Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay unlike a lot of people who reviewed I am familiar with swamp coolers aka evaporative air coolers. We live in the desert part of CO (yes there is desert in CO, came as a shock to us too) and that is what most people use to cool homes. When we moved here darn near died, swamp coolers suck donkey. A friend gifted me a window AC and that is how we survived for three years. Well this summer we moved and the window design in new townhouse does not work with a window unit. This worried me a lot, add to that I'm going through menopause and a summer with triple digit temperatures is not going to be fun.. Saw this fan and thought this might be what was needed. I bought two, one for the bedroom and one for the living room. The plan was to place strategically to assist the house swamp cooler in cooling better. I have been very pleased with the result. I am no longer miserable.There are days where I don't even use the cool feature; I just use the fan and living room is just fine. Have yet to need cool feature upstairs, came close last night but not yet. I like the fact that the blades move left to right, granted not oscillating but still better than not moving, helps hit the entire room. I can feel the cool factor when the fan blows directly on me when it isn't blowing on me the room itself is still pleasant. While we don't have one of these fans in my boys' room, with our using them their room is noticeably cooler than from when we used a window unit. They no longer mind spending time in their room. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because it's not even a month old yet and the clear covering over the control panel is warping (see photos). Which is odd as we actually don't touch it, we use the remote to control. Another reason for the one-star deduction is the back of the remote popped off from the locked position, and of course not I cannot find it. Grrr. I know it says indoor/outdoor. We tried it outside once, you absolutely have to be sitting directly in front of it to feel any coolness. We didn't purchase it for outdoor use but on those days when the little one wants to play in his splash pool, it does help me to have this blowing directly on me so I don't bake. When I first turned on the downstairs fan, it did spray and mist water, which if I had been outside would have been great, not so much inside with carpet. I know in some of the reviews I read others mentioned this issue too. I think someone said to sort of wiggle the hose around and it should stop. That's what I did and it hasn't wet me since. Like everyone else I load the drawer up with ice and then pour minimal amount of water (NOTE: you must have water in the drawer or alarm will sound and shut off. Unit will NOT work on cool setting if you only put ice. If you use just the fan setting, no water needed). so that I get really nice cool air blast. I didn't see anyone mention this and if it was in the product description there is a nature mode. Still not quite sure what that is all about. Basically, it blows high for 10 seconds, then medium and then slow. Noise level works for me. I'm old school and grew up with a box fan. I cannot sleep without the sound of a fan. Before buying these I had a fan running all night every night. If it was chilly I just turned so wouldn't blow on me. The noise soothes me to sleep. Downstairs I don't find it to be bothersome either. I work from home and do make phone calls, I can still hear whom I am speaking too and they don't notice the fan, even when on speakerphone. If this goes back on sale I might buy a third for my kitchen, right now using a normal oscillating fan. If you are elderly or have trouble bending over the fact that the water tray is on the bottom might give you issues. It is a bit awkward to drain and clean if you can't get on your knees or squat down. Says it is also a humidifier, haven't used cool function long enough to notice if it will help with dry skin. Crossing fingers on that front as I've been ashy ever since we moved here no mater what moisturiser I use.