Review: Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool fan, purifier & humidifier

When you live in one of the driest places in Canada, you think about humidity. A lot. I’ve had dozens of humidifiers and diffusers too and while they help a bit, they rarely last. So when Dyson announced its new Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool, I was abnormally excited. This is Dyson’s first triple-function machine: it’s a fan, but it’s also engineered to automatically purify and hygienically humidify your whole room all year round. I had a chance to have one of these devices in my home for a few weeks to test it out and see what it does. Here’s what I learned.

Review: Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool fan, purifier & humidifier

While this is Dyson’s first triple function machine, it may also be its largest by far—it’s certainly the largest one I’ve ever had in my home. Standing a lanky three feet tall, it’s also almost a foot wide and weighs nearly 20 pounds empty, so this is a machine you are going to need to have a dedicated place on the floor for.

This fan-purifier-humidifier also works with Dyson’s Link app which adds some other features. More on that below…

What’s new: Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool

Let’s briefly touch on what’s new. A unique technology column features a single high power UV-C light to kill 99.9% of bacteria in the water, while a HEPA filter captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns from the air, before projecting hygienically humidified and purified air. New to the machine is Jet Axis Control, where two jets at each side of the amplifier are independently controlled. This has enabled the development of the new Breeze Mode function, which mimics the feeling of a natural breeze.

Let’s dig into each of the features…

Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool – Humidification

The humidification feature is the biggie here. The Pure Humidify+Cool has a huge water tank in the base that holds 5 litres and is supposed to give you about 36 hours of humidification, depending on how high you have it set of course. I can definitely say that at the level I had mine set at, I was easily getting 3-4 days of use from it before needing to refill the tank.

Anyone who’s ever used a humidifier or a diffuser knows they can breed bacteria and grossies. I’m constantly scrubbing my old devices with vinegar or bleach to keep them from spewing mouldy air back into my house. So I was particularly interested in Dyson’s “ Hygienic Humidification” promise.

UV light kills bacteria in the water tank

The Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool has a built-in ability to hygienically humidify and purify a room. The device features a new “technology column” in the water tank that “uses UV-C light to kill bacteria in the water by denaturing their DNA so they can no longer multiply”. Dyson says a highly reflective PTFE tube reflects the UV-C light so water is exposed to multiple rays to kill 99.9% of bacteria in the water in the first pass.

That for me is huge. The fact I get even more humidification and the water is being cleaned before it’s being spread around my house already makes this device leaps and bounds better than any of the cheapie humidifiers I’ve used over a decade of living in Calgary, one of Canada’s driest cities.

Now, I was obviously not setting out petri dishes and trying to culture mould and bacteria to prove Dyson right on this, so I am taking their word for it here. But I can say, while other humidifiers and diffusers will get green, orange or black goo in the tanks and on the intakes after a couple weeks, I never saw anything like that after a month of using the Dyson.

Set & Monitor Humidity levels

You can set your humidity levels for the Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool from zero to about 70% and there’s an auto feature that will only run the machine enough to keep it at the level you choose, then it will move to Idle mode. I kept mine around 50% and found that the water tank lasted 3-4 days and my home felt very comfortable and I had no static, unlike many days without a humidifier running.

Wheeled water tank & pop up handle

A couple other cool features here, the water tank is on wheels, making it easy to remove, and it has a pop up handle for carrying it to the sink for refills.

Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool – Cooling

While running the humidifier generates a low breeze, you can crank up the cool if you need to.

The Dyson fan concept is unique; Dyson uses a bladeless model that takes in air, amplifies it and pushes it out along the front sides of the airflow loop. This is a bit different than other Dyson fans, where the airflow loop is continuous around the whole loop. On the rear side, however, there is a continuous airflow vent that allows for less direct airflow and a more breezy feel.

Bladeless fan

One of the things that I really like about this device is that lack of blades. The blades in traditional fans pick up dirt and dust and greasy goo after a while, and they get gross. That stuff is probably getting spit right back at you particle by particle. This fan means cleaner air, not just because of the lack of blades, but also because of the purification.

Biostatic evaporation for better cooling

The powerful Dyson airflow combines with the humidity in the machine and what’s called a biostatic evaporator which provides a cooler, refreshing airflow. Anyone who’s ever used a swamp cooler where you place ice or water in front of your fan knows what this effect is like; that moister air can feel cooler. Even so, I want to be clear this is not an air conditioning device; it’s a fan.

The fan gives you both direct front airflow, blowing over you like a traditional fan, and can generate pretty powerful airflow. There’s also a reverse mode that generates air motion more towards the back, so it circulates without hitting you full on.

There are two new features with this fan:

Jet Axis Control
Dyson says its ‘Jet Axis Control technology’ gives more independent control to the fan. Those two jets at each side of the air amplifier are independently controlled to provide direct cooling, oscillation mode, backwards airflow mode and new Breeze mode. So important to not here, the device controls them automatically, you don’t get to turn one on or off… During my testing I didn’t notice if one or the other was working more or less.

Breeze mode
Fans can be really harsh and direct with the airflow. So Dyson says it’s engineering team tried to change things up to make the airflow more natural, like a gentle breeze.

The feeling of a natural outdoor breeze on a hot day actually has a name: ‘thermal alliesthesia.’ Dyson engineers came up with an algorithm to mimic natural airflow patterns using the machine’s oscillating barrels, to bring that refreshing breeze feeling indoors.

Does Breeze Mode work?

While that sounds really impressive and quite beautiful, does it actually make a difference?

I was surprised to find.. it does! The side panels move seemingly at random and gently wash air over the area in front of the fan. This definitely feels like much less of a blast of cold air than, yep a natural soft breeze. I really like this effect, since I hate having air blasting directly at me, so I think I’ll keep this setting on speed dial.

Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool – Purification

The other important function this device has is to purify the air. Dyson says a fully-sealed filter system captures 99.97% of air pollution as small as 0.3 microns.  The Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool automatically detects particles and gases, as well as temperature and humidity levels and reports them in real time via the app. HEPA and activated carbon filtration captures gases and 99.97% of particle pollution.

You could also say the Dyson purifies the water that it turns into invisible moisture with that Dyson Ultraviolet Cleansing technology

Dyson Link app

All this is controlled via the Dyson Link app, which, after all that, will seem pretty simple. They Link app connects to your Dyson device and displays both real time information from it about your air quality and lets you control everything about it with a tap.

Colour coded feedback lets you know if your air quality is good and the device can respond if it’s not, using Auto Mode to adjust to what’s in the air, even cranking up its services.

A virtual remote lets you control airspeed, turn humidifying and purifying on or off, adjust oscillation, set timers, change airflow direction and set a night timer.
The app is super easy to use and understand.

Is Dyson noisy?

I kept this device mostly running on fan speed 4-5 and most of the time I never noticed it and that seemed to also manage both the purification and humidity in my home nicely. On higher levels it’s obviously more noticeable, bit it’s not too noisy or distracting.

Filters need annual replacement; they’re expensive

Neither the HEPA filters, nor the carbon filters are  washable so you will need to replace them about once a year, depending how much you run the machine. The machine will tell you when it’s time. Replacement filters cost about a hundred dollars each.

Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool has self-cleaning cycle

For simple, hassle-free maintenance, Dyson has engineered a 60-minute deep clean cycle that thoroughly cleans all parts of the machine exposed to water, without a labourious time-consuming manual process.  Just use the included cleaner, and run it on auto.

Overall review Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool

Overall I’m pretty happy with this machine. I really like the option of having a fan, and purifier plus the new humidify function all in one machine, since it means I’d need fewer devices in my home—it’s definitely multipurpose. It runs super quietly I enjoy the app control, and I really like the massive 5L water tank, which meant I wasn’t filling up a humidifier daily. And the fact it will self clear is a nice bonus.

Downsides? For me it’s the size and weight. This machine is big and needs space to operate so I’m limited on where I can place it. It also sticks out. I mean, it’s a Dyson so it looks kinda cool, but there’s no hiding it.

I know a lot of folks talk about Dyson machines being really expensive, and at $999CAD, this machine is definitely above average price for both fans, purifiers and humidifiers. The filters are also expensive at about $100 a pop.

Also, since winter is approaching, it would be nice if this machine also had a heating function like the Hot + Cool Link.

But overall, if you’ve been considering a purifier, humidifier and or a fan for your home to manage indoor air quality, the Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool is an all in one gadget that seems worth the price tag.

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