Today felt like the first proper day of autumn; cool and crisp with lots of sunshine and a piercing blue sky. The best kind.
Summer has been flitting between encores throughout September, but as we enter October, it feels like the last curtain call is finally here. We probably won’t see another 20°C day until next year; it’s high teens and down from here until spring.
That means jumpers, blankets and the good mugs are back from storage, ready to keep me swaddled and warmed as the weather cools outside. The fan I was parked in front of all summer? Relegated to the back of the cupboard. Despite helping me reset mentally for the cold season, I have to admit that all this appliance and homewares swap-over can be a bit of a faff.
It may be the last time I ever do at least one element of it, because I’ve been testing Dyson’s new Hot+Cool HP1 Purifier Heater at home for the past fortnight. With the ability to propel heated and cooled air around my flat, this baby has year-round appeal.
Dyson purifier hot+cool HP1 key specs
- Weight: 5.26kg
- Cord length: 1.8m
- Sound level: 63dB
- Room coverage: 81m³
- Oscillation: Up to 350°
- Dimensions: H77 x D24.8cm
- Colours: white/silver
Design
A Dyson product is unmistakable with its signature considered design and innovative features. Like many of its sister models, this appliance is bladeless, which not only looks cool but offers an element of safety - nowhere for limbs or strands of hair to become trapped.
There’s just one on/off button for operation, positioned immediately above a circular display on which you can find key info at a glance.
The fan heater comes with a silver-coloured remote, but if you download the companion app, you can get right into the nitty-gritty of air purification plus control everything from there (it’s also a handy backup should you immediately misplace the remote, as I did). You can also connect it to voice command systems like Alexa, Siri and Google Home.
It all comes neatly parcelled in cardboard with the main unit cloaked under a plastic sheath.
Function
As perfectly described in the product’s name, this is a triple-threat of a gadget, packing heating, cooling and purifying ability all under one very smart-looking hood.
Apart from instantly responsive temperature control, the purification aspect constantly senses, captures, and traps pollutants floating about, locking them into Dyson’s long-lasting HEPA H13 filters to improve your indoor air quality.
The Dyson hot+cool HP1 purifier heater is perfect if you have pets, or like me, a penchant for lighting candles and occasionally setting off the smoke alarm in the kitchen. Geeky types will love watching air quality improve by the particle in the app, the graph moving towards the ideal level, which is marked in green (red is, obviously, very bad).
In winter, when you’re least likely to crack open a window and allow fresh breezes to circulate, it’s a comfort to know the air inside is still fresh thanks to Dyson’s purification prowess.
Performance
This is a machine made for smaller spaces of around 81m³, making it perfect for my one-bed flat. If you're dealing with super high ceilings or a large open-plan space, you may want to consider other options.
This Dyson also performs best in well-insulated rooms - which my new-build very much is - or saved for occasional use (e.g when you can’t physically pull on another winter jumper). Like any heater, it can only do so much if your building has gaps and cracks through which drafts can infiltrate.
As such, my testing space ticks all of the machine's boxes, and in return, it ticked all of mine. The temperature range spans 1 - 37°C, while fan speed options go up to 10, so when I wanted a short blast of heat one chilly afternoon, I could push up the controls to ensure that's exactly what I got. In under 10 minutes, Dyson’s air multiplier technology (that’s 15x higher airflow) made the room feel warm enough to switch the unit off entirely.
Oscillation is offered from 45° - 350°, which is far more useful if you want to raise the room’s temperature in general rather than enjoy Sahara-like direct heat. If you're not picky, Auto mode works out the perfect speed and temperature for you, creating the optimum environment all by itself.
Cost - is it worth the price?
Dyson products are notoriously expensive, but they’re also famously innovative and built to last. If you’re short on storage space and want one appliance to respond to any facet of the British climate, or you’re concerned about indoor air quality (especially understandable in winter when laundry drying and cooking are all done behind closed windows), you’ll soon see the return on cost-per-use.
With energy bills projected to rise again this winter, investing in a highly efficient heater that you use occasionally could be a wiser investment than running the central heating the whole season.
Verdict
Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1
Say goodbye to buying separate climate-controlling tech for the changing seasons - Dyson’s new Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 can do it all. It offers ten wind speeds along with a temperature range that runs from 1 to 37 degrees, so you can tailor your cooling or warming experience to exacting standards.
It also purifies the air flooding out of the bladeless design, meaning you’re always breathing in the freshest air possible, automatically capturing gases and 99.5 per cent of pollutants as tiny as 0.1 microns.
Watch indoor air quality improve via the MyDyson app, where you can also control the unit, or use the curved remote, which has magnets to attach it to the top of the fan heater.
Buy now £549.00, Amazon
