Say Hello to My Little Friend

Yes, I'm quoting a movie I have never seen.

The only air conditioning we have in our house are window units.  And we usually run three of those every summer.  I guess most people would wonder why we don't just put in central air, considering I rely on the a/c units so much, but we can't do that very easily in this house.  Our 'furnace' is a boiler and we heat with  hot water, so we have no hot air vents that are used by central air units.  To change our house over to ductwork, etc, is just too much of an undertaking, so we use window air.  And this isn't a very efficient way of cooling.

Our house is old--probably late 50s, early 60s era, so we still have proper rooms.  By that I mean, our house is NOT of the 'open' design that so many newer places are.  This poses a big problem when it comes to cooling, as air doesn't circulate very well through doorways--and the hottest room of the house is not one where we keep a cooling unit.  The kitchen has casement windows--the kind that open and close outward instead of by raising and lowering--so it isn't easy to find window units that fit.  Also, when you DO find an air conditioner for a casement window, you usually wind up losing the light from the entire pane--something that isn't true with 'normal' units.  The lack of air flow leaves us with a dilemma and the solution for us has always been fans.  We usually have one or two fans--along with air conditioners--running for most of the summer.  Such fun.  But they do the job.

My BIGGEST problem with regular fans is trying to keep the damn things clean!  Some fans have screens that can be taken off so that you can access the blades to clean, but most of them aren't that easy.  At least twice a season, I will take the fans (along with my tool box) and disassemble and clean them.  It usually takes me a couple of hours to do this.  And I hate it.  I have come close to throwing out the fans every fall and buying new ones every spring, but the ones we have are good, so I mess with trying to clean them.  And then along came the Dyson company.

This is the new Dyson 'fan.'  (It might be called an 'air circulator' or something equally as ridiculous.)  There are NO viewable fan blades, so they can't get grungy like a normal fan.  It is really quite cool--at least in appearance.  (No pun intended.  ;))  Unfortunately, as with ALL Dyson products, the cost is extremely high.  Luckily, Sam's Club came through with an 'e value' deal one day when we were there and the price of this fan was half off the normal cost, so we bought one.

So, what did all those dollars buy us?  The air circulation is different than with a conventional fan--it seems to be smoother, but not necessarily more forceful.  When run at high speed, it can be a bit noisy, but it seems to be more of a 'white' noise rather than the drone of a regular fan.  It is very easy to clean, very lightweight, and SAFE.  Without fan blades, I never have to worry about the cat getting too close or one of the grandkids sticking their fingers in it.  I'm pleased with the fan and I would buy another one if I got it at a good price, but I don't know if I'll be shopping for one any time soon.