Holmes Group Bionaire Thin Window Fan with Manual Controls(BWF0502M-WM)

I almost didn't purchase this unit because of the negative reviews. But I'm glad I did! For clarity, I purchased the unit with the digital controls (not manual). I have a couple of very narrow window openings in my home, so this being only about 7.25" wide made it ideal. NOISE LEVEL: I read a couple of reviews that complained about this unit being very loud. Not sure if perhaps those were faulty units, or if I just got lucky - but mine is NOT loud at all. I actually found the sound of the motor to be very faint, and most of the 'noise' from my unit is just the sound of the airflow as the speed increases. I have it on the highest speed right now and while it isn't silent, it's very soft and quiet. REVERSIBLE: There seems to be some confusion on this. The UNIT is reversible. The direction of the BLADES is not. So yes, you can reverse the airflow. But no, you can't reverse the direction of the blades themselves. To clarify - you can't reverse the flow of air with the touch of a button, you must reverse the unit itself in the window (take it out, turn it around, put it back in). Not as simple as flipping a switch, but still fairly easy - and there are controls on both sides of the unit so that you can turn it on or off and select the airflow speed no matter which direction it is facing. OUTPUT: The wind from this thing isn't going to knock anyone over, but it's a nice, relatively strong flow of air - especially considering the small size and low noise of the unit. It has really cooled down the side of the house where I installed it, and the breeze is fairly strong and refreshing. TEMPERATURE CONTROL: They have temperatures noted on the controls... I find this to be pretty silly. This is a fan, after all, not an AC unit. It does not have a thermostat, so the temperatures noted are totally meaningless. Take them with a grain of salt. If you want it cooler, turn up the speed - that's it. Bottom line - I'm glad I decided to order this, and I'm about to order another. It works great, and it fits my windows. I'm very happy with my purchase.

Alright here is my situation. I live in a 350 sq foot studio on the first floor with a cat. During the summer when it is hot, I can't sleep with my only window (yes just one in the whole apartment) wide open because of safety concerns and my cat likes to climb screens. So, I was using a single little fan I got at target placed in front on 1-2" opening in my window. Needless to say, it got stuffy and warm. Bring in the Bionaire Thin Triple Window Fan. First, it shipped like really quick and it wasn't prime eligible (which is a bummer) so I was worried I was going to have to wait awhile, especially since shipping was free (implies ground shipping that is super slow). I placed my order mid day on Monday and it was at my door Thursday afternoon! Second, it was very easy to install, it was delivered and within 5 minutes it was pumping in fresh air. Third, my window is actually to tall to technically install it vertically however it was secure enough without being secured on the top that I am going to leave it with the gap. Fourth, someone mentioned a rubbing sound, my unit faintly rubbed as well at first but it quickly went away. I noticed the rubbing sound (again very minor) is only present when I first turn it on and then it goes away quickly. Fifth, even on the highest setting this fan hums along nicely will pushing quite a bit of air through. Sixth, the price is a bit high for a fan but given how perfectly it solves my particular situations problem, I don't care because it was worth it. Overall, I would recommend it, especially if you are in a similar situation.

I have been using the BWF0522E-BU model for 2 weeks now in a bedroom that’s approximately 13’ by 13’ that faces the sun during the afternoon and evening and here are my thoughts: The sound from all 3 fans running is pretty quiet to me. It’s a few feet from the bed and it doesn’t keep anyone awake. I have a bigger fan for a larger bedroom and it makes much more noise. The volume of air that it moves is good for that size bedroom as far as bringing in cool fresh air. We put it in during the evening And run it on high because the thermal heat from the sun makes the room pretty hot so with this fan in when it’s bedtime the room is much much cooler. We also have a ceiling fan in that room which helps with the cooling. It does only moves air in one direction, so it depends on which way you face it for air flow. The remote is fine. Not great but fine. You have to cycle thru a bunch of settings to turn it off. But it does have controls on both sides so you can point the fan in either direction for airflow and there’s controls on that side. When it’s set for a specific temperature it will cycle on and off to try and maintain that temp once achieved. We find that annoying so we don’t use that feature. If feels pretty ‘plasticy’ so although we are careful with it as far as install and removal, I wouldn’t be surprised if something broke on it eventually. But I’m not an expert so maybe it’s tougher than it looks. It mounts in our windows fine. We use it vertically with no problem. It came with a few extra pieces to make the overall length longer. We wanted something thin that can bring air in at night but not big enough that if removed someone could slip in the house. This checks that box. To wrap up, we purchased it to use at night to bring cool air in so the bedroom wasn’t hot when we’re trying to sleep. All in all, for $40 it works well for our needs and we’re satisfied.

I do own the the brand-x HAWF2043. This BWF0522E-BU blows more air, not a lot more, but more. The important thing for me is that this fan is quiet enough to sleep with while it is on high. The brand-x is a good fan but I find myself getting up at 2AM to turn it off because it is a little too loud. This Bionaire has 3 speeds. Each speed selection turns on another fan instead of ramping up the fan speed and noise. Low has one fan running, mid has 2, and high has all 3 with no increase in noise between low and high. To turn it off, press and hold the switch for two seconds, it remembers where you had it set. With my brand-x fan, i have to go through 13 or 14 switch presses to finally get it to switch off. The smaller height is a plus for me too. The old fan needs about 13.5 inches of opening. That is a little more than I am comfortable with for a window opening when I am not at home. This one needs about 9 inches. No normal person can slip in through a 9 inch opening. This Bionaire is also about an inch less deep which makes me less worried about damaging my window screen. Be aware, this is no 20 inch, super blower, (and cheaper) box fan. No comparison as far as air movement, the big box fan rules for that. This fan is probably best for small rooms, like a bedroom. It is a good ventilation fan that doesn't make a lot of noise. I use mine in a horizontal sliding window. I already owned a panel to cover the extra space at the top. The panel is not necessary but is nice to block out the light if you feel like napping during the day or want privacy. Speaking of light, I attached some carbon pre-filter to the back of this with Velcro. The material did not reduce the airflow noticeably but it did block out most of the light coming through the fan openings. That, and no one can see into your room, even at night. Maybe i even get cleaner air? To me this fan is a luxury that I would recommend. I live in coastal So Cal and often run fans 10-12 months out of the year, I have no AC. I will give this BWF0522E-BU some 8-24 hour per day use for a while and update this review if something changes. Enjoy

I bought this in 2018, so I've had it 2 years at this point. Pros: 1. It is a narrow fan - doesn't take up much room. 2. It's considerably quieter than any other fan I've had. Cons: 1. The controls are ridiculous. I agree with other reviews that getting the manual controls is probably better. Having to press the single button to cycle through every setting (all 18 of them) to get to the one you want is almost as irritating as if you had to reset the time on your digital clock multiple times a day, every day. 2. The lights! I understand the point of having something to show that it's on and working, but I noticed one night that the lights were very visible in my window (they show on both sides) from the other side of the parking lot. Basically giving a notice to anyone with nefarious intentions that this window is the one to go in. 3. Since (like most people in apartments) I have sliding windows, I keep it vertical. I've found that it's very unstable like that when reversed (manually, of course) and tends to fall out of the window. 4. After 2 years, the fan closest to the controls has stopped working. I know that fans aren't typically the longest-lasting appliance, but for the price, I'd been hoping to get at least a good 5 years out of it. Otherwise, I may as well just get a box fan for half the price. 5. An oddity I noticed: I checked all of my electric stuff with a Kill-A-Watt meter. Out of all of my appliances and electronics, this fan used more "vampire current" than anything else. It draws 2.3w when turned off but still plugged in. For comparison, my wifi printer uses 2.7w when it's turned on but not printing. Is the fan sending signals back to the mothership or something? That said, it is the quietest fan I've ever had. Since it is 1/3 broken now, I'm shopping for a new one. I haven't yet decided whether I want to try getting one of the ones with the manual controls or to try getting a different one and hope that one isn't too loud.

I purchased this fan thinking it would be a good exhaust fan in the kitchen. I liked the streamlined smallness of it and it seemed relatively quiet so it would be unobtrusive in the kitchen window. I purchased this in August and by November two of the fans had stopped working. It never regulated the temperature of the kitchen and it progressively became louder and louder until it stopped working. I put the fan away because it had become cold out and I could just crack the window to better effect than the fan. I put it away for winter: I didn’t use it for six months. I put it in the window and then I remembered that the two fans had already stopped working and the one that did work was making more noise than moving air. Didn’t think too much of it and ordered another one. The new fan arrived and as I was reading the directions I realized the fan has a five year warranty. So about mid to late June I contacted Bionaire to see about getting a replacement fan. I spoke with one of their reps at length. She asked for all the pertinent information and while she seemed helpful I had the uneasy feeling that she was not 100% understanding what the issue was, coupled with the fact that they did not have any of the units available. I told the rep that I would follow up in a week or so to see when they would have more fans a available. I received a generic email two days later and I was not sure what the purpose of the Email was and it kind of seemed like they were closing cases. I emailed back letting them know the case number and that it had NOT been resolved and to make sure that the case was not closed. I followed up within two weeks to see if they had restocked their inventory. They had not. I followed up again and someone completely new replied and we had to start the whole process over again. I had one communication with them and they told me that again they had no new inventory. Flash forward again to mid October and I emailed asking about the status of their inventory and they did not have any new inventory and got a new sales rep again. How does a fan company not have inventory of fans for close to six months?? So it is now the 20th of October. I have to reply to the new cs rep and fill them in on all of the data they asked me for almost six months ago... Online this fan is now more expensive than when I bought it, so I don’t know if I just got a lemon or if they just have subpar products.

The Bionaire Thin Triple Window Fan is one of our favorite purchases. We have always had similar stye window fans. They typically are taller and thicker than this unit, have bigger blades (only 2) and a mechanical switch. Unfortunately, the standard fans will not fit in many windows. They are too larger for some basement casements, standard mobile homes, RV's and other uniquely shaped windows. This fan solved our problem. This fan will fit in the smaller older style mobile home windows. They are a mere 24 1/2 inches across and open only 11 inches. The fan seats securely and has ample cord length. Fan speed changes by running 1, 2, or all 3 fans. The fan is quieter than many 2 blade window fans we have had. The thermostat works well. The push button controls are adequate, but slightly inconvenient. The one button cycles through the fan speeds and then the thermostat settings. This fan gives us much better airflow than anticipated through all 4 rooms of the house. From previous reviews we considered getting two, but based on our experience so far, only one is necessary. Update May 2015 - This fan is still our favorite. It still works as well as the day we got it. No need for expensive temperature controlled units. This fans temperature control functions work great! We started using i more for night so we wouldn't get too cold when sleeping. It turns off when it reaches the set temp. Still one of our best buys ever.

UPDATE: Its now been 3 months and the fan is still running strong. It runs almost 24/7 with sun, rain, snow and even with it being -9 outside. I will be buying two more when spring comes to hopefully help keep down on the cost of running the AC in the summer. Also there are two smokers in the house now and it keeps the smoke out. No one can tell I smoke when they walk in. I’m very happy with this fan. Not a bad buy at all. I’m not sure why there are so many bad reviews. I love this fan. I bought it for the cold months so I could smoke inside but not have my house smell like smoke. It works great. I’m the only one in the house that smokes and no one else does. It does it’s job well and it has a warranty which is great. It’s not huge and looks good in my window which is fabulous.

I absolutely love this fan!! it keeps my room nice and cool, thank you

A little tricky to get in vertically, but once installed, the moves a lot of air. Helped cool my house down a lot.

Es bueno para ventilar habitaciones chicas o medianas, para una grande ocupas mas de 1 aparato, tiene un largo alcance y es muy facil de usar

The product is very good. The transaction was not a good experience.

The cool breeze helps move the hot air out of the area, dislike the fact that unless you unplug it you have to go thru a lot of pushing the temperature and fan speeds to get it to shut off.