Side by Side Comparison of: Vornado vs Holmes

Am using one under the sink cabinet so the pipes don't freeze. It's been several years and have no complaints. Low quiet heat. Buying another for my dad for chilly feet around the desk.

Love it so much that we had to re-order for four other people! Very space friendly. Small but works perfectly for small space/ cubicles.

I needed a small heater to take the cool edge off in my office. This little Vornado does the job perfectly! It's quiet, puts off just enough heat and has added safety in the tilt switch that automatically turns off the heater. Love it! It's my third Vornado and I continue to be a "fan".

I loved it.i received it on March 9, about a week ship it started to sound like a turbine winding up. I assume the blades are hitting something (in May).
Unfortunately,. I don't think something that works an out 1 1/2 months was a good buy. It wasn't even cold out. BUY something else. I am looking for a replacement now. It was 5 star while it worked

Nice little personal heater that doesn't use too much juice!~

I love this heater! I purchased it a year ago and it still works perfectly. I wanted a heater that would ft under my desk in the office because it's always freezing. It's extremely quiet and even works as a fan and shuts off automatically if knocked over. I can feel the heat on my feet even if I'm wearing UGG Boots. People come to my desk, and don't want to leave because they say it feels so good. Don't know how good it works in a large area, but it's perfect for a small space. I definitely recommend.

Great small portable heater. I use it primarily as a white noise machine, so have only tested the heat function a bit. It doesn't seem to put out quite as much heat as my last portable fan/heater, and is probably better suited for a small office, small bedroom. With the AC on, it heated up was heating up my midsize bedroom, but it'd take awhile to warm the room, especially in the winter.

Moderately loud, which is why I bought it. The white noise does wonders. Very well constructed, especially for the price, simple design, looks like it'll be easy to clean.

I have had this little heater since 2011! Still works perfectly. We normally use it in our big master bath in winter to take the chill off when we shower. We also take it camping with us and is our sole source of heat in our small camper. It works great for both purposes. The thermostat works well once you figure out which setting is best for your situation. I love that it shuts off when tipped over. I'm planning on buying a second so I can keep one in the camper and have one for the bathroom.

This is my second one. I had my first one for a bunch of years I can't even remember how long. It worked great and this one does too. I like that the material doesn't get hot you won't get burned if you touch the grill of it. It turns off if it falls and it cycles on and off based on how you set it. I was grateful to know this model was still being made. Just know that your pet will likely find the space in front of the heater the prime place to nap.

I keep this little heater under my desk at work where it always feels like i'm on an antarctic exploration but with this little guy at my toes I can finally defrost! It doesn't make a noise if you accidentally tip it over (as some other units do for safety) and it gets pretty warm to the touch. For these reasons I would not choose to use it around children or pet but as an office warmer is perfect. 10/10 would buy again

I got two of these for bedrooms that get cold in the winter even with the central heating going - one for each room. They quickly brought the rooms to a comfortable temperature and, once set, kept them comfortable.
Their size makes them easy to store when not in use.

I use this in my daughters room. I bought it for her room because the house we rent has bad air circulation and gets freezing upstairs. I live around Chicago, so we get some very cold nights!
As first time parents, putting a heater in my infant child's bedroom over night was a terrifying idea. After using it for a while to get the right temperature and test safety features, I was confident I could put it in her room. Made space where it goes and I don't let anything close to it if it is out.

This heater is still going strong. Works just like it did when I got it, keeps my daughter warm at night while I can sleep without worrying that it will cause any harm to her. I couldn't ask anything more of a heater. Plus it puts out good heat for how small it is.

Tipping point safety feature is awesome! Never hot to the touch, even after being on all winter night. Warmed up the room and kept it warm, cheaper than the unnecessary home unit for sleep time. 5 STARS for the safety and great heat!!!

Summer is here now and I wish it had a few different fan speeds. So it lost a star.

Nice little heater. I bought it for a small office (8X10) above an open warehouse, so the floor tends to be cool in the morning. I keep it on the floor below my desk on low, keeps me warm, not hot. When the temp catches up, I use the fan only function to keep thing circulating. I am sure on the colder mornings coming, the high setting will do just fine.

The fan does make a vibrating noise from time to time, not a lot, but if you touch it on in the center of the fan on the front, it goes away.

I love this little heater. By "personal" space heater, they mean that it will not heat an entire room. But it takes the chill off in my bathroom every morning in the winter, and it warms my ankles when I'm sitting in the living room.
Disadvantages? Well, the first one lasted only 2 years until the fan stopped spinning & it smelled like an electrical fire about to begin. I suspect hairs wrapped around the motor, but there was absolutely no way to get inside to clean them out. Still, the price is low enough that I didn't mind too much buying a 2nd one.

Ordered this for my freezing office. Used it for several months, every day all day, until about six months in it burned up. Three-year warranty included from Vornado, so I contacted them and after determining there was no repair fix, they sent me a new replacement heater free. Very quiet...Much more quiet than the other brand heater bought by my office after the first Vornado failed. Perfect size to keep my feet toasty throughout the day...enough to warm my office, attracting cold coworkers to come in to defrost and help themselves to my mint candy dish.

Darling little heater - perfect for a counter in a bathroom. My mom has one in bright red. It's quiet and it puts out great heat for a small, enclosed area, plus it has the safety switch on the bottom in case of accidental tip over (which is hard to do because it's a quasi-pyramid shape). Unfortunately, mine arrived DOA - wouldn't even power on. I'm sure Vornado has good warranties, and typically they are great products (we've had 3 full room heaters for 10 years that are still going). I ended up returning this to Amazon almost as soon as I got it and determined it wasn't functional, because they have such an awesome system in place for returns. I won't hesitate to try and order it again though. The missing star is just because of the product arriving broken (it was shipped in it's packaging box - no additional cushion - perhaps Vornado needs to assess how well their packaging actually protects the units during shipping).

This has worked pretty well for my small apartment's bathroom, but I ordered it before I noticed it was actually for a desktop and is not supposed to be used in a bathroom. Oh, well, keeps me warm enough when getting out of the shower and drying off.

Was a great heater. It worked like a champ for a few years day in, day out. Then our workplace got a power surge.... Well that was the end of the space heater.
Can't blame the heater for the power surge, but was kinda surprised that there wasn't some protection on it as this was a heating unit. That's why I subtracted one star.

Works well overall, can provide heated air or just circulate with the fan and no heat. But be warned, this fan is LOUD. Even on "low" it is loud. Works well as a noise canceling device in an office to block out surrounding sounds if that is something you are looking for.

My previous Holmes, had more power with blowing the air, and I could feel the hot air if it sat on the back of the toilet while I was standing at the sink. (the sink is right next to the toilet.) This one, I do not feel it blowing on me from the back of the toilet while standing at the sink. To feel the hot air blowing in me, I have to have it very close to me. It works well to heat up the bathroom if I turn it on a few minutes before going into the bathroom, and that is nice. It is nice that it has one setting to blow air as regular fan (not blowing hot air.)

I bought it for my office. I've only used it a couple of times and it really heats up the space in 10-15 minutes. I tried it at home, in the living room but I would not use it as a space heater, it works better as a directional heat source. Although powerful I am concerned about the power bill if I have it running for too long in high. I noticed a wire smell the first time I used it but it did not last for more than a few minutes. The name says it all. Good investment.

I had bought this for my desk at work, no matter if they have the heat on or not, it is always freezing, so I thought I'd get this and give it a shot. It does do a great job of keeping me warm, but the fan is pretty loud. I think I'll have to use this at home, it's too loud for me to have at work.

Other than how loud it is, I do really like this fan. I would recommend it for sure if you didn't need to have a quite fan around.

It worked great at first but then the blades got bent so it make a very loud clicking noise and now I don't even know if they spin. That could be my fault though since I travel with it and could hav bent something.

I'm surprised at all the great reviews; perhaps I purchased this for the wrong purpose. I don't find that this fan provides much warmth at all. I use it as a personal space heater at work because my office is freezing, but even when I have it directly next to my body on my desk I'm not very warmed. It is not nearly as powerful as I expected (and I didn't expect it to warm my office).

As others have said it really only blows warm air (which is how it stays cool to the touch). The fan seems to only have one speed even though there is a switch that looks like it controls fan speed (maybe that is for the two different heat settings?) If you have it in a small room with the doors/ windows shut it probably does an OK job at recirculating warm air. But if you actually want to feel the heat from this thing you're going to want to have it sitting a on your desk a few feet away from you and pointed right at you. The thing is that there are both lower and higher wattage personal heaters out there at a cheaper cost than this little vornado. I haven't tried any of the others but some of these seem like they would be a little more effective for less.

Lower wattage
http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-100-MyHeat-Personal-Ceramic/dp/B003XDTWN2/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1452963098&sr=1-1&keywords=personal+heater

Higher wattage
http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-754200-Ceramic-Adjustable-Thermostat/dp/B000TKDQ5C/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1452963262&sr=1-2&keywords=personal+heater

I suppose it depends on your intended use but do some shopping. I decided to try the vornado personal space heater because I own another one of their fans and like their vortex technology for circulating the air in the whole room but I really thought that it was a bit of a gimmick at this size.

This heater is not all that I expected it to be. It is not bad by any means, but does not pump out quite as much heat as I would have hoped. It does a decent job of keeping my toes warm, which was the idea, so no major complaints. It does have an odd smell when you first unpack it, but it does go away after some use. Works well to heat up the bathroom, but not any bigger space. Love the safety switch feature though! It has two heat settings and a fan setting, which will be handy in the summer months. I've had this heater for a few months now and have no major complaints, other than wishing for a bit more warmth!

Look, I get it, this heater isn't designed to feel warm up close like some ceramic heaters - it's meant to warm the whole room up. It's also nice that its high temp uses half the watts my Lasko (Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat) does. I got it with that in mind. Having said that, after running both of these for an hour when my room was frigid cold I have to go with the Lasko.It comes down to this...The Vornado makes my frigid room cool. Not cold, not warm, just slightly on the cooler side.The Lasko makes my frigid room toasty. Not cold, not warm, but toasty. And I do like toasty.

Surprisingly loud for such a compact unit. Do not buy if you are looking for a quiet fan or heater.

So I've had two of these heaters/fans for a while, I bought the most recent about 7 months ago for my office. After about this amount of time to a year, something goes wrong and the electrical plug starts arching in the outlet. We've tried different outlets as well as bending the prongs to make a snug connection but today the arching started and I instantly smelled the 'burning electrical' and quickly unplugged it. Not sure why both heaters did the same thing but while I loved these heaters/fans, it's a bit dangerous to try again. The first I considered perhaps a lemon, this second one? I believe that there wont be a third, safety is paramount!

I bought this to use in my very small bathroom as there is not a heater in that room. It worked really great to begin with. After a few months the heating element does not get as hot as it did when I first got it. The fan still works just fine.

We use this in my 2 year olds room during the winter. My olny complaint is that every few days, the heater goes through a weird phase where it doesn't shut off. Luckily, we have a temperature gauge on our baby monitor and it goes off whenever his room gets to be too hot. But every few days, we have to sneak in there while he is sleeping and reset the heater.
Other than that, it works great for a small bedroom. We've been using it throughout our Michigan winter.

Works pretty good for small rooms, but the speed control is pretty much all or nothing. The fan's speed doesn't change at all until the dial is turned all the way back around to about the 11 o'clock position...if you think of it as low to high being 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock. No gradual decrease like I expected, and the low heat setting is VERY LOW. Not much heat put out at all. And it's definitely a whole lot louder than I expected. But it works ok for the small room I'm using it for with all settings on high. Wouldn't recommend for a normal sized room or anything tho.

This was a great heater while it lasted. I put it under my desk at work, and it kept me toasty. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. It only made it about 6 months before it quit working. It just wouldn't power on one day. I went and replaced it with a cheap-o one from Wal-Mart. I figure that if I am going to have to replace it after 6 months, I would rather pay for a cheap $10 one at Wal-Mart than another $30 one here.

Just to preface this review, I've now had two of these, and I hate to write this review because they were perfect... while they worked. Unfortunately, after about a year, the first one started making this horrible clicking sound when I first turned it on. A loud clicking sound. So loud in fact, that my coworkers came into my office to ask what "that weird sound" was. The heater would make this sound for about 2 minutes, and then would get quieter and act like normal. However, after about a week of it doing this each time I turned it on, one day, it completely stopped working. It no longer would do anything at all when I turned it on. No air blowing, and just smelled like burning plastic.Since it had worked perfectly up until this point, I figured it was a fluke and ordered another one. However, it has now been about a year since I purchased this second replacement, and THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED. It started making the dreaded clicking sound when I would turn it on, did this for about a week, and then today it completely stopped working and smelled like burning plastic. This makes me sad, because it was a completely silent heater and put out the perfect level of heat for my office. But after having two with the exact same problem, I can no longer buy this brand. Time to look elsewhere! I'm giving it two stars because like I said, it was perfect while it worked.

I bought this because my 15-year old ceramic heater died last winter. I knew there was no thermostat, just high heat, low heat, or fan only; for the price I was willing to accept fewer features. The problem is, as a space heater, the Vornado just doesn't deliver. On the low setting, sitting under my desk, the heater doesn't even keep my feet warm on a cool fall day. On high heat, it is NOISY until I smack it. It quiets down for a few minutes and then starts up again. Maybe it will get better, but as of day 1, I'm underwhelmed. I've owned several Vornado fans, so assumed this would be similar quality; it isn't.

Puts out lot of heat if you stand right in front of it. Hot!!! Safety I like, if it barely tips, cuts off. Ordered for very small bathroom. Heater to small to heat my bathroom. I recommend if you need a heater & you like this company. You read online how many square feet this heater will heat, etc! It's probably great under an office desk to keep your feet warm.

I purchased one of these sweet little heaters a few years ago and it was wonderful. It finally died, so I ordered another one in December of 2016.. That one lasted until March of 2017, and started making so much noise that I was afraid to use it so I ordered another one. I have been using this one for less than a month and has started smelling like burned plastic, and scaring me. I think it could cause a fire. I'll be ordering a different brand name and hope that all the companies that make small heaters have not stopped making quality products. I have several Vornado fans and love them. I'm pretty sad that I can't depend on this company in the future.

I have had two of these space heaters. They work really well for a couple of months, and then both of them after about 5 months start making a really loud clicking sound almost like the fan is hitting against something and it doesn't go away. I thought maybe I just stored the first one weird but the same exact thing just happened to my second one. The sound is really loud and obnoxious and it makes the heater unusable. Too bad because I like the safety off feature and it gives a good amount of heat for under my desk at work.

This heater is perfect for my 8'x5' office. It's quiet and quick to heat and small enough to sit on my desk extension work counter and not be in my way.
I did really like this heater. However, 2 weeks ago the heater fan started making a loud clicking noise that would subside after about 20 seconds. I could deal with that, but today when I turned it on, the fan didn't come on and it had an immediate burning smell as well as the outer casing got warm. Since my "return" window closed 1/31/2017, I have no re-course but to throw it away. For three months of not even every day use, I would not recommend anyone buy this heater. I have not mis-used this heater. It sat in the same spot on my desk for the entire time it was operational.

Blew heat but smelled like something was burning. Returned.
Return process was smooth.

I've been using this heater for a month now and I've noticed that it's heating capacities have greatly decreased. It still works but the output is lukewarm rather than hot. I also received a shocking electric bill this month. My bill is usually $15-$18 per month but after using the heater nights only (not on weekends just m-f) it's increased to $70! I'm saddened by the quality of its heating capacities and the enormous amount of energy it requires.

I purchased this item during the winter of 2014 to use the heat setting in my bedroom when I didn't want to heat the whole house. Even on the low setting it would blow as if it were on high and I noticed the unit always caused the wall around the socket to get warm. I awoke one morning to discover both the socket and plug burned black and the wall was EXTREMELY HOT. If I'd slept another 2 seconds the place would have been on fire. Purchase at your own risk.

I believe this may be discontinued. It should be. There are a variety of thermostatic controls for temperature. This resembles an old design which operated reasonably well within limits. Higher wattages were a killer. Even the lower wattage is too much for this one. For the price, they could have incorporated a solid state control with a cheaper thermostat. Saved pennies, wasted dollars.

Unless you stand directly in front of heater, even on high setting - it's luke warm at best. Just purchased, so no idea how long it will last based on other reviews.
UPDATE TO ORIGINAL REVIEW: Broke within a week of receiving product. Initially would trip outlet breakers, then finally quite working all together. I live in a newer home, so its not my electrical outlet. Would not recommend.

Was not used for more than 6mo, at most & only during cold months.
Even in a small space, like a bathroom, with fan & heat on high, it didn't warm up the room much more than a foot or 2 directly in front of it.
Over time the fan worked intermittently. Some days it would work. Sometimes jostled the unit or shifted it slightly & it worked.
Then the heating began going out. Soon enough, it didn't turn on at all.
For the price, don't expect this to be more than a temporary fix to get through more than 1 winter season without trouble.

Second update: The new Vornado heater is already making a clicking noise. I'm not sure what is going on with Vornado's quality control but the VH202 has a ridiculous rate of failure. How can a heater that sits on my desk and is never moved fail so many times?Update: I contacted Vornado about the issue and they sent me a brand new VH202. Vornado's customer service really seems to take care of their customers. However, I admit I would have liked the originally purchased product to last longer. It only took a few business days for the heater to arrive. It is currently sitting on my desk and working perfectly.Thanks Vornado!------This is the third Vornado VH202 heater I have purchased. The first one died after 3 years, the second is great and my wife uses it often. However, the third one which sits on my desk and never moves has developed issues. The fan blades used to spin around without touching anything inside the case. Now when I turn the heater on, the fan blades scrape the front grill and make a terrible noise. Sometimes after startup the noise goes away. I guess the blades balance out and move away from the grill. However, sometimes the fan blades continue to make noise until I shut down and power back on.I have owned a combination of six Vornado fans/heaters over the last 4 - 5 years. A year ago, a standing heater unit's cord got so hot the plug melted a bit. Now this desktop one is having issues, different issues but issues none the less. I hope Vornado ups the quality of their products as it seems like more and more products are having issues.

I have had this heater less than 8 months. I keep the heater under my desk, right next to my feet, or on top of my desk, right next to my keyboard to warm my hands. The heat output from the fan has never been tremendous, but it sufficed. I live in California, and haven't used it all that much this last winter, but it is summer now, and due to IT equipment on our floor, they keep the air conditioning pretty high, so I have used it more frequently in the last couple of months. Yesterday, the heat stopped working almost completely. The fan still works, but the 'heat' it puts out has dwindled to almost nothing. Very disappointed that it only lasted a few months with VERY limited use.

At first I was content with this item, enjoyed it's small size and cute appearance, but within four months it went completely on the fritz and is no longer functional. It was used solely as a heat supplement in the bathroom, for 10-15 minutes at a time. The first sign of disfunction was it would make a loud noise as it started up. Eventually this noise was accompanied by the smell of burning plastic. For such a small and relatively expensive item, I expect more from Vornado. I've bought their fans in the past and was considering the larger space heater for next winter. At this point I'm compelled to seek out other products.

Upon first use this fan started making a "knocking" noise that gradually gets louder. This is the second fan of this exact model that I've bought, and the other one did the same thing until it finally quick working. I bought a second one in the hopes that it wouldn't happen again, but it did. I love the fan when it's working properly!
I work in an office near many people and don't want to have this loud noise coming from my cubicle, so I have discontinued use in order to be a considerate neighbor.
I would return the product if I could.

The fan blade started hitting the cover a few weeks ago and this would continue for the first few minutes of use until the heater warmed up. A few minutes ago, shortly after turning on the heater, with the fan hitting the cover as it has been lately, an electrical fire broke out from the heater. The distinct odor and cream-like smoke were unmistakeable. The heater was plugged directly into a 15 amp 120-volt wall outlet when this happened, as it always is. Fortunately, I was using it, as I always do, while sitting next to it. No one was injured and I was able to shut off the heater and move it somewhere safe. I have always been warned not to leave these unattended, but this was a stark reminder.

This heater stopped working after less than two months. I received the heater on 2/13/17, and on 4/3/17 it stopped working. I'm very disappointed. When it was working, it did a fine job. I was using it under my desk at work to keep my toes warm in a cold office.

I purchased this heater in March, but didn't use it until months later. The heater worked fine for about two weeks, and then it stopped working. After jumping through several hoops with the manufacturer, it finally conceded that the warranty was still in place, but since the heater was out of "season", they could not replace the item. Who provides a one year warranty, but then does not keep sufficient supply of the product? I asked for a refund, and they went radio silent. I am still working on getting a replacement/refund. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing another faulty product from Holmes or Sunbeam again.

Right now this is described as cool-touch housing. SO not cool touch and even warns you that if you touch it when running you will be burned. I have a larger heater from a different manufacturer that is cool to the touch and blows warm air. I though I was buying the same thing.

I wish I should of saved more money to buy a better heater than this one but noooo I was cheap and bought this horrible heater. It shuts off when I try to turn to high heat but when I turn it to low heat level it still shuts off. Now I will have to be on a never ending journey for another heater that actually works and I will never buy this heater again. Save your money for a different high quality okay 😡😡😡😡

There's a note on the side of it that says if it suddenly turns off, just unplug it for 30 minutes and try again. Um, no. I'm not going to babysit a heater and futz around with the plug. There's a dial with numbers on it, but I have no idea why because if you move it to <4 it turns off, and if you turn it to >4 it turns on. I'm literally too annoyed to return it. I'll just make sure everyone knows never to buy something from Holmes.