By Martin Vedris

SYDNEY, NSW: Sir James Dyson used an aviation metaphor to describe the creation of the Air Multiplier fan and he explained how it combines with the process of evaporation for a cooling effect that is kind to the environment.

“It almost like we’re going from propellers to the jet age,” Dyson said about the new Air Multiplier today.

“Only seven per cent of the air goes though the little holes [at the base] and it is multiplied by 15 times by the time it comes out,” he said. “The slot, the aerofoil section, the conical section and the edge of the Air Multiplier combined multiply the air coming out by 15 times.”

The Air Multiplier circulates 450 litres of air per second. Another product feature is that the air stream that is created has a constant flow whereas a fan sends out gusts of wind as it chops through the air.

“The advantage is you get no buffeting and of course there’s the safety, the ease of cleaning, the stability, even the energy savings. Fans use a very small amount of electricity; even flat out it’s only 40-watts whereas one of those one room air conditioners is 2,500-watts, so it’s a 50th of the electricity.

“Fans are very efficient and how fans make you cool is quite interesting. When you’re hot, you have an aura of steam around your body … but when the water on the body evaporates it creates a cooling effect. A fan keeps you cool by blowing that aura away and evaporating the moisture off your skin, which produces a chilling or a refrigerating effect… so that’s how a fan works and it’s a very efficient cooling device, it’s cheap to run and it doesn’t harm the environment.”

Although the first Air Multiplier on the market is circular, it doesn’t have to be that shape, but the size of the frame that houses the air aperture does affect the amount of air that is circulated.

“The larger the hoop, the greater the flow of air, and a slightly greater speed,” said Dyson.

The Dyson Air Multiplier will be available in retail stores from 21 October 2009 at RRP $379 for the 25-centimetre size and RRP $399 for the 30-centimetre size.