If you've been into Best Buy at any point in the last year or so, you've almost certainly done a double-take as you walked past a seemingly benign end-cap displaying two flashy window fans. Last year, Dyson (the company that introduced to the world the bag-less cyclone vacuum that never loses suction) came out with yet another elegant, innovative, and very expensive product for the market...the blade-less fan.When I say blade-less fan, that's literally what I mean (although Dyson has decided to name it something a bit more inventive - the "Dyson Air Multiplier.") The fan consists of a cylindrical pedestal with dial and button controls, on top of which is an over sized wedding band with nothing in the center. Essentially a donut on a stick, except the stick is really fat and the donut rather thin.
While their remarkable design sets them apart cosmetically, they move just about the same amount of air as a run-of-the-mill fan of the same size (the introductory sizes were 10 and 12 inches and the line has now been expanded to floor-sitting models) but the truly unique aspects about their function are that A) it is literally impossible for a small child to stick their fingers in and hurt themselves as there are no exposed moving parts and B) the stream of air the fan produces is continuous, not chopped up and turbulent as it is with regular bladed fans.
A normal fan (left) compared to a Dyson Air Multiplier (Dyson)
So, lets get down to business...how does it work? The answer to that is actually surprisingly simple.
Let's take a closer look at the base of the fan. The reason it's so fat is that it not only houses the mechanisms for both tilting and oscillating the fan as well as all of the controls, but it also houses intake fans. Yes, this means that the blade-less fan is not technically blade-less. On the base of the fan are several perforated sections that allow small internal fans to pull air in harmlessly. This air is then channeled upwards and focused through the neck of the fan.
When the air has made it to the ring, it is dispersed evenly throughout the hollow inner portion of the ring and as pressure builds up (instantaneously from a human's point of view) the air has nowhere to go but through the perfect circular aperture that runs the full circumference of the ring. When the air is blown out of the aperture (just a slit that runs all the way around the circle on the front of the fan) it has been focused and dispersed enough so that there is no discernible turbulence in the air...just a nice, smooth airflow. So smooth, in fact, that the folks at Dyson saw fit to show off with a balloon-fan-roller-coaster of sorts at their headquarters.
If this fan intrigues you, hold on just a minute. Because of the way it focuses the air and the fact that it still uses fans (just hidden ones!) it's still nearly as loud as a regular fan, AND they cost about $240 for the smaller 10 inch version these days. This is an improvement over the $300 price tag nearly a year ago, but it might yet behoove you to wait a while (unless you really would prefer having these around your house for that new baby you're expecting.)
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Wow! Thanks for including this! I was thinking about looking into how these fans work! You did that already, less work for me. I found this article to be very useful.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm glad you enjoyed it, Zack! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI've always hated the bladed fans, but did have fun talking into them to distort my voice. I actually liked sticking my fingers in there, too.
ReplyDeleteThe only advantage I saw, as you pointed out, is that the Dyson fan removes exposed moving parts, so it's more kid-friendly. I saw a working model at Target; while it's initially intriguing, it's nothing too special.