DESIGNING DYSON’S HOT + COOL
In the northern hemisphere temperatures are on the rise in August, while in the South, people are facing winter-like conditions. Wouldn’t it be great to have one machine that was able to keep you comfortable all four seasons?
Icsid asked Tom Crawford, Head of Product Development, Environmental Control, Dyson to share the vision behind the Dyson Hot + Cool, a fan and heater in a league of its own.
Q: What was the vision behind the shape and design of the Dyson Hot + Cool?
Like all technology from Dyson, our engineers set out to solve problems long forgotten or ignored by others. Conventional electric fans are riddled with problems– their spinning blades cause choppy air, they’re often hard to clean, and children always want to poke their fingers through the grille. They also have a tendency to be top heavy and topple over.
Dyson Air Multiplier technology eliminates the blades, thus eliminating many of the hassles that come with them. With our AM05 Dyson Hot + Cool, we took this a step further and combined a heater with a powerful fan.
Q: Was the design dictated by the technology or the other way around?
With over $2.25 million spent every week on research and development, Dyson engineers focus on creating new technology that is fundamentally better than any other. We tend to obsess over how it works, and less about how it looks.
We designed every component of the Dyson Hot + Cool to have a specific purpose. For instance, the tilting base holds a digital motor that draws in 28 litres of air per second. And the loop amplifier has an airfoil-shaped ramp that induces additional air from the back, sides, and front of the machine, promoting circulation within the room for even heat distribution.
Q: How long was the Dyson Hot + Cool in its developmental stages?
The first Air Multiplier technology that incorporated a heater took approximately 4-5 years from initial research investigations into different heating technologies and finally through to the first machine rolling down the production line.
Dyson thermodynamics and fluid dynamics engineers spent years measuring and optimising the various components to perfect its application in a dual-purpose fan heater. We mapped air fluctuations with Laser Doppler Anemometry and conducted testing for acoustics and electromagnetic compatibility.
The airfoil-shaped ramp design is critical for the speed and evenness of room heating; an angle that was too high would hinder air speed and projection, while one that was too low would affect air volume and evenness of heat distribution.