Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'll start with a little scene setting: When the idiots who previously owned my 1914 farmhouse a long, long time ago turned the attic into a master bedroom (guest room and bathroom too), they didn't run the heat vents to the master. Because of this, I turn the house heat off at night unless we have guests. They installed a chintzy little built-in electric heater in the wall. The bedroom is 400 square feet with ceilings 25 feet high in center to 12 feet at the edge. The wall heater scares me. I've made it through four winters just fine, only occasionally needing a second blanket. Obviously we have good insulation, seals around the door to the widow's walk, and good windows (I keep one cracked at all times tho). Then I had surgery in early January and was forced to lounge around in bed all day. My SO stayed home to take care of me. In order to heat the bedroom to a comfortable level, the heat downstairs needed to turned on really, really high. In checking out solutions, I discovered the Dyson hot was a fan as well. I was sold, having fallen in love with fans at my friends homes on hot, hot days last summer. Also since the heat comes from the center of a void, my dog won't interested. They have been known to sniff the vent front on a fan and that part heats up with a space heater. Also dog hair collects on traditional fans (and therefore heat fans). Pugs shed a lot, but with the Dyson Hot, the fur stays on the ground. But everyone was sold out of them, and the company selling on Amazon was marked up $50 over the $399 price tag. On a post-doctor appt. trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy throw pillows to elevate my arm, I saw the Dyson Hot in white was $100 off (blue sold out, but I was in too much pain to care about the color). After reading reviews, I did not know what to expect. We set it up in the middle of the room on the floor at an angle from the wall, so it would oscillate past the bed (its a platform so low to ground) and I turned it on at 68 degrees fan level 2. I was freezing. It took maybe 5 minutes for me to stop freezing. I didn't really pay attention to it and went about lounging around uncomfortably in bed. I heard it going on and off. It's not loud, but it does sound like a fan. Obviously the higher fan speeds means more noise, but not loud enough to say have to turn the tv off or wake me up. When my SO came to check on me he commented how the room felt really warm with a noticeable temperature difference between hallway and bedroom. Warm and happy, I turned the fan off for a while and turned it on as needed throughout the last few weeks. Basic Observations: 1. On Oscillation mode it heats up a 400 square foot room to a comfortable temperature. I am not a person who thinks a room needs to be 80 degrees--more like between 68 to 72. With my arm in a crazy contraption, I can only wear tank tops and the like, so I'm not bundled up. The Dyson Hot keeps At night, I put the Dyson Hot on 66 and eventually turn it off when I get too warm under covers. It heats a decent size room quickly AND COMFORTABLY. 2. On fan speed 2, you can feel the heat from about 10 feet away. It's not a hard blast pf hot, but a warm breeze as it moves by you. 10 feet is where my head sits if its on edge of bed. I didn't test further distances. I also didn't test the stationary mode. 3. It's sitting on hardwood floor. It's not wobbly and it doesn't heat up on the plug or base. The dogs sniff around it a bit, but haven't burnt themselves, although the inside has a warning it gets hot. I didn't touch it. But most importantly, it's sturdy. I've used oscillating heaters in the past (at work) and they always wobbled and would fall easily. 4. Through our really bad winter storms last week, it survived a couple brown outs. It also kept me warm. 5. It has both the thermostat and the fan speed. More control beyond the usual low, medium, high. The thermostat is on the base pointing out instead of on top, so you can actually see it when using remote. 6. I've used the fan a couple times and it offers a nice cool breeze throughout the room. 7. It's not whisper quiet, but then neither was the $150 whisper quiet space heater I had at work. it is the same audible level as the Dyson fan. Cons: 1. Moving between the heater and fan is clunky, requiring you to lower the temperature to 32 to turn on fan and up too 66 to turn on heater. I would have liked a button to switch. 2. The remote is supposedly magnetic with the top of the fan. Mine is not as far as I can tell. I keep the remote on the nightstand so not really a problem. 3. No timer. Not necessary, but would be a nice feature. So yes it's expensive, but if you don't have the money for it, don't complain about the price just don't buy it. I don't see that as a con. I am willing to pay extra for a safe, reliable room heater that also has a great fan. All of the ones I've used or seen at friends houses have always sucked or are scary like the one stuck in my wall. And not all of those are that cheap anyway. It's not going to substitute for an actual heater in the house, but its an excellent option to add extra heat to a single room. Update: now that I'm not on bed rest, my SO has been using the Dyson hot. He's more of a crank it up until the room is an oven, he puts it on 86 or so and leaves it on for a while. It really does crank the heat. This thing is warm! Update 2: After two months of continuous use between January 20 and March 20, 2012 in the cold, cold Seattle Winter including snow (no other heater in bedroom), my bill was $13 more in 2012 than in 2011. So it seems pretty energy efficient. Update 3: At some point in early 2012, Dyson recalled the fan and gave us a new, or more likely a refurbished, one, although not updated version. The remote is now magnetic, so that was an issue with either our old remote or the old unit. The replacement is still going strong in November of 2015. Never been clogged and low maintenance. We had solar panels installed in 2013, so our electrical bill is drastically reduced in Winter (it's Seattle), which means I can't compare energy efficiency, but seems to be just as efficient as day one. This year, 2015, was a hot summer and the fan was used quite consistently to cool the room, but it kept chugging along every day. It was sitting on a bench so the cool air would hit the bed and was stable despite the padded surface. The newer Dyson models are quieter and offer a few extra features--we picked up a cooling only fan for downstairs--but we have no reason to replace our old model.