Hands-on review: The Dyson Pure Hot and Cool Air Purifier

This review has had me in a panic but not for the reasons you might suspect. Being my third review of the Dyson Pure Hot and Cool and Pure Cool range of purifiers, I was wondering what I could possibly have to add. As I discovered, the problem has been what to leave out.

For several months the Dyson Pure Cool has faithfully kept our bedroom free of allergens and the PM2.5 and PM10.0 particles that can make my life a seasonal tale of woe and misery. The irritated eyes and frequent asthma episodes have gone, but the antihistamine and the eyedrops are safely stored away, just in case.

Not only that - our nights have been a lot more comfortable over the summer, with the Dyson faithfully wafting a cooling breeze over our overheated bodies.  On the very sultry nights we had to resorted to the heat pump as well, but for most of the time the Pure and Cool has been enough to ensure restful sleeps.

I came to the realisation that I was using terms like PM2.5 without really understanding what that means for us in the home. With a little bit of digging, I found an informative article written by the US Environmental Protection Agency. They explain that the PM2.5 and PM10 particles are tiny particles that are made up of a range of pollutants. From tiny water particles through to a range of pollutants, these are the particles that make our polluted skies hazy.

The worst of these are the PM2.5 particles, which are generally about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair. We inhale these particles, and some will even end up in our bloodstream.  These are the particles that Dyson's Pure Hot and Cool aims to rid you of.

Dyson NZ's website says that the Dyson Pure Hot and Cool "automatically purifies and heats a whole room, capturing 99.95% of fine particles such as harmful pollutants.

With three built-in sensors, the Dyson purifier fan heater automatically detects airborne particles and gases. This is what the App refers to when you read the graphs for PM2.5, PM10, VOC's and NO2.  For more information about the filtration system, see my review from November 2018, which explains the dual filtering HEPA and carbon filters (after several months, mine are both reading at 88%.)

Dyson's Pure Hot and Cool is shorter than the Pure Cool, meaning it is quite comfy perched on a benchtop or tabletop. Currently the review model is on the living room floor (we have an open-plan living/dining/kitchen area and tilted upwards on its axis). Moving it is a simple matter, but please, don't be tempted to pick it up by the nice oval fan area. It's light enough to pick up properly, from the base.

To my mind, one of the best features is Dyson's "set it and forget it" approach to the app design. You can schedule your usage for all your Dyson purifiers from the one app. I use the room they're kept in. Slide along, set up your schedule, and forget it. If you already have Amazon Alexa at home, you'll be able to interact using voice commands. If it were any smarter, you'd probably want to unplug it whenever you watch your favourite Terminator movie.

Pure Hot and Cool also comes with a rather nifty remote. While it doesn't have the same finesse as the app, it's great when you just want to bask in a cooling (or warming) breeze of fresh air.

Cosmetically, the Dyson is one nice-looking piece of technology, and you'll find that it will blend in nicely in your twenty-first century smarthome.  As a chronic asthmatic who suffers every pollen season, and whose eyes close whenever in proximity to privet, I can't repeat enough just how revolutionary the Dyson Pure Hot and Cool has been.

It should be your first weapon against pesky particles in your domain. I wish the weather had been cooler so I could have told you about the heater. Let's just say that when we accidentally activated it, the temperature increase was quickly noted, no matter where one was situated in our living room!