Are Dyson cooling fans worth it? Dyson is known for their high-quality, technologically advanced cooling fans, among other household items. But are they really worth that hefty price?
Quick answer: No, Dyson cooling fans are not worth it and overpriced. For venting a room, a regular floor or pedestal fan will perform just as well. However, Dyson cooling fans can be worth it in some situations for their directional, strong airflow and their design.
This does not mean you should never get a Dyson cooling fan. Let’s have a closer look at what I mean and in which cases Dyson fans excel.
In this article, we are going to check this Dyson cooling fan (click here to view it on amazon).
Difference between Dyson and Regular Fans
Dyson cooling fans do the same job regular fans do. The only difference is design and Dyson’s marketing claims.
Both regular and Dyson fans blow air around your room so it feels cooler than it actually is. They reduce the “perceived temperature”.
So why would you buy a $400 Dyson fan to do something a regular $50 fan can do as well?
I am not trying to sell you anything. So, I am going to check Dyson’s marketing claims unbiasedly. Here are my findings:
Dyson fan design
To start with, Dyson fans have an inconspicuous elegance unique among fans.
Thanks to its bladeless design, the fan is compact and good-looking.
Also, there are no spinning blades, which is
- very nice to look at (no movement in your room)
- a safety feature (pets or children can’t cut themselves)
Guests who have never seen a Dyson fan before likely don’t even note there’s a fan in the room because it blends well into home décor and works silently behind the scenes.
But I guess there are a few people who don’t recognize Dyson’s design. Anyways, it looks good, hides spinning blades, and blends with your room.
Noise levels: Are Dyson fans silent?
No, Dyson fans are only silent on the absolute lowest settings, where they don’t move much air. On moderate to high settings Dyson fans are as loud as a hairdryer.
Speaking of silence, Dyson claims their fans are 70% quieter than the best-selling regular fans. They even claim that a Dyson fan is silent at low speed.
In truth, however, this is only a marketing claim with no solid foundation. Here’s a video that shows you that Dyson fans are loud:
People even complain about Dyson fan noise. Here’s a quote:
The fan is very quiet on 1. Hahahaha. I have a Dyson fan. It’s fan power is so weak I almost always have it on at 10. At 10 it’s so noisy it feels like I’m about to board the plane.
Lewis Lau in a YouTube comment
And I agree with that.
Are Dyson fans more energy efficient?
Here’s what Dyson claims:
The design of a Dyson fan also makes it very energy efficient, using 40% less energy than regular fans. High-performance Dyson fans have a power rating of 26 watts compared to at least 50 watts found on regular fans.
The truth is:
Fans are very simple devices. Efficiency is only lost due to friction at the rotational axis of the fan blades.
Any decently built fan with decent bearings will have low friction which is indistinguishable from Dyson.
Dyson does not have a special bearing system that reduces friction and therefore has the same efficiency as any other fan.
High Quality and Durability
Dyson fans have a two-year warranty for a reason. The company is so confident about their product quality that they don’t doubt your fan will still be okay after two years.
According to Dyson, the cooling fans utilize liquid crystal polymer instead of plastic. I honestly don’t know what the difference is. And I don’t think the exact material used makes any significant difference in efficiency or durability.
Maybe there is a difference, but I bet it’s not enough to be more durable than a good old full-metal floor fan. Nothing beats metal. Not even a fancy “liquid crystal polymer” material.
One thing I have to admit:
Dyson cooling fans are also easy to clean and maintain thanks to the bladeless design. you simply need to wipe the frame clean occasionally.
Regular fans, on the other hand, are very hard to clean, since you have to open the fan cage which is tightened using several screws. So, you oftentimes skip cleaning classic fans.
Air filtering
Most Dyson cooling fans have air purification technology (which is Dyson’s term for “air filtering”) to eliminate smells and allergens from your air.
Yes, Dyson’s air filtering is an advantage compared to regular fans. However, in the long run, the filters have to be dusted and maintained.
Higher-end Dyson fans also come with a built-in heater or a dehumidifier to use when needed. You will use such a fan when it’s hot to cool the air around you and use it during winter to warm your room.
The heating will, however, increase your electricity bill by about $25 a month.
Check out this article: Are Dyson Heaters energy-efficient? (Running Cost Check)
Air multiplier technology
But where Dyson cooling fans shine most over the rest is in their use of technology and old-school science to make a fan that’s beautiful, quiet, energy efficient, and better at cooling you. These design cooling fans are equipped with air multiplier technology, which increases the velocity of the airflow.
Dyson fans also utilize technology to allow you to use remote control, voice command, or an app to control the ten speed and temperature settings.
Is Air Multiplier Technology a marketing hoax?
While Dyson markets their cooling fans as bladeless, they actually do have blades hidden and aligned asymmetrically inside the casing.
Once you turn on the fan, a brushless motor rotates these blades and sucks in as much as 5 gallons of air on the highest settings.
The collected air is then passed upwards towards a hollow tube at the top of the fan and then directed towards the front of the device and pushed out through thin slits.
Because there’s less space for air to pass through, it moves faster according to Bernoulli’s principle.
But here is a misunderstanding most people have:
The air indeed moves faster in total, but the volume of moving air per second stays constant since due to the slits, the fan blows now a thinner layer of air.
Overall, air multiplier technology has no effect on cooling. It does not increase the total airflow rate when compared to a regular fan that consumes the same power.
According to Dyson, the air multiplier technology multiplies this air, so it pushes 15 times more air through the slits. The combination of faster-moving air and more volume is what makes Dyson cooling fans so effective and efficient.
This is likely a plain wrong statement from a physics standpoint.
Dyson fans have a very directional airflow
Dyson fans have one advantage due to their design. The air stream leaving the fan slits is very directional, smooth, and narrow.
This makes Dyson fans well-suited for cooling people, instead of venting rooms. Just point your Dyson fan at people in your home to reduce their perceived temperature.
But because the air is very smooth and stable, it might be more comfortable to run 24/7 than a regular fan.
Like standing pedestal fans, Dyson fans have side-to-side oscillation, so you can have the fan cooling a few people sitting around a small living room or a couch.
The movement of the fan head can be controlled with a remote.
Conclusion
Are Dyson cooling fans worth it? I would honestly say: No, Dyson fans are not worth it. Dyson fans look great and are solid fans. However, in a technical comparison, they perform no better than any regular fan.