Eoleaf air purifiers vs. Dyson Hot+Cool: how do they compare?

Dyson is one of the most widely-known brands of air purifier. Their low prices, keen eye for design, and recognisability make them a popular choice amongst consumers. However, their lack of transparency makes it difficult to fully understand the efficiency of their technologies, and customer reviews report problems with the MyDyson app and smart features. What does the Dyson Hot+Cool air purifier really offer to consumers? How do Eoleaf air purifiers compare? Read on to learn more.

Performance and filtration technologies

Comes with a HEPA H13-certified filter

Dyson air purifiers, like Eoleaf’s, do have HEPA H13-certified filters that capture and remove 99.97% of all air pollutants down to a size of 0.1 microns in a single pass, according to their website. This permits the removal of both coarse and fine and ultrafine particles; allergens like dust, dust mites, pollen, and pet hair and dander; and particulate matter like PM10, PM2.5, and PM0.1. Here at Eoleaf, our air purifier machines filter particles down to a size of 0.01 microns in a single pass.

Lacks complementary filtration technologies

It is important to remember that HEPA filters, although considered to be the gold standard of air filtration when it comes to fine and ultrafine particles, do have their air purifying limitations, most notably that they are unable to remove odours or VOCs and other toxic gases from the air. The Dyson Hot + Cool air purifier, also like Eoleaf’s, does include an activated carbon filter, one the most tried and true methods of air purification and airborne odour removal. Air purifier machines simply equipped with a HEPA H13 filter will not remove odours, so not all air purifiers offer odour-fighting capabilities. Activated carbon is also essential in fighting harmful chemical gases and pollution like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), especially known carcinogens including formaldehyde and benzene.

Dyson air filtration technologies lack ultraviolet (UVC) technologies. This technology is especially important when combatting the spread of pathogens wherever humans congregate. This is an essential technology in places like hospitals, medical institutions, offices, care homes, schools, restaurants, etc., where the likelihood of germ transmission is elevated.

Furthermore, the Dyson Hot + Cool does not offer photocatalysis or ionisation (negative ion) technologies. These are complementary depollution methods used to remove fine and ultrafine particles and VOCs, even carcinogenic chemical gases like formaldehyde. Although today’s air filtration technologies are extremely efficient, it is impossible for them to guarantee the capture of 100% of all air pollutants. This is where having multiple filtration and depollution technologies comes into play: they take care of whatever was left behind, ensuring that no air pollutants remain in your indoor air.

The germ question

UVC sterilisation technologies are highly useful in medical institutions, public places, and areas with high potential for disease spread. However, UVC sterilisation technologise are useful for much more than that: the filter(s) of an air purifier cannot be sterilised by a device that does not use sterilisation technology. The purpose of a filter is to capture impurities, such as bacteria. Germs must be killed when they have been captured; it is not sufficient to merely capture them. Eliminating the germs reduces the possibility of them returning to your interior environment, even if the device is still being used with a saturated filter—a practice we strongly advise against. Eliminating bacteria also keeps your gadget from turning into a haven for pathogens. In contrast to Eoleaf devices, which use UVC lamps positioned in the centre of the cylindrical filter to allow sterilisation in every corner, Dyson devices lack any kind of sterilising technology.

Eoleaf air purifiers take air purification seriously

Eoleaf’s devices offer 8 different air purification technologies including:

• A pre-filter
• A medical-grade HEPA-certified H13 filter
• An activated carbon filter to combat VOCs like formaldehyde and benzene
• A bamboo fibre filter with a silver ion coating
• UVC sterilisation technologies including two UV lamps at 254 nm
• Photocatalysis technologies
• Ionisation technologies (20 pcs/cm3)

Be wary of 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 devices

Buyer beware: 2-in-1 or even 3-in-1 devices should be approached with caution. 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 machines (air purification combined with heating/cooling/dehumidification) are, unfortunately, ill advised. Of course, as a company specialising in air purification, it would be ideal for Eoleaf to be able to save our customers money by adding on heating or cooling features that would prevent them from having to buy other devices.

Technically speaking, air purifier filter microfibres are sensitive to drastic changes in temperature and humidity. This means that using a heating/cooling or dehumidifying function will damage the microfibres in the filters. Damaged microfibres impact filtration efficiency. At this time, it is simply not possible to build a device that performs both functions well. This is why, if purifying the air is your main goal, especially with the aim of protecting your health, it is important to focus on a device designed for that purpose and that purpose alone. This is the reason why Dyson is one of the only brands offering this type of product.

Low price but little value for the money

Although they are on the cheap end of the air purifier market, Dyson air purifiers offer very little value for the money. With a price tag of £399.99 (which is marketed at the same price in euros: 399.99€), in regards to air filtration, you are paying for a simple HEPA H13 and activated carbon filter. The Hot + Cool does offer heating and cooling capabilities, but for the price, it would make more sense for consumers to simply purchase a HEPA-certified air purifier and a space heater/air conditioning machine separately. Refer to our article on how much an air purifier costs. In our opinion, it would make even more sense to invest in a high-end Eoleaf device with incomparable air filtration technologies, designed by a company specialising in air pollution.

SEE OUR PRODUCTS

Design and efficiency

Dyson’s Hot + Cool design

The Dyson Hot + Cool device comes designed with a horizontal air outlet. According to their website, this allows purified air to fully circulate throughout a room (as seen below taken from the Hot + Cool product description on their website).

The problem with this method is that it fails to account for the fact that purified air is slightly heavier than polluted indoor air (as it is being compressed by the fan). When purified air is released back into the room in a horizontal manner, that air will return back down towards the floor, not upwards as pictured in the above graphic. As a result, it does not filter air above the device, leaving behind fine particles, allergens, and VOCs like formaldehyde.

Furthermore, rooms are never empty like the one pictured above. This means that with a horizontal air outlet, most fixtures will impede the fan’s airflow. Here at Eoleaf, we always recommend users to place an air purifier in a location where the air purifier’s fan inlets and outlets will be unobstructed: away from furniture, out of corners, etc. The presence of a horizontal air outlet will make placement of a Dyson air purifier very difficult.

Customer reviews of the Dyson Hot + Cold state that the device pivots but that this feature is noisy. Also, pivoting creates intermittent airflow. The idea of an air purifier is that polluted air is that sources of pollution are continuous and that it should operate regularly so that the user never breathes in new pollutants.

Furthermore, based on customer reviews, Dyson’s Hot + Cold machine has some flaws with its smart features that can make its use frustrating:

• Reviews claim that the MyDyson app leaves a lot to be desired: the MyDyson app often fails to recognise and/or sync with wireless networks
• Many user reviews report problems with Alexa voice controls

Eoleaf’s design

Eoleaf’s devices are designed a bit differently. Instead of employing a horizontal air flow design in our air purifiers, we use a vertical airflow. By releasing purified air up towards the ceiling, this ensures proper circulation of purified air throughout the entire room, including the air up high. Since the purified air is a bit heavier, once it reaches the ceiling, it will then descend and return towards the ground, more effectively mixing with the air in the room.

With vertical airflow, it is also much easier to find optimal placement for your Eoleaf air purifier. You still must avoid obstructing your device, but you do not have to worry that the horizontal airflow will be blocked by the most common home and office furnishings like couches, beds, and desks. Check out our recommendations for ideal air purifier placement here.

You will also find seamless smart features and easy app syncing with Eoleaf’s air purifiers. Not only do our devices offer Tuya Smart smartphone app compatibility and voice controls via Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, but you will also find gesture controls. These make for a contactless user experience which we all appreciate in a post-COVID-19 pandemic. Our Tuya Smart app also allows you to use smart scheduling to control your device: set times for it to change fan speed, turn on the ionisation feature, etc. The app is available for download in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Transparency

Dyson does not make performance readily available

One of the biggest concerns we had whilst performing research for this comparison was lack of transparency. During our research, we found it impossible to find some of  the required technical characteristics of Dyson’s Hot + Cool that should be easy to find for someone purchasing an air purifier.

• We were unable to locate Dyson’s Hot + Cool air purifier’s clean air delivery rate (CADR), an essential metric and industry standard that determines an air purifier machine’s efficiency in clearing the air of pollutants. Rather, the Dyson website claims that this metric is irrelevant because they use their own ‘POLAR test’ to determine efficiency. One would ask how it is possible to compare their device’s efficiency with other devices on the market if it does not use the same standards as everyone else, making us believe that either their CADR has not been tested (and, thus, the efficiency of their devices unverified), or their CADR rating is low.
  

• Information regarding how much activated carbon they use in their filters is also not made available. The amount of activated carbon used in an activated carbon filter determines its ability to capture and absorb air pollutants, especially VOCs like formaldehyde. The heavier, the better. Eoleaf’s filters use 400 g of activated carbon in our AEROPRO 40 air purifier, 640 g in our AEROPRO 100 model, and 1280 g (1.28 kg!) in our AEROPRO 150 model.

Eoleaf’s performance

Here at Eoleaf, we publish all of our air purifiers’ performances and technical specifications. We firmly believe that customers have a right to fully understand what they are purchasing. We make this information available in both our product descriptions and our Technical Specifications sheets (as seen below).

We are proud of our devices’ CADR ratings. CADR is an industry-wide standard from which only Dyson seems to shy away. Our CADR ratings are as follows:

• AEROPRO 40: 420 m3/h
• AEROPRO 100: 570 m3/h
• AEROPRO 150: 670 m3/h

We know that our devices are powerful and will provide the best results available in your efforts to reduce and control indoor air pollution.