Is the Dyson Fan Worth the Money? I Tested It During the British Heatwave

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A second hot spell is already being talked about, fans are flying into baskets again, and I finally tested the one cooling fan everyone kept mentioning: the Dyson Cool AM07.

I have always been sceptical about Dyson fans.

Not because they do not look lovely. They do. Not because people do not rave about them. They do. But because I could never quite get my head around spending hundreds of pounds on something that, ultimately, is still a fan.

For years, my go-to fan has been my Levoit tower fan. Until a week ago, I swore by it. I recommended it to friends, family and anyone who asked what to buy when the British summer suddenly became unbearable.

Then last week’s heatwave arrived and gave the Dyson a proper test.

With forecasters warning that more hot weather could return this summer, plenty of households are already panic-buying cooling devices. Every British heatwave seems to follow the same pattern: everyone says they will cope, nobody sleeps, then the best fans start disappearing online.

So we asked around. We wanted to know which fan people genuinely rated when air conditioning was not an option. Again and again, one answer kept coming back: the Dyson cooling fan.

So we gave it a try.

I tested the Dyson during last week’s heatwave

The timing could not have been better. Or worse, depending on how you look at it.

The house was hot, the bedrooms were stuffy and the usual trick of opening windows at night was doing very little. I had my trusted Levoit fan ready, fully expecting to use the Dyson once or twice before going back to my old favourite.

That is not what happened.

By the second day, I found myself reaching for the Dyson every time.

The airflow felt smoother, broader and less like being blasted in the face by a normal fan. It seemed to reach across the room more comfortably, rather than only working if it was pointing directly at me.

That was the moment my opinion changed.

Dyson fan vs Levoit, Meaco, Dreo and Honeywell: which one wins?

Rather than comparing the Dyson with vague “budget fans”, we looked at named fans people are likely to consider when the next heatwave hits.

Best for cooling: Dyson Cool AM07

This was the category I expected to be closest. It was not.

The Levoit is still a brilliant fan and, for the money, I still rate it highly. But the Dyson felt more comfortable in a hot room. It did not feel as harsh or choppy. The air seemed to move around the space in a way that made the room feel easier to sit in.

Best for price: Honeywell QuietSet or Levoit

If you just need something affordable before the next heatwave arrives, the Dyson will not be the obvious choice.

A Honeywell QuietSet or Levoit tower fan is much easier to justify if your budget is tight. They are also sensible options if you only use a fan for a few days each year.

That matters, because not everyone can or should spend hundreds of pounds on a fan.

Best for noise: Dyson or MeacoFan

This is where the Dyson becomes much easier to understand.

A noisy fan is fine for ten minutes. It is not fine at 2am when the room is still hot and you are trying to sleep.

The Dyson is impressively quiet, especially given how powerful the airflow feels. The MeacoFan 1056P also has a strong reputation for quiet bedroom cooling, so that is another good option if sleep is your priority.

But the Dyson had the edge for me because it combined quietness with that smoother, room-filling airflow.

Best for efficiency: most fans are fairly cheap to run

One thing worth remembering is that fans are generally much cheaper to run than portable air conditioning units.

The Dyson is not trying to be air con. It will not chill a room in the same way. But it also does not come with the same energy use, bulky hose or awkward setup that many portable air conditioners require.

For most people, a good fan is about making hot days and sticky nights more bearable without turning the house into an electricity-guzzling cooling zone.

The thing nobody told me about the Dyson fan

The biggest surprise was not the design.

It was not the lack of blades.

It was not even how quiet it was.

It was that I stopped thinking about the fan completely.

With other fans, I often find myself adjusting the speed, changing the angle or moving closer to the airflow. With the Dyson, I simply left it running. The room felt more comfortable without needing that direct blast of air.

That is a difficult thing to explain until you have used it during genuinely hot weather.

So, is the Dyson fan worth the money?

Before testing it, I would have said no.

After last week’s heatwave, I am no longer so sure.

Final verdict: I finally understand the Dyson fan hype

I went into this review expecting to say the Dyson was lovely but unnecessary.

Instead, the heatwave made me change my mind.

Would I still recommend my Levoit fan? Absolutely. It is still a brilliant buy and probably the smarter choice for most budgets.

But if someone asked me which fan I would choose during another British heatwave, with money taken out of the equation, I would now pick the Dyson.

It did not magically cool the room. But it did make me feel cooler, calmer and more comfortable during the hottest week of the year so far.

And when you are trying to sleep through a sticky British heatwave, that suddenly feels like a much bigger deal.

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