back to article Dyson spouts hot air

Dyson unveiled another household appliance with a space-age twist this week, tweaking its range of Air Multipliers to include a heating element. The Dyson Hot has a similar look and feel to the company's other blowers, but warms rooms instead, with a target temperature you can set from the display on its base. It includes the …

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  1. Mark Forster
    WTF?

    interesting

    I thought the Idea of the original dyson fan was to make it give more airflow - this will just be sucking through cold air cooling the air that has been heated... or am I missing something?

    1. Old Tom
      Headmaster

      Yes

      Yes, the cold air sucked in will cool the just-heated air - and in the process becomes less cold (i.e. hotter) itself, thus raising the temperature of the air in the room.

  2. HP Cynic

    Like that painfully loud desk fan thing this looks like more overpriced, aspirational tat from Dyson: they are like the British Apple ... but with appliances.

    1. Nuke
      Boffin

      @HP Cynic

      HP Cynic wrote : "overpriced, aspirational tat from Dyson: they are like the British Apple ... but with appliances"

      Indeed. I never understood why a transparent dirt box appealed to people. I thought the point of a vacuum cleaner was to remove dirt from sight.

      I am old enough to remember early-ish vac cleaners when my mother first got one - a Hoover Junior. No disposable paper bag then, just a cloth bag that when full you tipped into the dustbin and fitted back on again. Then when disposable paper inner bags came along it was like the best thing since sliced bread.

      Then this genius Dyson comes along and "un-invents" the disposable paper inner bag. Brilliant.

      My wife used to work for a company that supplied materials to Dyson's factories and she has dealt with him personally on the phone. Forget about his public charm, he is a POS. I would never buy anything from him.

      Dust mask icon.

    2. Wibble
      Meh

      British Apple?

      Dyson are great innovators and inventors but they're let down by poor engineering and manufacturing design. Various examples spring to mind that can be summed up as plasticky tat.

      And the hand-driers are deafeningly loud and high pitched. Goodness knows how noisy these heaters would be.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Noisy hand driers

        If you had to work next one of those hand driers you would have to wear ear defenders, yet the public can be exposed them to them, including children, who's ears are much closer to the noise source, willy nilly. I look forward to the first class action suing the makers for progressive loss of hearing.

        Just watch how people trying to dry their hands wince at the noise and then walk off with wet hands. No wonder they are cheap to run.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Energy usage?

    There's a distinct lack of energy figures on their website, £270 is a lot for a glorified fan heater!

  4. KevinLewis
    Childcatcher

    Efficiency...

    Is it more efficient as a oil filled radiator, or is it just a load of hot air?

    1. Boring Bob

      There is no such thing as an inefficient fan heater; all "wasted" energy is turned into heat.

      1. DannyAston

        Noise?

        1. as2003

          What eventually happens to the noise? It becomes heat.

      2. garbo
        Boffin

        Err....

        The FAN implies directing heated air to a specific place, so any obstructions to air flow or casing leakage would reduce efficiency. Whereas, an oil filled space heater doesn't suffer these problems, since it heats by radiation and convection, which require no extra power.

        HTH

  5. Rusty 1
    Unhappy

    I'm sorry, I can't hear you. You'll have to shout. Yeah, I've got the Dyson on.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How long

    before someone puts one of these things (not heated version) on top of a helicopter??

  7. Jon Double Nice

    Call me mental, but

    if you're using a fan, don't you want to be cooler?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      OK

      you're mental.

    2. Charlie van Becelaere
      FAIL

      You're correct

      That's why forced air heating systems don't have fans.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    You've got to hand it to the man, with all el reg reported government drones bemoaning that we can't have a google, facebook or anything because of our patent/ copyright laws, he's done quite well out of them.

  9. EddieD

    Very pretty, but not worth the money....

  10. Pen-y-gors

    How much??????

    £270! For a fan heater? At least the Dyson hoovers come in at a price that is vaguely comparable with the rest of the market.

    I think I'll stick to my trusty £50 Argos Halogen job for a while yet.

    1. Scott 1
      Meh

      Comparable price?

      On this side of the pond, the Dyson vacs are 2 to 3 times more expensive than their competition.

    2. BristolBachelor Gold badge

      That's only because the other manufacturers saw Dyson selling vacuum cleaners for £250 and decided that they didn't need to sell them for £50 anymore because people were happy to pay more...

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I must have too much money or I'm datf...

    I want one.

  12. mark 63 Silver badge

    the mind boggles

    "draws air through a mixed flow impeller, which is then accelerated through a 2.5mm aperture set within a loop amplifier"

    the whatnow? anyone got a diagram?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    £270 for a fan heater!

    ...I REALLY need to get a better job....

  14. Tim Spence
    Coat

    Expensive, excessive, largely pointless, but I love all things Dyson. Just wish I was rich enough to buy something other than the vacuums!

    1. Velv
      Coat

      "Expensive, excessive, largely pointless, but I love all things Dyson"

      Conclusive proof that you're a true fan-bois

      1. Tim Spence
        Thumb Up

        Haha, you've may have a point - the description fits the typical fruity fanbois too.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Amplified six times

    £270 for a heater that makes you look like an Aphex Twin video if you stand in front of it.

    Some people are born with more money than sense.

    Their hand driers are brilliant though.

    1. Anon E Mus
      Thumb Up

      "makes you look like an Aphex Twin video if you stand in front of it"

      SOLD!

  16. handle

    "inefficient motors"

    It doesn't matter how inefficient the motor is - this thing is designed to turn electrical energy into heat, and whether it's the motor or the heating element doing it, the same amount of heat will be produced for the same power consumption. If it were just a fan, the efficiency would be of interest.

    So it's basically £270 for a fan heater. Many outrageous claims have been made about the "efficiency" of electric heaters, although apparently not in this case. Fan, convection, radiant, halogen, "ceramic" or overpriced Dyson, they all cost the same to run for a given heating capacity. The only way you can cheat is by using a storage heater, which is no more efficient but takes advantage of cheaper electricity.

    1. cloudgazer

      True from a thermodynamic point of view, but not from an application point of view.

      You use a fan heater where you want to provide directed heat, say to warm cold feet in a drafty room. In that application the heating effect on the device itself which is subsequently radiated out is wasted because it isn't being delivered where you actually want it. Perceived warmth is what matters, not total heat output of the device.

      Oh and there is a method of electrical heating that is more efficient than any of those that you list - use of an electrically powered heat pump - i.e. an air-conditioner unit in heating mode.

    2. sabroni Silver badge

      so it's impossible to make an inefficient electric heater? There's no way one can be any more or less efficient for a given amount of electrical power where heaters are concerned? And there's no way to increase the distribution of any heat produced?

      Or are you just trying to say that the inneficiency of the motor is trivial in this case?

      1. Colin Millar
        Boffin

        @ sabroni

        No - what he is saying is that inefficiency is irrelevant because it achieves the same result as efficiency.

        If the motor was 100% inefficient (i.e. the power was on but couldn't turn the fan - blades too heavy, something jammed in the system) the power being used still has to go somewhere - and it all goes to creating heat - which is the point of the whole thing anyway.

        Course a 100% inefficient motor would probably result in a lot more heat than you were really looking for (not to mention lots of big red engines and men in wellies).

      2. The Commenter formally known as Matt
        Happy

        it would be a pretty inefficient heater if it didn't have a heating element.

        or add a light or buzzer or something

    3. Chris Evans
      Meh

      Yes it can't be directly more power efficient, but it could be more effective, most fan heaters seem to just move cold air around and only very slowly warm the room, I suspect the Dyson won't be any better than most/all cheap fan heaters.

      A nice aesthetic design that I'll never be able afford.

    4. Cameron Colley

      I'm calling bollocks on the "efficiency doesn't matter".

      If I stick a 2KW electric bar heater in the corner then that corner and anything in view of the heater will heat up and, eventually, convection will make the rest of the room warmer.

      If I stick a fan heater in the corner it'll mix the warm and cold air and, generally, the whole room should warm up at the same rate.

      So, if I stick a bar heater in the corner I'll heat one corner to 30C and the temp may go down to 15C in the opposite corner. If I'm sitting in that corner it'll still be cold.

      If I use a fan heater it'll make most of the room about 20C at about the same time, so will save energy.

      So, any fan heater whose motor is inefficient to the point of heating may not mix the air sufficiently and may, therefore, be providing local heat and not enough mixing. Though I admit in practice the efficiency doesn't matter all that much.

  17. Kebablog

    Nice, but

    .....I can't find a data sheet to see the power usage.

  18. Kebablog

    found it!

    According to John Lewis the power consumption is 2000W - Think I'll wait for the Dyson version of Mr. Fusion!

  19. I Like Heckling Silver badge

    I've used their hand driers in some motorway rest rooms, and they're brilliant... so much more efficient than the old style hand driers.

    If these work on a similar principal I can imagine they'd be quite effective... but those rest room ones are rather on the noisy side... quieter than the old hand driers, but still noisier than I'd want in my home.

    I do like their vacuum cleaners though.

    1. Danny 14
      Thumb Down

      those air blade?

      bloody hate them, they straighten out the skin on my hands making my look far older than I am. Plus the kids are scared by the loudness :)

      1. david bates

        Not only that...

        they collect filthy water in the tray under where your hands go and then dribble it down the side of the unit onto the floor (or, hilariously, onto the power socket that feeds the thing if you happen to work here I do).

        Then the groove round the yellow fancy trim at the top starts to fill up with mankyness. I do not lke them.

  20. Gerrit Hoekstra
    Facepalm

    Soon to be copied by others - and better and cheaper

    If you have ever bought a Dyson product, you too will have watched it being rendered useless in no time as that all-important clip / cleat / attachment manifold disintegrates before your very eyes. Inventive that lot sure are, but sure as hell can't do product design.

    I always thought it very generous of Dyson to leave a gap in the market for others to build a better-built Dyson.

    1. handle

      It used to be that way...

      I had one of the original Dyson vacuum cleaners, and although I managed not to break it, it was a clunky monster whose bagless claim was ironic given that you had to change the filters about as often as you'd have to change bags on a conventional machine.

      I have to say, though, that the modern ones are a great deal better. I have a DC24 now, and it appears to be much better engineered. Everything is solid and clicks together beatifully. And the filters are not only superior (HEPA) but washable. But as I didn't manage to snap the original one, I suppose this might be just as snappable...

    2. Danny 14
      Thumb Up

      indeed

      That is why science invented epoxy resin. Wonderful stuff.

      1. David Bird
        Happy

        Expoxy resin ...and tie wraps

        My first Dyson was largely held together with expoxy resin and tie wraps before the motor finally failed. Has to be said no bits have snapped off the new one yet.

        1. David Bird
          FAIL

          By which I mean

          Epoxy ... where did that spurious "x" come from ?

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @the mind boggles

    Especially if you have more than one and you mix the streams

    1. 0laf
      Coat

      Sir James Dyson: There's something very important I forgot to tell you.

      Dr. Peter Venkman: What?

      Sir James Dyson: Don't cross the streams.

      Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?

      Sir James Dyson: It would be bad.

      Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?

      Sir James Dyson: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

      Dr Ray Stantz: Total protonic reversal.

      Dr. Peter Venkman: Right. That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.

  22. JDX Gold badge

    if you're using a fan, don't you want to be cooler?

    Google "fan heater"

  23. tony
    Happy

    "no moving parts"

    I love the description on other sites where they describe it as having no moving parts...

    My traditional swirly fan also has no moving parts once you exclude the swirly bit thats moving...

  24. Jan 0 Silver badge
    FAIL

    It seems to me that the £270 would be better spent on gas or insulation.

    Using electricity to heat living spaces is a ridiculous waste of fuel!

    1. Sean Baggaley 1
      FAIL

      "Using electricity to heat living spaces is a ridiculous waste of fuel!"

      Really?

      You might want to take a look at a climate control system. 0.85 kW in = 2+ kW of heat out. They use heat pumps—no heating elements as such—and heat a room by running their air-con feature in reverse.

      Very popular in Italy, which imports over 70% of *all* its energy supplies, including gas, vehicle fuels, and the supplies needed to run their power stations.

      This is also why don't see many office buildings fitted with gas-fired central heating these days.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I'll tell you what's a waste of fuel

        Using a gas boiler to heat water and and then pumping it through a series of radiators. It annoys me to have such a pile of archaic crap in my house.

        1. Jan 0 Silver badge

          If you think that's archaic, how do you feel about the idea of using atomic power to boil water? It's like thinking that 'fax machines have a place in the 21st Century!

  25. big_Jim
    Joke

    For £270

    This both blows and sucks.

  26. Cameron Colley

    Do the fans leave sweat in a thin line on one side of your body?

    I ask because my only experience of Dyson products is the hand-apart-from-fingertip driers.

  27. Mystic Megabyte
    Flame

    meh!

    I'm sitting next to my 40 year old Phillips 2000W fan heater. There's a label underneath that says this:

    "Every six months, disconnect from mains, remove bottom panel, remove fluff, oil the bearings."

    It still works perfectly.

    No tamper-proof screws, no chuck it away mentality in those days!

    I also have a Dyson DC01 that I found in the dump about four years ago. Great for dog hair removal.

    Nice looking heater but at a guess the motor must have to go a serious speed to make the air flow through the slot with any impetus. I don't think the bearings will last as long as my Phillips has.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sorry, fails side by side

    I was in a Fry's electronics and they had a Dyson fan sitting next to a Vornado fan. For the same amount of air moving, the Vornado was quieter than the Dyson. The Vornado could also move MORE air for the same noise, and was roughly an order of magnitude cheaper.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Your correspondent in India reports...

    That I saw Dyson-type "fans" on sale a few days ago. Probably Chinese made rip-offs of his patents/designs, but still far to expensive, to my mind, at 4,000 rupees --- over fifty quid. I don't know how much the originals go for now.

    This is just blowing, of course, but there's not much call for room heating at this end of India, where mid-winter equates to a very decent English summer day.

    <--- That's me putting the purse away again, having heard the price.

  30. Z80

    Innovation

    Dyson Airblade - 2006

    Mitsubishi Jet Towel - 1993

    1. Jan 0 Silver badge

      @Z80

      > Dyson Airblade - 2006

      > Mitsubishi Jet Towel - 1993

      Mitsubishi Zero 1941

      Ah, is that the Divine Wind that I can hear?

  31. Barry Rueger

    Dyson - True Visionary

    Not for technology, but for figuring out how to market household appliances in the same fashion as German luxury cars. Bloody genius that!

  32. Hans 1
    Boffin

    Electircal heaters

    Electrical heaters are for idiots ! Just imagine what happens:

    powerplant produces heat > boils water > steam drives trubine > generates electircity

    This electricity is then transported to your home, with a 60% loss on average, to create heat again?

    1. Dick Emery
      Stop

      New York stylee ftw!

      Let's heat everything by steam!

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