A friend back in the UK has been telling me about how well her Dyson AM07 Cool Tower fan has been working to actually cool the air rather than just move the warm air around. I’m doing a bit of checking online, and wondered if anyone on here has one, and if so what do you think of it? Is it an alternative to air con?
There’s no such thing as free lunch with the laws of thermodynamics. The only way such a fan could emit air cooler than ambient room temperature would be if it contained a large Peltier cell at which point it would consume way, way more power than the 56W quoted.
The jury seems to be out over whether it actually cools. I read that it can make you feel cooler because it can move a large amount of air around the room. It has 10 speeds.
Que Choisir ranked it second after the Dyson table fan. They also do an (even) more expensive fan called Cool PC1 that purifies the air.
It’s an overpriced fan, nothing more. No magic cooling technology.
Peltier’s are really not very good at bulk cooling and any “heat transfer” cooler has the problem of getting rid of the “waste” heat which needs to be somewhere other than the volume of air that you are trying to cool.
But thermodynamics does give you a “free lunch” with evaporative coolers which can work very effectively if used correctly.
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The jury need some basic education then. The whole shtick for the Dyson fan is that it creates a narrow stream of fast moving air which sucks in room air through the hoop. As 90% of the fan’s output is supposed to have just gone through the hoop without interacting with any fan blades or anything else for that matter how could it be cooled?
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Any of these evaporative coolers can make a person feel cooler, and most likely Dyson is the best of the lot. But there’s no magic to it.
We have one of the older models,( please don’t ask which as I can’t remember), we got it when we lived in France.
I position it so it blows at me, low speed, it does cool you but only if the room isn’t baking hot. I tried it at a higher speed during this hot weather but, as it’s in my bedroom I found it too noisy to sleep.
I’m definitely looking at some kind of air con unit, probably a portable unit if I can find a good one not ridiculously priced.
Portable air conditioners that vent hot air outside through a hose are counterproductive because they create a vacuum that draws in air (which is hot, of course!)
Not totally counterproductive, but very inefficient unless you can figure out a way to suck the outside air directly into the intake. It really shouldn’t cost much more for the manufactures to do this - just another hose and a flange like the exhaust- but most don’t that I have seen.
It also depends on how you use it. If you turn it on in your 30c bedroom at midnight when the outside air is 25c, it isn’t so bad. But if you try to cool your house when the outside air is 35c, it is going to really struggle and suck in that hot air.
one of these or something similar seems like a way to go for the longer term.
I think they are 1000 euros, but not certain. Obviously sold out right now.
interesting video 
We’ve looked at units similar to that, but it would mean mounting the internal unit directly above the bed, choice is very limited.
We’ve just bought a Dyson Hot+Cool fan and it definitely wafts out cool air, is it worth the money given that we won’t use it very much, probably not but OH is happy so I guess that makes it priceless.
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I seem to remember someone here (perhaps @SuePJ ?) having a “monobloc mural” in their gîte. I’d be keen to know if it’s worthwhile as I’m contemplating getting one for our bedroom.
We have (almost new) gas central heating, so wouldn’t be looking to install a split system everywhere, but having a monobloc in the bedroom would at least allow us to sleep at night at times like this.
I fail to see how these can produce airflow which is lower than ambient temperature. They do have a PTC heating element in them to warm in cold weather (though, again, if the “air amplification” thing is real they are always going to dilute any warm air they spit out with a larger volume of cold air).
Fans work because we sweat and moving air makes sweat evaporate faster - the heat still comes from our bodies so we cool down more effectively.
Dyson just found a way to charge you 10x the price of a commodity tower fan for something that does the same job.
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Take a look at the “portable split” systems if you have a window setup that would suit.
Pros: The noisy and hot section is outside, so no negative pressure issues.
Cons: Less efficient than a true spilt system.
We bought a rip off dyson design for not very much at all. With a box of ice cubes just in front of it. It was something like €54 which leeaves plenty of margin for the electricity ro tun it.
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I don’t agree.
We have a portable air to air heat pump. I have adapted the 150mm flexible hose to discharge through a wall vent rather than a window. The hose gets very warm and the external wall vent blows out very warm air extracted from the room while the unit blows out very cold air. It very quickly reduces the room temperature.
We use it in our conservatory with all doors and windows closed obviously.
With the unit working it is noticeable that a vacume is created in the conservatory as when opening a door there is quite a vacuum resistance.
The unit will also provide heat in the cooler months.
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Nor do I - having just spent 10 days at my partner Di’s place in Cornwall (which faces west and has biggish windows and a patio door) having a portable air con unit definitely helped cool us down!
Although Cornwall stayed relatively cooler than much of the UK and France it was still hot enough to make an aircon thing useful!
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You did a good job of adapting the machine ! My comment was directed at buyers who run the hose through an open door or window without sealing it off…
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You’ve made a very neat job of that through-the-wall connection.
May I ask, is that unit more costly to run than a typical ‘split’ unit. I know a split unit will probably cost more to buy and to install, but just wondering about the running costs.