‘There’s a sucker born every minute” -P.T. Barnum
This morning we’ve been having a heated discussion at the Hack a Day offices (read: legion of doom) over Dyson’s new offering, a “bladeless fan”. At first this seemed extremely exciting, but how is the air being moved? We were hoping for a device operating via ionic wind but that’s simply not the case. Some of us think the bladeless claim is an outright lie, others understand it from a marketing stance, but we all agree: a fan with blades is still moving the air.
Dyson’s own information page states that “an energy efficient brushless motor” draws the air in with similar technology used in “superchargers and jet engines”, both of which use blades! The fan blades are in the base of this unit, they take in air and blow it out the ring. Just because you can’t see a fan, can we call our computers bladeless, or an air conditioner bladeless?
Enter the P.T. Barnum reference. Known as a man who could sell anything, his legacy lives on in the Dyson corporation. At 200 british pounds (~$320) for a ten inch desk fan, what are you getting that’s better than a traditional fan? The design supposedly amplifies the air movement fifteen times, but we’re skeptical about that figure as there’s no energy-saving claim to go along with such an incredible power boost. One thing is certain, you will NOT get a fan without blades for your sterling… just one with hidden blades plus a huge marketing campaign.
[Thanks Gareth]
im sure this is illegal in one way or another and i cant believe how long ago i posted the comment above by harut lol thats me zerocool- harut
This is intriguing, because it is wrong in so many ways.
First to some history
The Dyson Vacuum cleaners were said to not lose suction like a cleaner with a bag (they do lose suction, just not as much as a cleaner with a bag). The main problem of this is that they did not have the same suction as a bag based vacuum cleaner in the first place. Dyson knew this. How do we know they knew this? Because when another company claimed their bagless Vacuum cleaner (to all intents and purposes the same thing) produced more suction than a bagged one, Dyson sued them for incorrect advertising!
Now to the fan. Yes it is not fanless. But it does also not give 15x more by any measure we might be interested in:
We may be interested in 15x per unit noise.
I doubt this. These fans must be noisy. Anyone tell me otherwise?
15x per unit energy. Here’s the problem. By constraining the air coming from the ‘fan’ it increases the friction and introduces significant energy loss. The problem is that none of the rest of the processes they describe involve any energy gain. They are all lossy. One possible energy ‘gain’ is a reduction of energy loss due to improved air directionality – not something they discuss. The only other possible energy gain is that by using an embedded fan they could use a more efficient fan structure than if it were constrained to produce the air.
But none of these have anything to relate to the marketing hype.
Dyson _appear_ to have invented a noisy, inefficient and very expensive desk fan.
They appear once again to have reverted to marketing instead of making pioneering products. In that they are just like a large number of other companies. The problem I have is that Dyson markets itself as being great product designers.
Sadly most of Dysons product designs are appeal over function. Most of the products deserve what the original dyson vacuum cleaner got when Dyson tried to sell it to other vacuum cleaner companies. A no-we-don’t-like-that-its-not-very-good response.
Interestingly the one exception to that rule is the hand drier upon which this is based, which excepting its noise creation problem, is a real invention with a real purpose that was actually better than the competition. It was better because it eliminated the need for costly heating of air by ensuring the air was directed precisely where it was needed (no it does not scrape the water off your hands, but it does blow off the larger drops while quickly vapourising small water films).
The real deal here is that the fan’s look cool on a website. They are space agey. At some birthday, in the summer heat, you go on line and you think (well not actually _you_ but some other person) ‘Cool Fan – I’ll get that.’
It looks like they glossed over the requirement for moving air near the base. If there is no air movement then 15×0=0 ;p
Bob
here’s a suggestion: could airflow be generated by ribs rotating around the inside of the cylinder? the cylinder can be rotated by a motor at the base, much like spokeless wheel bikes… and because of the ribs or grooves, air spirals and induces and entraps thus creating airflow… a genuine bladeless fan… anyone care to build a prototype?
I found this article entertaining. I’ve also been into Harvey Norman and experienced these Dyson fans in action. I ended up walking out of Harvey Norman with a sunbeam tower fan for $79 that puts out more air with much less noise than the Dyson “bladeless” fans. I’m sorry Dyson, but I’m not paying $400-$600 for a fan that doesn’t perform as well and is much louder than a fan that costs under $100. I don’t even notice any “wind buffeting” with my tower fan, and I think it looks good. And folks, the regular old fashioned pedestal fans you can get for as low as $20 (that even have remote control) put out significantly more air with much less noise than the Dyson “bladeless” fans, albeit uglier. If you want a fan that doesn’t perform very well, but looks good, and you have a spare $400-$600 laying around, get a Dyson fan.
yes, it has blades, but it doesnt just blow a thin ring of air. The plastic ring is an airfoil that causes air from the other side of the ring to flow with the thin ring of pressure created by the fan blown over the airfoil. you DO get a solid flow of air through the ring, and it really does amplify the amount of air coming through the fan. as dyson claims (and fairly accurately too), 15 times more volume of air comes out of that ring than out of the small fan inside the mechanism. You’re all missing the point. It’s not entirely bladeless, but the mechanism that provides the most airflow from this thing doesnt rely on a spinning blade.
not only does it ave blades but its noisy and very poor as a fan. However the biggest lie is he did ot invent it!!!! The blade-less fan was first invented 30years ago by a Japaneses company. Japanese company, Tokyo Shibaura Electric, developed a nearly identical idea of a bladeless desktop fan in 1981. It is understood it was never manufactured.
not only does it have blades but its noisy and very poor as a fan. However the biggest lie is he did ot invent it!!!! The blade-less fan was first invented 30years ago by a Japaneses company. Japanese company, Tokyo Shibaura Electric, developed a nearly identical idea of a bladeless desktop fan in 1981. It is understood it was never manufactured.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6377644/Dyson-fan-was-it-invented-30-years-ago.html
He also lied about his hand drier the air blade. That to had already been designed by a japanees company. Dyson Airblade appears to be a copy of Mitsubishi Jet Towel
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/78040-dyson-airblade-mitsubishi-jet-towel
jet engines/turbines also have fan blades, but the air is first sucked in, compressed and then pushed out. thats what happens with the dyson where is pushed out through the narrow openings. its just all very technical and beauty of design if you understanad it.
Finally a place to warn about Dyson, there is nothing legitimate about them except vacuuming money from your pocket for garbage products. Their fans are less efficient and more noise for the air output. They try to trick you with their fancy plastic designs and charge obnoxious amounts of money for absolute garbage. A fan selling for $300 the Chinese can sell it for $30, it’s an exact clone. What does that tell you? I am really sorry if you purchase anything from Dyson. They’re all about high prices look at us and false claims. Talk about buyer beware.this company is the most obnoxious I’ve ever scene. That’s the truth thank you for reading and good luck