131 out of 131 people found this review helpful.
The Holmes Blizzard Table Fan: Lives Up To Its Name!
Date of Review: Jun 16, 2005
The Bottom Line: A powerful fan that really packs a punch, yet very compact in size and sleek in design.
The master bath in my home has a large skylight built into the ceiling. This is wonderful during the cold winter months when the warm rays of the sun come shining through; but when the hot days of summer roll around, that bathroom becomes a sauna when I m taking a shower. So I always need to have a table fan running on top of the sink in order to keep the air flowing and the temperature down.
I recently purchased the Holmes Blizzard Oscillating Fan to replace an older fan that finally gave up the ghost. My previous fan was really too small for a large master bathroom. The Holmes unit was just the right size, but took up no more than 10 inches of space on my sink s counter top. The fan is 16 inches high, and has a 6-foot cord. It comes fully assembled, so there s nothing to put together.
What Does It Look Like?
The Holmes fan is made of dark grey, light-weight, high-impact plastic, with a swirl-designed front grille. Rather pretty looking, really. The plastic housing that covers the fan blades and motor is almost cone-shaped, stretching back behind the unit. The motor area is totally enclosed, and the swirls on the grille are positioned very close together, which is a plus if you happen to have little ones running about the house with curious fingers. The unit sits pretty much within a 10-inch square.
How Many Speeds Does It Have?
On the back of the unit, above the motor housing, is a dial for changing speeds and turning the unit off. There are three speeds; High, Medium, and Low. I think you ll find that even the lowest setting will be enough for any room, as this unit seems to have a very high airflow output (if I were to set the fan on High, most everything in the room would go flying).
What Other Features Does It Have?
Oscillation. To set the fan to oscillate back and forth (180 degrees), you simply push down on a grey button that sits on the back of the machine, close to the settings dial. Conversely, to stop the oscillation, pull up on the button.
Flexible Head. The fan head can be positioned to tilt in three directions by simply pushing on the housing. A good push backward is required, as it needs to lock into position. (A separate fourth position is available only when the fan is wall-mounted; see below.)
Wall-Mountable. To hang your fan on the wall, the unit comes with a Mounting Location Guide, which will help you to align and mark the placement of the screws (which are NOT included) in the wall. Once you have marked the spots for the two screws, drive the screws into the wall, and then simply line up the holes on the back of the fan with the screws in the wall, and hang. A fourth fan position, which puts the fan head in the furthest back position, can be achieved by pressing down on a small tab located on the back of the unit s neck. This tab is called the Wall Mount Lock, and the tab must be returned to table mode before using the fan on a flat surface again. As a note concerning the screws, the User s Guide states that the screws are not included because of the various types of walls that might be used on which to mount the fan. Different types of screws are required for different types of walls, and therefore your local hardware store should be consulted for the best kind of screw to use.
Warranty: This particular model comes with a 3-year warranty.
My Personal Experience With The Fan:
This little fan has certainly lived up to its Blizzard name, cooling down the near-tropical heat in my master bathroom very nicely. As I stated earlier, the force of the airflow, even at the lowest setting, is more than enough for any room. The oscillation function works very nicely, and doesn t rotate too quickly as is true with some other brands of fan. I don t think I would use this unit as a desktop fan, however, since the force of the air is very strong even at the lowest setting.
I was also happy to find that the unit isn t noisy, and doesn t vibrate or move across the counter. Even while oscillating, the fan doesn t make any weird sounds. This is a terrific little unit, and I really like the compact size and the handsome swirl design. And I especially like the low price!
