Dyson Hot+Cold Gen1 Air Purifier Is Both Cold and Hot

Every fall, I pull the heaters out of the closet and put away the fans and air conditioners. Six months later, I reverse the process. If you don’t have air conditioning, you know what dancing is. The machines themselves are cumbersome to move, difficult to carry, and always get in the way. The air they produce is either not hot or cold enough, or is directed directly at you and dries out your skin. Unfortunately, money can really solve (some) problems, and the Dyson Hot+Cold Gen1 does just that. It produces both cool and hot air that either effectively fills the room or can be directed directly at you, and it seems to lack the dehumidifying effect of most fans. It’s lightweight, easy to move, and looks right at home in most places.

I’ve seen Dyson fans in the past – they don’t have the spinning blades you’re used to, but rather a big ring producing air called an ‘air multiplier’ – and like everyone else, I looked at it with a bemused look. my face as I stuck my hand into the ring, trying to figure out where the magic was coming from. Now Dyson has a whole line of such machines that produce not just cold air, but also heat. Oh, they also purify the air, because of course they do.

What kind of black magic is “air multiplier”

We’re big fans of fans at Lifehacker. Yes , indeed . Of course, air conditioning is important to maintain the ambient temperature of the room, but if you are just one person, pointing a fan towards yourself is an exceptional way to instantly feel more comfortable. The problem is that fans are drying, noisy, and annoying, and if you’re working, the paper tends to fly off. In addition, and this cannot be underestimated, fans quickly become unusable, dust and dirt accumulate in them, and few fans offer a way to thoroughly clean them. Dyson solves these problems by hiding the fan blades in the base of the fan. The result is a soft ambient breeze. When I was directed towards myself, I felt coolness or heat, but not a real accompanying wind. Like I said, magic. Plus, it’s as close to quiet as you can get. I left it on during all calls and it was invisible. It’s also easy to clean since every surface is open and accessible.

Even if the air multiplier is cool, it doesn’t really matter if you’re uncomfortable, but somehow the Dyson produces both heat and cooling incredibly efficiently – and, even more impressively, instantly. Switching between them occurs in less than five seconds.

Impressive heating or cooling of an entire room

This particular model also turns completely differently, that is, like an owl. You can choose to rotate 45, 90, 180 or 350 degrees, effectively cooling or heating the entire room. I really liked the rotating device, but it is quite difficult to “catch” the Dyson face using the remote control to change modes when it turns. I had it in a 400 square foot room, but it fits rooms up to 1200 square feet. I really liked how granular the heating and cooling settings were, allowing for more nuance than the traditional three or four speeds of a regular fan. The heater works by setting the ideal temperature using a remote control.

Over the past month, I’ve tried the Dyson in several areas of the room to see how it would affect the entire room. Luckily, my time with the Dyson spanned the changing seasons, so I used the heater in the morning and the refrigerator in the afternoon, but I could move the Dyson almost anywhere in the room with the same results. On the shelf, on the floor, on the table. It seemed to have the same effect, and each time I was reminded how light the device was—less than ten pounds. Moving it was as easy as lifting it with one hand by the ring. Thanks to the modern design, it never looked out of place and I never had to worry about my pet getting burned or setting anything on fire.

Dyson calls this primarily a cleaner, but for me it was a side benefit.

During our testing, we had five days of poor air quality, and during this time I deliberately turned off the air purifiers, leaving only the Dyson on. Although the Dyson filters out particles as small as 0.03 microns, which is better than my regular purifier, I didn’t notice a difference and my living room air quality monitor showed only a gradual decrease compared to how my purifier performs on days like this. However, I noticed that it cleared the smoke much faster than my purifier when I set off the fire alarm while cooking.

The Dyson has a modern and technologically advanced digital screen that alternately displays information about the current mode, degree of rotation or air quality, as well as what Dyson has pulled out of the air. It’s worth noting that you can turn off the display, lights and noise if you want, and I was a big fan of the “night mode”. In fact, I switched from the air conditioner to the Dyson in my bedroom at night because I found that I slept better due to less noise and less outside air coming through the air conditioner, which often led to sinus irritation.

No deal breakers, but might be worth an upgrade.

Even the Dyson has a few shortcomings. As I mentioned, catching the rotating fan base at the right moment to switch modes has become a bit of a game, and I’m a little afraid of losing the small remote control – it’s the only way to turn on the heating (cooling air can be turned on from the Dyson itself). This brings me to a really important point: like most Dyson products, this model can be added to the Dyson app, but it doesn’t have any app functionality. Newer models do, but this model (HP10) was reintroduced this summer, so it appears to be a miss. It would be ideal to be able to add voice commands into the mix or add them to automation. For this feature you will need Dyson Hot+Cool (HP07) or Dyson Hot+Cool Formaldehyde (HP09).

The biggest disadvantage of Dyson is the price. At $599, it’s one of the more affordable models—the HP07 and HP09 cost $649 and $749, respectively. That’s still nearly twice as much as the top-rated smart air conditioner on the market (the Midea U-Shaped Air Conditioner) and far more than any heating tower. Since this is primarily a purifier, it’s important to remember that you’ll also be paying $80 once a year for a new filter.

While the quality is unquestionable, if you’ve already spent $600 on this machine, spending another $50 for app functionality and a few other little perks seems worthwhile.