A year ago Dyson upgraded its “air multiplier” line with the AM06, AM07, and AM08 fans. The release made the bladeless fans 75% quieter without losing any power. It didn’t make Dyson’s fans any more affordable, and they were already sufficiently powerful, so the quieter operation made them a whole lot nicer to live with. Noticeably missing from the update was a Hot+Cool, Dyson’s fan with a built-in heater. The AM09 is a direct replacement for Dyson’s AM05 fan heater. It’s fundamentally the same product as before but the AM09 received two important upgrades. First off, just like the AM06, AM07, and AM08, the new Hot+Cool is quieter than the AM05 — 75% quieter, just like those other models. The AM09 also has what Dyson calls Jet Focus, which directs the airflow so the distribution can be wide or narrow. The setting is determined by the controller, and it can range from being a narrow stream that’s powerful and focused on one person or a wide flow that heats or cools a whole room.

As previously, the fan can oscillate on its own and can be manually tilted (though in a limited range because it’s so tall). The AM09 is basically the AM05 with some new colors, two airflow patterns, and reduced noise production. On one hand, that’s pretty much all you could ask for from a high-design, high-performance fan. On the other, Dyson claims to have over 1,500 scientists and engineers on staff some of whom created over 1,086 prototypes to make this fan possible, so you’d think there would be even more improvements in the two years since the AM05 was released. Read more: Best desk fan – Dyson vs. Vornado vs. Honeywell One the design side, the AM09 is impeccable. Dyson’s choice of colors and materials is excellent. The fan is nicely constructed, wonderfully packaged, and — of course — visually appealing. The controller, which is free of words but basic enough that anyone can understand it, and uses a coating that almost perfectly matches a satin finish titanium, is a summary of why Dyson’s products are so lust-worthy.

Of course, no one is arguing that the AM09, or any other Dyson fan is the product to get if you want design. But what if you want performance as well? As my previous testing has demonstrated, Dyson’s fans actually offer performance that is quite compelling. The improvements to the AM06 and higher-numbered models means Dyson fans are able to operate at a minimum noise level that is quieter than other fans and that they can move move air for the amount of noise that is produced for much of their power range. The Hot+Cool is a heater plus a fan, not a heater plus an air conditioner, a fact that may not be obvious to all buyers. The “Cool” part offers fan speeds of one through 10, while the “Hot” offers the same range with a temperature selection that goes up to 99 degrees Farenheit. There are no exposed heating elements; the fan is safe to touch and it automatically cuts off if the fan is turned over, so typical space heater safety has been taken care of. This is especially important because the Dyson is designed to be quiet enough to be left on while you sleep (there is a up to nine-hour sleep timer).

The heater works on a thermostat system — you set the temperature and when your room falls below that number the heat kicks on — when it’s above your setting it’s just a fan. We know from previous testing of this fan design that it works quite well, offering up reasonable airflow at limited volumes, but the questions are now: how well does the dual air flow work, and just how much heat does the fan offer?aircon chemical cleaning how often The dual air flow works okay. ionic breeze gp silent air purifierYes, air is distributed around the room in a wider angle than it otherwise was, but there is a dramatic decrease to the air speed in any given spot, especially directly in front of the fan. zehnder air cleaning solutions

This does make the fan an adequate whole-room heater, but the stream of wonderfully warm air to any one person is limited, even with the fan on 10. From an initial temperature of 72.6 degrees F, the Hot+Cool was able to raise a small (10 x 10 foot) room to 86 degrees in just a few minutes. That’s totally adequate for a personal heater — more than enough for a person, and enough for a bedroom or office. As for fan performance, it gets a bit complex because you have 10 speeds, two modes, and then hot and cold. That’s 40 possible settings, plus a 30-degree range of temperatures if you have the heat on. In action, it looks something like this: If the heat is on, you generally get less power than you would with the cool alone, even after a warm-up period. That’s reflected in the chart, as at a distance of six feet my handheld anemometer could not detect the fan’s diffused air flow (which I measured at a 45-degree angle from the fan) under a speed of five. I could feel the moving air, but there wasn’t much. 

At full speed, the diffused mode generated an air speed of about 150 feet per second — in other words, a slight breeze. With a concentrated air stream the Hot+Cool topped out at 326 ft/min on max heat and 480 ft/min when in fan mode. This means it’s slightly less powerful than the AM06 I previously tested, but that could be due to the different shape of the fan cowl or the heating gear inside. Perhaps the best thing about the AM09 is that it means the AM05 will see heavy markdowns (it’s available for under $300 right now). Given that the two products are so similar, you could see a significant savings off the AM09’s current $450 by opting for the older model, and all you are missing out on is quieter operation and the Jet Focus air control. To me, the decreased volume is a big advantage, but Jet Focus is largely unnecessary if you are fine with oscillation. Ultimately, the AM09 Hot+Cool fan heater is a great fan and a good heater saddled with a price tag that most people will find to be unacceptable.