530 Compact Air Circulator

I avoided Vornado for years because it seemed like a hype product. Expensive, and I didn't see how on earth a small Vornado could replace a much larger oscillating fan. It creates a very different kind of airflow than traditional oscillating fans, but Vornado is no hype. These things work. I live in a long, narrow 1500 sq. ft. mid-century ranch house with HVAC vents along the exterior walls, closed-off rooms, a long central hallway, and an absolutely terrible layout for airflow. I've been buying cheap fans to put on the floor in front of the HVAC vents to help push air throughout the house, but those cheap fans keep needing the bearings cleaned and oiled every few months. I decided to try a Vornado because of it's 5 year warranty, with no real expectation that it would perform any differently than my cheap fans. It does perform better. A lot better, in fact. Just one strategically placed Vornado, turned on its highest speed, pushes enough air that it can be felt throughout the entire house. The kitchen is on one end of the house with no exposed HVAC ventilation. I put this Vornado in the adjacent dining room, on the floor, next to an HVAC vent, and pointed it at the stove. When the fan is on high, nearly 20 feet away, cold air can be felt in the kitchen every time the air conditioning comes on. Even without the AC on, the kitchen feels as though a window is open and a breeze is coming through. In fact, the air circulation that Vornado advertises is so effective that I have to turn the fan off completely if I'm cooking anything that produces a lot of steam or smoke, because the stove hood can't overcome the airflow of the Vornado that's 20 feet away and the steam/smoke ends up collecting underneath my cabinets. Here's the crazy thing. If I forget to turn the fan back on, the other end of the house, where the bedrooms are, gets several degrees warmer than the front of the house, where the kitchen is. Oddly enough, in my living room—which is almost entirely closed off, but roughly the same area as the kitchen and dining room combined—this fan didn't move enough air to produce any noticeable effect. I ended up buying a slightly larger model, a Pivot 6, for the living room and liked it enough that I bought a second Pivot 6 for my bedroom. With these three Vornados running 24/7, the air conditioning comes on half as often as it use to and when it does come on, it only runs for half the time it use to. During a recent multi-week triple-digit heat wave, my electric bill was only $20 higher than it had been in the spring (before I got the Vornadoes) when the temperature stayed in the 70s. Unlike traditional oscillating table fans, this Vornado creates a single jet of air that disrupts the rest of the air in a room. I would not want a Vornado pointed at me the way I would a traditional table fan, it's not comfortable to be in front of one turned on high speed. Aside from the Vornado in my dining room, I point these Vornados at a doorway and let them push air out of the room. You can feel this air movement in the hallway and in other rooms that have no fans in them. Prior to having any fans in the house, my HVAC was set to 72 and parts of the house still felt too warm for comfort in the summer. After buying six oscillating table fans to place throughout the house, my HVAC was set to 77 and the house still felt warm in places. Adding these three Vornados let me set the HVAC to 78 and I'm contemplating setting it to 79, because I keep putting on a hoodie throughout the day. Overall, the house feels cooler now than it did when my HVAC was set to 72, and the energy bills are much lower. I've also taken this fan apart and put oil around the front bearing. The grill and blade are easy to remove. I have not taken the Pivot 6 apart to clean or oil it yet. Time will tell how long this Vornado lasts. However, I'm concerned that the motor looks like a similar bearing arrangement to the cheap fans I have to clean and oil so often. I'm hoping Vornado is built better than that, though, but at least the Vornado has a really good warranty if it does start to act up like my old fans did. The Vornado Pivot 6 seems to have a much better motor design, just from looking through the grille, and I expect it to last longer. UPDATE: April 2024, the black Vornado 530 started squeaking pretty loudly. It's been running 24/7 on speed II or III ever since I got it, so this wasn't unexpected. I took the apart, unscrewed the motor and unscrewed the bearing caps, and oiled the bearings. Other than the motor being difficult to turn by hand, the bearing caps showed no signs of wear. If you take everything apart like this, there is a tiny little washer in the front bearing cap—make sure it doesn't fall out. The motor is very simple to remove and take apart, although the retention clip for the up-down pivot was a little tricky to get back in. The two prongs go from the fan neck into the holes just above where the bottom screws go. Not terrible to get everything put back together, though. When I got it back together, it ran perfectly without making any noise. I ended up taking my white Vornado 530 apart and oiling the bearing in it as well. UPDATE: July 2024: The black Vornado started squeaking again, for about a week. Then the power went out and the black Vornado didn't turn back on. I took it apart and the blade wouldn't move at all. I took the bearings out and the back bearing was essentially locked up. The plastic washer was split in two as well. I took the bearings apart, cleaned them, and got the re-assembled fan blade spinning freely again. However, it wouldn't power on. Using a multi-meter, I checked the fuse and found that it was still good, and I could trace power through the switch. I believe the motor capacitor burned up, likely due to the bearing getting stuck. I contacted Vornado and they issued a warranty replacement within a week. The new fan is running very smoothly and putting out a lot of air. It's amazing how rooms the airflow of this one fan affects. I'm still a fan (no pun intended) and hope to have many more years of use out of my Vornados.

I just received this fan a few hours ago. It's replacing a fan I'd bought about 2 months ago which just died. That was probably the 4th one I've had in the last year. I live in a small apartment with no central air. I have a one room portable air conditioner in a living room and that's pretty much all it cools. The bedroom gets no airflow so I buy fans. I'm in L.A. and when the fan died I went to a few stores and of course, fan's being a seasonal item, no one had any. I've seen pretty decent reviews for the Vornado line so I figured I'd give it a shot. For it's size, it's way more powerful than any of the 4 fans I've had previously, including a larger floor fan. Construction on this model feels sturdier than the desktop fans I've had and it doesn't have the rattling sounds of the metal desktop fan that just died. For it's size, price, and power, it's a pretty impressive desktop fan. Update: I've had this fan for a couple of weeks now and it's the best portable fan I've owned so far. I have my computer desk in my bedroom. Prior fans, on high speed, would barely reach where I sit, which is about 9 feet away. With this fan, I can walk by the bedroom door (about 14 feet) and I can feel the breeze. The unit is sturdy, no odd noises or rattling. In my opinion, well worth the price. Update: 10/7/2013 - The fan bit the dust (literally I think). Several months ago the fan began intermittently making a squeaking noise as though some internal parts were rubbing together. I run the fan almost non-stop 24 hours a day and it sits in front of a window. I'd cleaned it a few times due to accumulating dust from the window. It finally seized up. Because I hated having to get rid of it I dismantled it, cleaned it, and put a couple of drops of lubricating oil that I use for hair clippers on the metal rod that connects the blades to the base. This brought it back to life for a few more months. It finally froze up at the beginning of October and I couldn't revive it. So, for what it's worth, I had this unit for a little less than 3 years and during that time it was running 7 / 24 at least 90% of that time. Although I wish it still worked, given the environment and that it ran for an estimated 22,000 hours, I think I got my money's worth out of it. Update #2: Purchased first fan in 12/2010 and a second one for my bedroom in 8/2011. As noted above, they eventually died. In both cases the motor simply froze. I bought this last one in 6/2014. All of these have been the Model 530. The one I bought in 6/2014 has worked fine up until about a month ago when the motor, like it's predecessors seized up. I was able to revive it and it's running but if it follows the same pattern as the previous fans it will likely die sometime in the next 6 months. It seems that, at least in my experience, these fans have about a 3 year lifespan. I still don't know if it's the dust in the area or that it's just not designed to be run 24/7 for this long of a time. As above, I probably run the fan about 90% of the time and 100% during the summer months. I've been running two fans (one in living room and one in bedroom) for the last 5 years. When the fan I'd purchased in 2011 died I replaced it with the much less powerful Vornado 133. It's okay but it does not circulate the air in the apartment anywhere near what the 530 does. If this 530 dies I think I'm going test Vornado's 5 year warranty since I've had this one for only 2 years. I'm still a fan and I think I'm getting my money's worth from these fans but I do wish they weren't so consistent in failing in under 3 years.

Been using this fan primarily as a bathroom fan. Don’t let the small size fool you this thing is a beast of an air mover and is quite powerful on high. Know this it’s loud on high but it packs a punch when it comes to high air volume movement. Honestly while I use it in my small bathroom it’s kinda overkill but it’s great for after a hot shower. Noise is fine on low just whispers a bit and on medium it’s still reasonably quiet but not silent at all. Then flip it to high and this sucker lets you know what it’s all about! The fan feels solidly engineered and built and doesn’t feel cheap at all. I like how Vornado designed it in such a way that there’s no cord hanging off then motor area, instead it’s on the base and it appears to be concealed and fed up to the fan. However they did it it’s clever. The fan has a standard 5 year warranty so vornado will replace it if anything goes wrong. I will say this I did notice on and off if not used for a while it’ll spin slower on power up then after after maybe a minute it reaches full RPM. Though not normal I assume it’s just a slight issue with the permanent lubrications. The manual states it’s permanently lubricated so we’ll see how it holds up. I give it a five star rating for its solid construction, powerful airflow, and ease of cleaning. Vornados cost a pretty penny but this is a great fan to introduce yourself to so you understand just what their line of fans is all about. Turn it on and stand in front of it and you’ll see exactly why they cost so much. The so called “vortex” action is no joke so if you aim it at a wall say in a small bathroom (I did not really test much in my bedroom) it’ll surround you in a current of air rushing around you so it does work as advertised. Go with bigger models for bigger rooms. It’ll move air around nicely no matter what and would be great for a kitchen too. I decided to give a few weeks of use before writing this overview review so I could test it out properly and I’m not disappointed one bit. However I’ve seen a lot of people stating this thing having a fairly high failure rate so we’ll see. Regardless it’s covered and if it fails so what it’s got a great warranty. These aren’t ten dollar “throw away” fans folks seriously. I’ve already talked to vornado personally on the phone about concerns I had on my tower fan and they didn’t ask questions they were ready to ship a new one immediately. They don’t play around with this stuff so if you got a problem tell them and they’ll take care of you. I’ve seen reviewers stating it failed after a couple years and just pitched it in the trash. Don’t do that! I would not recommend this fan for an office cubicle unless used on low and maybe medium. Because on high someone’s gonna complain about the noise for sure. I didn’t buy it for quiet I got it to move air and it does that better than any fan I’ve ever used.

OK, I haven't paid some $300+ for a Dyson, but a fan that costs $300+ better give me a ... This is my second Vornado 530L. Why pay $45 or so for a fan? Well, I run my fan CONSTANTLY 24/7, and have for 3+ years, and no problems. Why did I order a second one? Because the electric rates went up and I decided o create a cross breeze and wait longer to turn my air conditioning on. Oh yeah, I live in Chicago -- hot in the summer and radiator heat (read intermittent) in the winter. Sooo, keeping the air circulating from carpet level up to ceiling (~9 ft in my loft studio) to maintain a comfortably stable temperature is key. Also, this thing really blasts air on high, though a little noisy on max, I don't mind if I can keep the air off and save $$ on electric. An American design that literally, as their literature states, creates a column of air (I have yet to figure out how, but I guess the front frill pattern and the fan blade pitch, but that's why it's patented) that on this fan does go for the 70 ft they say. I can point this fan at the ceiling and feel the air literally bounce off the ceiling and be felt as a light would travel and bounce off a mirror. So, considering I can buy 6 of these for that Dyson that I don't know really works, I'll take this one. But BEWARE, buy the 530 model (the 530L is the beige color, the 530B is the black -- because this fan pushes so much air and I live in urban Chicago, I opt for the beige). Their 630 model does push a somewhat (I owned one and returned it) more air, it is not as directional as this one. My next fan purchase will be, of course, a Vornado, model 660. The 660 which has four, not 2, speeds (compared to the 630) is about ~$40 dollars more than the 630, maybe $50-$55 more than the 530. However it pushes TWICE as much air as the 630! and FOUR times as much as the 530! (compared literature as to CFM -- cubic feet per minute, an apples-to-apples air volume measurement). Why do I want a model 660 when I have two 530's? Because, I have a home recording studio and have acrylic insulation layers on the windows, and my actual screen opening for my whole studio is only 2' x 2'. So, I am sure I can pay for the 660 in one summer season. Oh, and I still need the 530's for cross breeze, to ventilate my kitchen which still has gas pilots (whoa talk about heat in the summer!), and on cooler days, I think the 660 will be overkill. So, about noise: yes on max, speed 3, it makes noise, but show me a fan that doesn't pushing the air in such a small unit as this. If I want massive air circulation noise is the trad-off. HOWEVER, on speed 1, the lowest, it really is very quiet, and because of the column of air being directional, it produces a very nice, gentle cool breeze (OK, not like the Caribbean, but w/o air fare) Bought from Amazon, and as a Prime Member amazingly fast shipment, and I get to watch Prime videos free!! (in the cool breeze of a 530) OK, if you have read this far, push "add to Cart" already!!

Okay I bought this because my co-workers are all recommending it and I just thought heck, why not give it a try. It was extremely hot during the time I bought this fan mind you, and I’d have to say the fan really does its job. The instant you turn it on you can feel the difference between this fan and the conventional fans out there, as it’s a lot stronger than other fans I’ve had before, even large ones. It really does help bring the room temperature down, or even when it doesn’t at least keeps airflow around your room so you don’t end up feeling like you’re suffocating. The bad thing about this fan is that it’s rather loud, even on the lowest speed settings. I personally don’t mind it since I’ve got headphones on most of the time when I’m working at home, but when I’m sleeping it could get noisy if you keep it on the highest setting. Personally I keep the fan pretty far away from me at night, and keep the fan on low or medium setting. Low setting usually doesn’t bother me much and I’ve gotten used to the Medium setting noise as well, which is actually pretty loud. So for light sleepers this might be a problem. The fan itself feels pretty solid, the knob is a little scary feeling at times but it’s stayed on for me so thus far and doesn’t show signs of breaking yet. I’d say overall this is a pretty quality fan and if you got the money to spend you should get it, or even one of the bigger ones since I’ve heard those are better on the noise department, but don’t take my word for it.

This fan is great. I've had this fan for about 10 days now, in 80F+ weather, and it moves a lot of air. This fan puts out more force than my box fan that's 5x larger. It costs more than a cheap box fan, but it's worth the money I spent on it. The low setting is quiet, the medium setting is the sweet spot for noise and air flow. The high setting is really loud, but moves a lot more air. It looks nice, it's about the size of a basketball, I am thinking of buying a 2nd one.

You do pay a bit more for Vornado fans but they are worth it. This fan moves air and does it quietly. On high speed, it makes some noise but nothing excessive and for the output, it is a reasonable tradeoff. I have tried many other compact fans and this is the best due to the quality of its build and the way it moves air. This fan moves air more efficiently than my larger and more expensive room fan that I find myself moving this one around to where I need it (nice that it is small and light). I thought I would give an update. After 4 years of almost daily use, the fan finally started to die. When turned on I could see the blades attempting to spin up but there was too much resistance. If I put something thin in through the vents and gave the blades a few whacks it would spin up. I checked my order on Amazon and saw it was 4 years (to the day) since I ordered this fan. As Vornado has a 5-year warranty, I completed the warranty form on their website, sent them the required picture, and now have a new fan. Easy-peasy. I don't understand why some reviewers complain when their fan stops working but don't mention taking advantage of the warranty. Manufacturing issues do happen. A five-year warranty is unheard of in the world of fans, take advantage of it if you have an issue.

Great little fan moves a lot of air. It's quiet, but powerful. Works great! I like the compact, sturdy design.