This fan has been nearly perfect for what I needed it to do, but at the same time didn't "wow" me or exceed my expectations (which is fine). My room had previously been much hotter than the rest of my shared apartment because of my massive amount of electronics, so I needed a way to cool my room independently of the apartment's AC/heater settings, and this fan helped in that regard.
It does indeed shoot a breeze that feels cooler than what my other (non-cooling) fan does, and is much quieter. Because of the way evaporative cooling works, the cooling performance may vary depending on factors such as humidity (will work better with lower humidity, as this allows for more evaporation). If you use this in an enclosed space for a long period of time, the humidity will increase, causing it to be less effective, and even making the air feel hotter (your sweat works in the same way, so high humidity makes you feel hotter). That being said, I've used this overnight several times without noticing these potential negative side effects. Read the Wikipedia article for "Evaporative cooler" to better understand how it works so you can know beforehand whether or not it will be beneficial to you.
Pros:
-Cools air in a non-humid environment
-Generally quiet (on low)
-Easy to use
-Unlike an air conditioning unit, this will cool in an enclosed environment--as long as it has water and as long as the humidity doesn't get too high.
-Humidifies the air (good if the air is too dry).
Cons:
-Humidifies the air (bad if the air is already humid).
-Can't adjust vertical breeze direction, so I need to place it on something for it to reach me on my bed.
-The tone of the fan is kind of annoying on High and Medium speeds. Low does enough for me, so it isn't an issue. My previous fan, while louder, had a less annoying tone.
-When cooling is enabled, one can hear water dripping. This is fine for me, and is actually kind of soothing (sounds like my mini fountain that I have for background noise), though it is something to consider. This is not an issue when you are just using it as a fan without turning on the cooling.
OK folks, I'm going to sum this up in one sentence for anyone rating this product under 5 stars, those who don't think this product works.
*** EVAPORATIVE cooling only works when the air is dry, when the air is already saturated with moisture, not much cooling can happen. ***
IF you get that simple concept, and have dry air, then these coolers can drop the temperature in an average sized room up to 25 degrees F.
You might think that humid parts of the country would be bad places for such coolers, right? WRONG!
If you have dry air INSIDE the home they can still drop your temp in a room 10-15 degrees with very little additional energy used.
WHY? Your air conditioner takes the humidity out of your home, when you mechanically force water to evaporate it absorbs HEAT that drops the temp of the air in the room.
I bought one of these products for use INSIDE my home in GA. I found all the above to be true for a loft area that just always stayed hot before this unit worked great.
Then I bought 2 more. One for the office, and one for the bedroom. I can't believe how much more comfortable I am, and the AC actually runs less than before!
One thing to remember: Fans work by blowing the heat away from you, they do not cool a room but can blow the sweat off your body dropping your temperature through evaporation. If you aren't being blown by the fan it cannot cool you. In contrast, an evaporative cooler will cool a room whether you are in it or not. They actually drop the temperature in the whole room. I leave mine on all the time, just like I leave the AC on.
My power bill is lower, my house is cooler, and it's refreshing in the middle of a hot Ga day to come home and say to yourself "the house is too cold".
When the warning that it's out of water goes off, I refill them otherwise I'm just running the fan for no net cooling.
Buy NewAir AF-310 Electric Tower Fan Now
It really works nicely. It is not as good as an AC (do you really expect it to be?), but it is better then just a fan. The freezer gel pack helps get things cooler. It is also nice because it is pretty quiet, especially compared to the SPT swamp cooler I bought two years ago. I would recommend this for small rooms. We use it for our bedroom and we have extremely hot summers.
Read Best Reviews of NewAir AF-310 Electric Tower Fan Here
I just got this thing today july 22nd 2009. Its pretty good. Its basically like a super fan. It will make your room a little cooler than a fan, but it wont make it really cold like a portable ac. I put alot of ice in there and it made it a little cooler. It has an ice box with ice gel inside. Basically you put that in your freezer and put it back in the box, and it keeps the water cold. The gel would keep it colder longer than ice. I didnt get to try the ice box yet, but itll definitely help For $99, its a great fan, but if you want it to be really cold, youll need a portable ac. if a fan is 4/10, then this would be a 6 or 7 with lots of ice, and a portable ac is 10/10. Im going to play with it more and see if I can get it to blow colder with the ice box. I think thatll make it alot better. hopefully this helps. If you buy at air-n-water you get free shipping on it and ANYTHING else you buy as long as its in your cart. I saved $50 on shipping my portable ac because I bought them together. I paid $89 for this with the code summer. Im pretty happy with it and im buying 2 more tonight, but ill stick with my portable ac in my room at night for some real "alaska" cold haha.
Want NewAir AF-310 Electric Tower Fan Discount?
This unit has a tray at the bottom to put ice cubes and/or water along with the plastic thing they give you to freeze and make the water cold. it works good more as a humidifier than an actual coolant. it's def not an air conditioner but it has some good points i like the design which is attractive and not a major eye-sore and the remote is a nice feature. i don't like the fact that when you initially turn it on WATER SPITS out (FRONT AND BACK) and you have to get a rag to clean up the mess on the floor...that is def annoying!
overall, it's been an "ok" purchase but it's nothing to rave about unfortunately.
Save 33% Off
I live in dry-as-a-bone Colorado, so I need to keep a lot of moisture in my humidor. I use two of these in a 50 cigar box and they keep it steady at 70% for about 2 weeks before they need a refill. I'm happy with that!
