like a challenge). It made a pronounced difference as the noise volume decreased dramatically. The fan works well and the family is happy. Please note that I have not confirmed my observations and conclusions with the manufacturer. However, I won't have to send the fan back to Amazon as it is working for us.

The fan only gets 3 stars. It works but I had to make some changes to get it there.