Rowenta VU5550 Turbo Silence Oscillating Fan, Standing Fan, 4 Speed Fan with Remote Control

Very quiet fan on the lowest settings. Price may be more than some are willing to spend. I deducted one star for three reasons. First, although well-built in my opinion and easy to assemble, I should think the Rowenta table fan should be around fifty or sixty bucks and this floor fan around eighty or ninety-ish. However, after having read the reviews and having had personal experience with the usual cheap floor fans on discount, I decided to spend more and hope for better results.Quiet is very important to me, so much so when I built my computer, I used ultra-quiet components and sound-insulated the case. I hate loud fans. For example, I have an older model Vornado circulator fan (280SS, which isn't made any more...a real shame), bought back when they still had the (almost) infinitely variable speed dial; it's a good fan, has lasted forever, and I like how much air it can move, but I don't like how noisy it is. In this respect, the Rowenta is clearly the most quiet I've owned, particularly on the lowest two speed settings. On the highest or on Turbo-mode, yes, it's going to be loud, but that's to be expected.The second reason I deducted a star is because the assembly instructions were very difficult to locate. I finally found them wedged between the two halves of the wire fan-cage, which was in a semi-opaque plastic bag which made the instructions even less obvious to find. The assembly instructions should be the first thing you see when you open the box.A remaining reason for the one star deduction was their not bothering to include a couple of AAA batteries for the remote. C'mon, a fan like this at a premium price ought to come with the batteries.Pros:- Well-packaged and arrived undamaged -- product box inside another sturdy brown cardboard box (probably would've sufficed for shipping, but Amazon went ahead and put this inside yet another box, along with a couple other items I'd ordered).- Really heavy and sturdy pancake-shaped base, unlikely for the fan to tip over unless you plow into it.- Good construction quality in general, although the fan blades seem flimsy...but I'm sure that's part of what helps make it more quiet than other fans. Other than that though, nothing about the fan looks cheap.- I like the goose-neck design, so that you can see the controls from any angle, even standing at the fan. Too many fans I've owned either put them on the front (meaning you'll have to crouch or bend over to see them) or else on top, in which case you can't see them unless you're looking down right at the fan.- Remote control (alas, the remote doesn't turn the swivel on/off, which would've been really nice).- Significantly less expensive than a Dyson (which, to be honest, I actually found rather loud the last time I checked them out).Cons:- Expensive. A bit more expensive, in my opinion, than the fan is worth, but I needed a quiet, decent quality pedestal fan and there weren't any others which I felt met my needs and required quality standards.- Probably doesn't move as much air as other fans, due to the attempts to make it more quiet.- For obvious reasons, I wouldn't recommend this or any other pedestal fan for homes with small children or large unruly pets, although in terms of being 'tippy', this fan is far less so than most.- Some might not like the beep the fan makes when changing settings, and there's a blue LED which could bother some (but this latter could be taken care of with some electrical tape easily enough, or even just some colored plastic).Observations & hints:- Ultra-quiet on the lowest setting (just the air movement and a little bit of a hum), pretty quiet on the 2nd (louder whoosh, and the sound I refer to as 'plane prop' just barely evident). Significantly louder at high and turbo, but not quite as noisy as most fans I've heard; still I doubt I'll be using those settings often, except maybe for a minute or two if I need an urgent cool-down after working outside.- To maximize the quietness, don't put the fan too near objects or walls which can interfere with the airflow (thus making it uneven because turbulence = noise). Also, it's not going to seem super quiet if you're right up next to it. Halfway across a room though, on low, I can barely hear it; the refrigerator is actually significantly louder.- The fan base does not have wheels, meaning it's not really intended to be portable. It sits flat on the floor on three rubber feet, under the heavy circular base. If on a hardwood or fancy stone floor, I'd recommend putting a rug or something like that under it to avoid marks or scratching due to the fan vibration.- The instructions say not to engage/disengage the swivel motion while the fan is on. Makes sense. Also makes sense never to try to move the fan or adjust the fan positioning while it is running. That's just asking for trouble. My suggestion is if planning to move the fan to another room would be to (1) unplug the fan, (2) loosen the knob attaching the fan head and assembly to the base and remove it entirely, (3) carry the base and fan head ass'y to the other room separately, and (4) reassemble in place, then plug it in.- The knob that holds the fan blade assembly to the motor shaft is reverse threaded (meaning lefty-tighty, righty-loosey, opposite the normal directions). Just something to keep in mind when assembling or disassembling the unit.Summary: If you want a good quality and nice-looking pedestal fan, one which is really rather quiet compared to its competitors, the Rowenta VU5551 is a good choice. On the other hand, if quiet isn't important to you and you want to save some money, some of the less expensive fans may suit better, but the 'you get what you pay for' maxim comes into play.

First off, my friends know me as the "Crazy Fan Lady". I need to sleep with a fan and have a very narrow threshold of temperatures I can deal with. Living in Seattle, we have no air-conditioning and considering that we live in a townhouse, the upstairs gets extremely warm as the internal air-circulation is really poor. I have tried all kinds and all brands of fans and currently own three Vornados (including the 660) and the Lasko 20" Cyclone Fan. I've had fans cheap and expensive, box fans, table fans, pedestal fans and clip-on fans. The problem with most fans I've come across is two-fold: (a) They're usually pretty damn loud (b) They don't move enough air if it's not pointed directly at you.While I love the Vornado 660, I don't think it's quiet powerful enough for a 15 x 15 living room. Also, I need to put it on a stool so that it sits by the sliding door and pulls air in. I wanted a stand-alone pedestal fan that looked nice, wasn't loud (I mean, who can play video games with the sound of wind blowing in their ears; how would you ever detect the Clickers from the Last of Us?) and could blow up a storm for those especially hot days that are becoming the norm. Initially I wanted one of those vintage-y Hunter fans, but I read that they were loud and didn't really generate or circulate much air. The Rowenta was my second choice and though INSANELY over-priced (for which I docked a star), I think it was a really good buy. It's definitely very quiet on the first and second setting. The third and turbo setting gets pretty loud but not as terrible as the Lasko Cyclone and is comparable to the Vornado 660 at the highest speed. The fan is definitely more powerful than the Vornado 660 in terms of air circulation - if I place the Rowenta in front of the sliding door pointing inwards and have another fan at the end of the room redirecting the air outwards, the room gets cool pretty fast. I think the trick is the five really thin blades that seem to just slice through air and spit it out. The one other gripe I have though is that the color is actually a dark brown and not the nice silvery color shown in the picture. I'm not docking another star though, mainly because it blends in nicely with my wood furniture but it is pretty misleading. The fan otherwise has a very sleek modern look to it, and the base is EXTREMELY heavy, so it means no rickety squeaky sounds even on carpet.All in all, a really good purchase, lives up to it's Shhh-Silence name and produces good circulation.UPDATE (17 September 2013)Two months in, and I've finally concluded that this is the best fan EVER. It beats the Vornado 660 hands down in terms of silence and air circulation. I am not generally a lazy person, but I also just realized that the remote control is really useful for times when you're sitting on the couch watching a movie and suddenly it gets too cold and you don't realize that it's because there's a fan blowing because it's so quiet! I've used it almost everyday throughout summer - it doesn't get too hot in Seattle but for the days when it was about 90 degrees, the fan on the highest (not turbo) setting did a great job keeping the temperatures comfortable and did not create a sound any louder than a low hum.UPDATE (17 May 2014)The fan still going strong. I love being able to remove the grill and the blades and just running it under the tap to get it clean. I've noticed that when the blades on any fan gets gunky, performance is slowed down and you don't get as much wind power. Haven't been able to do that with my three other Vornados (didn't I say I'm the crazy fan lady?) Everyone that comes over to the house wants to know where I bought the fan, so at least we know it looks good.UPDATE (7 Oct. 2017)The fan has been going strong for 4 summers. I haven't encountered any of the rusting issues that other reviewers have even though I've washed the grills multiple times. I wonder if it's an issue of humidity/salinity. Seattle has pretty dry summers so we've managed to escape the humidity monster unscathed. I love this fan every bit as much as when I first got it, so much so that I bought the table version of this my baby's room.

I needed a new floor fan as my tower fan(well known brand and expensive) just wasn't putting out enough air movement. After considerable research chose the Rowenta VU5551. I read the 1-star reviews and they seemed viable but noted that the 5 star reviews were glowing. Initially the price was a bit high for my tastes but I ordered anyway. Once received (I opted for the 1 day delivery as I was desparate), I opened the box and within a few minutes had the unit assembled. First thing I noted, and confirmed by numerous reviews, my cat could have written better and clearer assembly instructions. That said, assembly was pretty much a no brainer and I only needed a Phillips screwdriver and pliers (to help loosen the fan holding plastic nut. Had to grip the metal shaft and THEN with some force removed the nut). The base of the unit is relatively heavy (which was a surprise) and is attached to the fan post with a screw type allen wrench on the underside of the base. I adjusted the height of the unit, plugged it in and hit the on button. The unit has 4 speeds to choose from. The unit was set to turn on with the lowest speed. Noted nice air flow. I shifted to 2nd speed and immediately noted that there was more air being moved (unfortunately I could not calculate the CFM) than my older tower fan. The Third setting was even better. Then I hit TURBO! (you could tell I was really getting into the swing of things here). Very noticeable airflow noted at 8 feet away. Airflow was amazing. I have a much older home and can only use window a/c, and then only of a certain size in order to fit in the window. Also, during the afternoon, my living room gets up to 87 F while outside it is 94 with heat index of 105-6. I have a combo clock thermometer in the living room and looked at the temp: it showed 87 F. With both the fan running on turbo and the a/c, the temp dropped 1 degree within 20 minutes and dropped another 4 degrees within the hour. Now, during this little test run, there was something that I noticed to be missing but couldn't place it at first. Then I realized it was THE QUIET OF THE FAN. My older fan would require me to contact the local FAA air traffic control tower because of the jet engine sound it made when starting up. OK, not really but it was noisy enough that we had to turn up the TV to hear properly. With this fan, even at Turbo, it is amazingly quiet. So what about the CONS? After reading the 1-star reviews, I didn't find but one that concerned me, and that being the rusting of the fan grill covers. But, these complaints were only a few and I think with just regular light cleaning there should be no problem. Now, as I said earlier, my price was a bit high. Now I get to eat my words again as I always believe, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. This fan is well worth the money as it does the best job of airflow movement I've ever experienced in a pedestal fan, and although it will not cool a whole house, it does an admirable job in a 10x20 living room. Yes, I highly recommend this as a BUY if you need a fan in conjunction with use of an a/c,.....or even heating during the winter months. Now if I can just get my cat to move away from the main airflow of the fan, everything will be fine.

Regardless of what others have said about it being easy to assemble, it wasn't to ME!! It was NOT FUN putting it together!! There are no instructions for assembly, only a diagram! I almost never figured out that you have to take the plate and screw off the bottom of the base before you can pull up the 2nd pole that connects to the section with the controls! I spent a good 30 minutes just crying off and on in frustration as I tried to fit those two sections together until I decided to take the bottom off and see what happens. There was another pole inside! It did not show ANYTHING in the diagram about pulling up the pole out of the OTHER pole! I was so irked! Also, there are a couple of things that have to be turned the opposite direction than what is shown. No righty-tighty/lefty-loosey! In Germany, I guess they do it backwards from us.Anyhooooo......I thought by the time I got the thing together, it would not work from all the abuse it was getting before I figured things out! But once it was together, it worked like a dream! Very cool air! It is VERY quiet! On low, I can barely hear a whisper out of it. On medium, theres a bit more air-gushing noise, of course, and high is gushier, but still quiet compared to other fans. When you hit turbo-boost, its the gushiest of all, but still not loud or annoying. It can oscillate if you want, or not, which is done manually with the pull up/ push down knob on the top of the back. The remote uses 2 AAA batteries, not included. With the remote, you can turn on, turn off, change speeds (3 speeds + turbo), and there is a seperate button for the turbo. The blades are light transparent blue, very thin and flexible. You would not think they would do a very good job, but they do! They really put out great air, and this fan is as good as any metal-bladed fan I have ever had, but so QUIET, unlike the metal ones! The grills on this are metal, and easy to fit together. Plus, its easy to take the grill off to clean the fan.I started to give it 4 stars because of the aggravating assembly, but I love it so much I just couldn't deduct a star! It looks good, has a big heavy stable base, puts out great air, is easy to clean, can oscillate, is height-adjustable,the perfect size, has a remote control, and IS QUIET AS A WHISPER, so what more could you ask for?? THAT IT WOULD COME PRE-ASSEMBLED! THAT'S what!! LOL!UPDATE: Still cant say enough good stuff about this fan!! Honestly, it has to be the best, quietest stand-fan in the world!! Still no rattling or humming! Just lots of cool, quiet air!! LOVE it, and it was totally worth assembling! Dont hesitate! Buy it! A bit more costly than the cheap ones, but you get what you pay for, and why waste $30-$40 on a fan thats going to drive you so crazy you wont run it?? And if you do run the noisy, humming, rattling thing, it wont put out even a FRACTION of the air as this Rowenta!! BUY THIS!!! You get what you pay for! I paid $116 plus shp, and even though the price has gone up since then, still worth it. Might wanna look around on the internet for it on sale, though.UPDATE: I HAVE HAD IT 1 & 1/2 YEARS NOW AND ITS STILL GOING STRONG AND IS LIKE NEW! HAVE NOT EVEN HAD TO TAKE THE GRILL OFF TO CLEAN THE BLADES, I JUST DUST THE GRILL WITH AN OLD TOOTHBRUSH EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS. STILL LOVE THIS FAN!

Update: Rowenta repairs my fan.I got an email from Rowenta stating my fan is still under warranty. They issued a postage paid shipping label.They wanted me to ship the entire fan. I decided to only ship the top portion. (fan, motor, housing, etc). I cost me about $35 for the packaging alone. I used UPS and they destroyed my fan.Scratches, cracked housing bent fins, ect. etc. The service center went ahead and replaced the housing and repaired the oscillating motor. I then received a call to pick up the fan from the center because they don't want to ship it back.I drove about 1hr to get there and pick up the fan. Everything works fine BUT there are scratches all over the fan now. It looks like a used unit. Not sure if they replaced or repaired the fan. The serial number is gone so I don't know.All I know is the fan still works and is still quiet. So I'm happy with that. Not happy that I had to go through all this for a fan I bought for $100.-----------------------Update: Purchased on June 29, 2013.Today, May 11, 2014 the fan is no longer oscillating. Can't believe it's already broken for a fan at this price range. I had fans barely 25% of the cost of this last longer.I have contacted Rowenta to see if they will fix it. I will update this review when I receive a reply.-----------------------I was surprise to see how heavy this thing is. The base it metal unlike all of the previous fans we had purchased. The installation was a breeze. I manage to put it all together in about 10 minutes w/o reading the instructions.The first thing I noticed was the bright blue led. This fan is for our bedroom so it's way too bright. I will put some small decals over the led. First tuned it on and yes, on the lowest settings, the fan is fairly quiet. Great for the bedroom, and perfect to leave on at night. I have tried many fans and returned most of them. The only one I have kept are the window mounted fans that has two fans which allows you to bring in fresh air and take out room air. These however, lack any air flow. They are loud for the amount of air it pushes.The only major flaw for such an expensiveness fan is that there is no timer! Unless I am missing something or not reading the instruction right, I do not see an option to set a timer.Adjusting the tilt of the fan is a breeze. All you do is just tilt it to the angle you wish it to be. Unlike my previous fans where you have to turn a knob to adjust the angle. Which was useless as the fan would point down no matter how tight you turned the knob. This fan just clicks into place.It's a bit overpriced for what we get, but the build quality seems very good. The only thing plastics are the blades, the motor cover, the control panels and a few knobs. This thing is heavy BTW. So moving it up and down the stairs could be a bit of work for some. At the lowest setting, it's is great for sleep mode. You can hear some noise at the higher settings but it's mostly air noise and not the fan or mechanical sound.The remote is a bit bulky for something that only has 3 buttons. We're talking "approximately" 6 x 2 x .5".Compared to another fan I purchased at WalMart, it sounded like a Jet Engine at the lowest settings. One last thing, the design looks a little different than your typical pedestal fans. Almost sleek looking. I like it.