Dyson has just upgraded its popular air purifying fan to the Dyson Purifier Cool PC1 (TP11). We tried it out to see if it helps with hay fever and allergy symptoms…
If you struggle with hay fever, you’ll maybe have noticed a slight tickling in the nose or itching eyes; March typically marks the start of hay fever season – starting with tree pollen – and if you’re susceptible to it, this could mean months of irritation.
One thing that could help ease symptoms around the home is an air purifier, which work by filtering out microscopic impurities and allergens from the air. Dyson makes some of the most recognisable designs, including the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 (TP10), which has just been upgraded to the Dyson Purifier Cool PC1 (TP11). Priced at £449.99, it’s Dyson’s lowest priced air purifier, with models going up to as high as £930.
New features include the ability to capture gases, odours and 99.95% of pollutants as small as 0.1 microns, including allergens such as pollen and dust mites, thermal comfort temperature adjustment at night, and connectivity via the MyDyson app, allowing you to track and manage your air quality from your phone.
Keen to see if this new gadget would help my boyfriend, who suffers terribly with hay fever at this time of year, I put it to the test…
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Pros
- Makes air feel ‘cleaner’
- Great at removing food odours after cooking, or smoke after lighting a match
- Very easy to use, and easy read the data and so know when pollen levels are high
- Looks very luxe and stylish
- Auto mode is very responsive
- Sleep mode is very quiet
Cons
- Expensive
- Doesn’t make a huge difference with extreme hay fever symptoms
- Emits a bit of a breeze so perhaps not one for when the weather’s cold
- Can be a bit distracting when it’s turned up high
Like all Dyson products, the new Purifier Cool PC1 is really easy to set up and work out how to use, and looks incredibly slick in the home. We have an open-plan kitchen/living so I set this up between in the two, in the hope of capturing cooking smells, smoke from our log burner, and pollen from our back doors (I haven’t quite found the best way to hide the wires, so it may end up moving further into the kitchen).
I typically keep it on ‘auto’ and leave it to do its thing – and this it does, automatically detecting pollution and allergen levels and adjusting its output to match, trying to keep the data in the green (or ‘good’) category. Most of the time, it just quietly puffs away, but it immediately picks up on any changes in the room’s air, such as blowing out a match or frying something on the hob.
After using it for a couple of weeks in the height of tree pollen season, I do think it’s made a slight difference to my boyfriend’s hay fever symptoms; he’s sneezing less in the evenings at home, and he says his eyes feel less irritated. It’s also super useful to have a look at the app or the screen and check pollen levels that day; this helps to inform him that, if the levels are high, he might need to take an antihistamine, or even stay away from open areas of green.
What we’ve found it most useful for, however, is clearing the room of food odours after cooking, something that even with the windows open and the extractor fan on, we struggle to remove quickly; this dispels unwanted smells in minutes.
I also think that it’ll be a godsend in summer, when the gentle breeze it expels will be incredibly welcome; we’ll probably move it into our bedroom then when the nighttime temperature adjustment feature will come into its own (other customers have reported it really helping with sleep). I’d also previously owned another model of Dyson fan before, and the filter didn’t need changing for years.
In terms of downsides, it’s obviously expensive, and it’s quite big (although tall, so doesn’t take up much floor space). It’s also hard to pin pinpoint if this in itself makes a huge difference to our quality of life. But our home feels cleaner and fresher since having it; if you can afford it, I think it’s a good investment.
If you’re after some alternatives, Amazon has a couple of options that have lots of positive reviews: we like the look of the Philips Air Purifier 600 Series, currently down from £99.99 to £79.88, and the Morento Air Purifier, currently down to £39.99.
Argos also sells the compact Shark NeverChange5 MAX Air Purifier for £329, which has dozens of five start reviews.
