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As the name suggests, it also has basic smart features. With the cooler connected to your Wi-Fi network, you can control it from your smartphone or even an Alexa or Google Assistant speaker, although the voice commands don’t cover much more than switching modes or turning the unit on and off. Air coolers have a bad reputation for increasing humidity, and they are less than affectionally called swamp coolers. They will have reduced performance in humid environments, and the UK is reasonably humid. in-1 Appliance - The Princess Smart Mobile Air Conditioner is a multi-functional appliance with three modes - Air Conditioner, Dehumidifier and Fan. Such versatility allows the unit to be used all year around, whether during the hot summer, wet/cold winter or in more moderate spring/autumn weather. A decent all-round heater and fan, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower can be used throughout the year. The Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde is more useful overall, since it’s an air purifier, too. Dyson also offers a better app, although its product is a lot more expensive. While some of the water is recirculated through the system, some will inevitably leave the cooler in the air blown out by the fan. Because of this – and the fact that the water in the absorbent pad or membrane can grow stale – you need to keep the air cooler filled and change the water in the tank daily. You should also wash the pad or membrane occasionally or you might get some pretty nasty smells. Is there anything worth looking out for?
Princess provides a remote control in the box, which enables you to adjust every feature. There are no controls on the unit itself, bar a power button – so don’t lose this remote. It’s only a shame then that there’s nowhere to store the remote on the fan’s body when it isn’t in use. Features The Symphony has the largest water tank we tested, which doesn’t translate into more power – it just means it lasts longer (two days and nights, in this case). But as it happens, the Symphony is powerful, too, with an airflow of 840 cubic metres per hour that allows it to cool rooms up to 12m 2. That’s a bigger space than many air coolers – although still not huge. No air cooler can chill a big living room. For that you will need a proper air conditioner. Cooling Power / Effectiveness - The unit has a cooling power of 9000BTU (British Thermal Units). Up to 300 cubic metres of air goes through the appliance per hour. Dehumidifier Mode - When in dehumidifier mode, up to 1 litre of water is extracted per hour, equivalent to 24 litres per day. This of course depends on the humidity of the room. Such a high extraction rate is ideal for rooms with extreme damp, condensation and moisture issues. Air coolers are growing increasingly popular, giving you a kind of halfway house between an expensive and bulky air conditioner and an ordinary fan. They can’t refrigerate the air like an air conditioner, but they can reduce the heat through a combination of airflow and evaporation, effectively using some of the thermal energy in the air to evaporate water, so lowering its temperature before it’s driven out through a fan.Finally, air coolers can help to humidify the air in dry climates. This makes them a great choice for those who want to stay cool while also reducing their impact on the environment. Ultimately, the choice between an air cooler and an air conditioner will depend on your room size, budget, and setup needs. * Air cooler running costs A handy, if not a little basic, app offers a greater degree of control than a standard fan heater, and there’s a remote control, too. Decent performance in both cooling and heating modes makes this an effective product even in larger rooms. Design An air conditioning unit is completely different, and it works a bit like a fridge, expelling the warm air outside. They are big, heavy, noisy, expensive to buy and expensive to run, but they offer vastly superior cooling performance. Features
To prevent the ceramic heater from overheating, the minimum fan speed has to be high; that’s pretty standard for all fan heaters. Unfortunately, it doesn’t move as much air as its 120W motor would suggest and is a little bit more unwieldy than the other tower models. But it’s solidly constructed, has a big water tank and should last a long time. In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.The Chillmax is one of the most searched-for air coolers, but that may have more to do with JML’s hard-sell TV advertising than its cooling ability – which, to be honest, is fairly minimal. At a mere 7.5 Watts, it’s less than one twentieth as powerful as the Symphony air cooler above and could more accurately be described as a vaporiser, projecting a cloud of somewhat cool mist for about a metre. The Princess has a ‘sleep’ setting, which means it comes on only intermittently to maintain a cool temperature. In theory, that means it’s silent most of the time. But on a very hot night the constant on-off may keep light sleepers awake. (See our guide to the best earplugs for help there.) This cheap cube desktop cooler doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but it’s a good way to chill your fevered brow while you’re plugging away at your desk. Its two removable 300ml tanks mean it doesn’t constantly need refilling, and you can freeze them if you want some extra cooling. The three-speed fan gives you options from subtle breeze to full-on gusting, and on the lowest setting it’s quiet enough that it won’t disturb you while you work. I normally use the Dyson Pure Cool Tower Fan, and I also have the MeacoFan 1056P Pedestal Fan for comparison. I tested it both with my doors and windows closed and open. I can’t say I noticed a significant difference in performance (as you would with an air con). The room never experienced a significant drop in temperature, but on a positive note, I didn’t experience a substantial increase in room humidity (perhaps due to my drafty house).
The Princess – a Dutch brand – was the first air cooler I tried, in the middle of 2022’s heatwave when all the big-beast proper air conditioners were sold out. It was a bit of a revelation, reducing the temperature in my bedroom from an entirely unreasonable 23 degrees (at midnight!) to a more bearable 19. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ The higher power does mean the Symphony costs more to run and it is noticeably noisier than other air coolers, especially at top speed. But there are a few other things in its favour, including a mosquito net to trap inquisitive bugs (remember to clean it) and an alarm to tell you when the tank is empty. Once you’ve plugged in the fan, you can control it via the Climate app, available for both iOS and Android devices. Just follow the prompts in the app to get the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower connected to your Wi-Fi.Once connected, the app covers all of the basics. In Fan mode, you can adjust the speed, in increments from one to 10. Switch to Heat mode and you get four options, plus you can set a target temperature, too. Both heating and cooling modes support oscillation – and the sleep timer, which you can set in one-hour increments up to 24 hours. The Princess Air Cooler is quite good. It does what I expected, sitting somewhere in the middle of an air con and a pedestal fan. Set up was relatively straightforward and identical to the Princess Smart Air Purifier. With both devices, it took me two attempts to get them to work, I am not sure if this user error, my phone or the Princess app. I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the creative mind behind Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking, to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.
There’s some confusion, understandably. The popular Dyson cooler, for example, is not actually an air cooler, nor an air conditioner, but a fan. Big names like Mylek and ProBreeze all make air cons, fans and air coolers. So it’s important to know what you’re getting - and why. Suitability - The appliance can be used in kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, home offices, pet rooms, conservatories, etc. It has a coverage range of up to 80 cubic metres and up to 29 square metres. I measured power consumption at a maximum of 1983kW on Heat mode (in fan-only mode, power consumption topped out at just 28.8W). Given the average cost of electricity in the UK (18.9p per kWh), this means that the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower will cost a maximum of 37.48p per hour to run. Note that next to central heating, all electric heaters are comparatively expensive to run.I put the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower through my standard tests. Starting with the regular fan, I measured air speed at 3.08m/s on maximum setting from 15cm away, falling to 1.31m/s at 1m. That’s not bad, although I have tested more powerful fans. In this test, I haven’t given any 10 out of 10 scores because I don’t want to give the impression that air coolers are perfect. In a heatwave, an air cooler will be just enough to make the difference between sleeping and not. AirConDirect’s Victor Stoica, another longstanding aircon expert, adds that they’re more environmentally friendly than refrigerant units, since they don’t use harmful chemicals. “Also, unlike air conditioners, they’re suitable for outdoor spaces like garages, workshops and patios,” he says. “They create spot cooling, dropping the air temperature by a few degrees.” Additionally, it should be easy to use and maintain, with features like air cleaning filters, automatic shutoff and timers. You’ll also want to make sure it’s energy-efficient. The more powerful units use more energy, although all air coolers are much cheaper to run than air conditioners.”
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