Customer Reviews

Vornado 550B Compact Air Circulator

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

4.5 stars, actually.

This fan is great. It's really small, so it can be placed in a window frame or almost any where you need air to be moved from, and doesn't obstruct like a larger, yet less-powerful fan would.

It's really powerful. It really does shoot a tight beam of air, and in turn circulates air around an entire room. This is especially helpful, in say, small, un-air conditioned dorm rooms at colleges too cheap to install AC. This fan is also very good at moving cool air from one room to another. My room at home, also, ironically, does not have AC. The family room down the hall does. So I just place this baby in the hall aimed into my room, and the lovely cold air is pulled in from the family room and shot into mine, and my room is now AC'd, somewhat.

The variable speed control is very nice, letting you control exactly how much air you want moved. The lowest speed is almost silent, but is meant more for just personal cooling, while the fastest speed is rather noisy (but nothing unbearable, it's not bad at all), it IS moving quite a large volume of air, and good for whole-room air circulation/cooling.

I would give this gem a 5, but the frame is just a bit mal-aligned. It can get bent just slightly which causes the blades to smack against the plastic frame, and while this is easily correctable, it is annoying.

I just received this Vornado Fan and although UPS mangled the box, the fan itself is great. I was highly impressed by the quality and the air output of this fan. For it's size it will really amaze you. The continuously variable speed is great!!!. It's not like a regular fan that has 1. 2. 3 settings you can adjust it to any output. It's whisper quiet at its lower setting but relatively loud at it's highest. The noise doesn't come from the motor but from the deep scoops of the fan blades themselves....it maybe a little loud at the higher setting but for the amount of air that it can push, highly worth it!!! The Grill and fan blade comes off easily for cleaning and Vornado offers a 5 year warranty on this model. I would recommend it to anyone

It arrived today. It's June in Atlanta and I've been searching for a fan to help cool my home office. I didn't want to go to the expense of installing a ceiling fan, and felt sure that an inexpense floor or table fan would suffice. Unfortunately, I initially went to my local Target store. First I bought a 17-inch tilt-up floor fan made by Honeywell. I soon discovered that the on/off switch was cheap and that the lowest setting was enough to fly a kite in here. I took it back. My next choice was an oscillating fan on a floor stand. Cheap, cheap, cheap workmanship-- plus, you had to assemble it. The motor was metal and seemed durable enough, but once mounted, it sagged sadly toward the floor-- the plastic apparatus and stand, too weak to support it. I took it back. Ok, I told myself. Don't be in such a hurry. Go to Amazon and do some research. Vornado fans were generally given high ratings. Mine arrived and I am elated. It is just the size I need, is sturdy, the fan-speed settings are unlimited, it runs quietly, and puts out a wonderful breeze. Vornado fans have many fans (and visa versa). Now I am one of them!

Contrary to Amazon.com's description, this fan has a CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE speed control, which is one of the features which makes this fan so great. For its size, nothing comes close to moving this much air, and it's very quiet too (per amount of air moved).

The best fan... EVER! I've been living in sweltering hot conditions for the past few months...I purchased the Vornado 550B with the hope it would be the fan of my dreams. And my friends, I can't believe I've lived this long without a Vornado! It is the quietest fan ever created, and its infinite variable speed control can provide anywhere from "just a bit" of refreshing air to "vortex-like" windstorms. This is THE fan to purchase. You WILL NOT be disappointed!

Did I mention quiet? Sounds like good dating material? No its a very lovable fan. You can't buy a better fan than vornado. A small one will do a better job than a couple big noisy ones. I wilt in the heat so i carry this sweet babe around with me from room to room rather than use another kind. I can put it right by the bed and on low its so quiet it's hard to hear if its on.

If you point it at the wall or ceiling quickly you'll feel the air coming back. I thought it was expensive at first but a number of other fans have worn out and this one is like new so it is economical if you use fans alot. Very easy to clean also. I love my vornado. Don't buy them all save them for me.

This fan is mighty powerful and the best thing about it is the fact that it's very quiet. Of all the fans I've tried this size, this is the quietest. Especially on low....you'll hardly hear it running. Great for moving a little extra air conditioning into another room. Well made. Durable. Sturdy. For the few extra dollars for a fan this size, it's adds up to a great value.

Even though this has a variable fan speed so that the fan can run at a whisper quiet speed, it has a motor that is loud and operates at a very annoying frequency. In addition, the fan is high priced. I returned it.

Pros:

1) Light enough to move around.
2) Variable speed dial.
3) Sharp looking unit.
4) Whisper quiet on low settings

Cons:

1) Motor died within a year.
2) Small fans have to spin more times to move the same air as a large fan, therefore this fan is very loud at higher speeds.
3) The Price. A fan that cost this much money should last more than a year when it is used under regular circumstances.

Avoid.

The Vornado 550B was not a good solution for us. It had a low electronic hum, almost a buzzing hum like some flourescent lights. The hum came from the speed controller, not the fan motor. In a quiet room, with the fan at a low level, the hum could be easily heard across the room.

We use fans at night to create a soft breath of air as we go to sleep. For this purpose, "quiet" is good. We live in the country and the natural sounds are pleasant. "White noise" is unneeded.

Without the hum, the Vornado would have been a great solution. For a given amount of air movement, it would be quiet compared to other fans - slightly quieter than the Soleus FTY-25.

The Vornado creates a strong breeze at high speed. At the maximum setting it makes a lot of noise, but no more than our other (larger) fans that move as much air. It can create a stronger breeze than the Soleus.

It is likely that other Vornados would be more satisfactory than the 550B. The 550B has an infinitely variable speed control that appears to be the source of the hum. 3-speed Vornado models probably do not have the hum. In our particular case, we will probably get a second Soleus.