Fan Mail
The man who gave the world the bagless vacuum cleaner, Sir James Dyson, releases the Air Multiplier, an energy-efficient, bladeless fan.
Tue, Oct 13 2009 at 1:19 PM EST
Dear Sir James Dyson,
Although I’ve never had the pleasure of using one of your eponymous bagless vacuum cleaners, your newest design, the Air Multiplier fan, has certainly caught my attention.
Congrats on creating an innovative, energy-efficient home cooling appliance that you hope will “start to replace air conditioning, which is unhealthy and very bad for the environment, because this uses one-50th of the electricity of air conditioning.”
I had to read the Air Multiplier press release not once, but twice, to understand how a bladeless fan actually works but I think it’s clear:
Air is drawn into the base of the machine. The air is forced up into the loop amplifier and accelerated through the 1.3 mm annular aperture, creating a jet of air that hugs the airfoil-shaped ramp. While exiting the loop amplifier, the jet pulls air from behind the fan into the airflow (inducement). At the same time, the surrounding air from the front and sides of the machine are forced into the air stream (entrainment), amplifying it 15 times. The result is a constant uninterrupted flow of cooling air.
I’m loving it: safe, easy-to-clean, and gentle on the environment … I couldn’t ask for more when it comes to a portable home cooling system. However, the $300 price tag may not be so gentle on the pocketbook, so I’m curious to see the potential savings when put to the test with a standard desktop fan and/or air conditioning unit.
I hope at the age of 62, your work as an industrial designer and inventor continues on and that retirement is not on the horizon. On that note, depending on sales and feedback on the Air Multiplier, I anticipate that my choppy desktop fan — and possibly an AC window unit — may face early retirement.
Keep up the fine work.
Best,
Blogger Matt
Dyson Air Multiplier available @ Dyson online store or Conran (10 inch blue/iron or silver/white, $299.99; 12 inch silver/iron, $329.99)
Via [Yahoo! News UK] and [Engadet]
Photo: Dyson
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