Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

James Dyson has voiced his feelings in regard to what it will take to save Britain's manufacturing industry in a report commissioned by the country's Conservative Party.  An interesting read and plenty of UK reader comments follow.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/7400742/Sir-James-Dyson-plan-to-fill-UKs-engineering-vacuum.html

M00seUK and vacmanuk, I'll be glad to learn what you think.

Venson

EU countries came to the financial rescue of Greece this weekend.  Word in the news here is the UK is next to go belly up, even before Italy, Ireland, Spain and Portugal, with debt levels comparable to Greece and worse.

Carmine D.

Funny that, there's an announcement nationally that the house prices in the UK have suddenly gone up and cheap mortgages on house buying has been reinstated.

CarmineD wrote:

Carmine,

My church had it's annual fundraiser family festival this weekend. One of the silent auction items was a Dyson "bladeless" fan.  There was a lot of interest in the fan and how it works.  I don't know whether the interest will translate into sales.  I don't know what the final bid was, but the bid was around $270 (list $320) the last time I checked (with at least 15 minutes to go).   My church is in a fairly affluent area, and many would not think twice about spending over $300 on a desk fan. 

If the final cap and trade bill coming out of congress is too draconian, desk fans may be the norm rather than air conditioning in the future.  Or more likely, you'll air condition to 80 degrees and use fans to make it feel less miserable. 

CarmineD wrote:
The information I have is that a window air conditioner uses 1,200 watts while running. A Dyson air multiplier uses 1/30th of this, at 40 watts.

As Severus mentions, if a personal Dyson air multipliers can be used, in certain instances, as a more pleasant category of 'fan' in place of an a/c unit, there are financial advantages to the user and environmental advantages as a whole.

Make no mistake, there's a very substantial mark-up on the Dyson fan. They have the marketing mix; something unique, which has reduced running costs, a status symbol of sorts, from which they can make a very nice return on their investment. Sound familar? It's not far off how they profited from their vacuum cleaners.

Like all consumer goods, the RRP will fall in time. Dyson just need to keep an eye on the sales numbers and stimulate then with small discounts. Unlike, say LCD TVs, they don't (at least for the moment) have any direct competition.

Severus wrote:

Hello SEVERUS:

This is the way here in Las Vegas.  80 is the indoor temp during the summer months [when outdoor temps reach 115-120 easily in the sun] with fans to ameliorate the AC.

Carmine D.

vacmanuk wrote:

Actually, it's not funny.  It's serious.

http://wallstreetblips.dailyradar.com/story/warning-signal-on-u-k-debt/

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/04/30/216736/the-uk-is-the-next-greece/

The second link is from the Financial Times on Friday April 30, 2010 before the EU countries bailed out Greece with $147 BILLION. 

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Not going away vacmanuk.  Market declines in your country and mine today are attributed to the Greece collapse and more importantly who's next.  Euro at a new low $1.30.  UK election any day now.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-slide-as-new-doubts-apf-2098108080.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

Carmine D.

M00seUK wrote:

Hi M00seUK,

This all a matter of whose home you speak of.  First, so that no one's money is missed, there is no standard size for American household air conditioners.  They size outputwise from 5,000 BTUs to 28,000 and will run on 120 volts.  They price as low as $100 and has as high as $900 or so depending on brand.  It is quite easy here to find an air conditioner tailored for your needs and for small or standard dwelling spaces its even possible to get decent air conditioner for under $300 negating the need for additional money spent on fans.

Personally, my plan this years is a 20-inch whole house window fan.  I will use it to expel hot air inside and draw in fresh cooler air.  Utility prices are climbing and will strongly influence how many of us go about making a comfortable home environment. However, $300 desk fan won't prove much of a solution.

Venson

Venson wrote:

HI Venson:

As a person like you Venson who lived through the eras of small desk fans made by GE and Westinghouse to larger room/window fans made by the same brands and others like Hunter and Vornado then to window and room air conditioners to central air, I believe A/C units are by far better hands down than fans.  As I said to SEVERUS, here in LV we use central air set at 78-80 during the really hot heat days of summer with fans for ameliorating the AC.  We have 52 inch ceiling fans [hunter] in all the living and bed rooms and back yard porch.  With oscillating room tower fans [that can be programmed at various speeds for different time intervals] in two rooms to assist where heat tends to build in our home.  The ceiling fans and tower fans are considerably less than $300 each as my memory recalls.  More like $70-$150 for decent brands and decent performance.  My point is simple and the same as with all dyson products.  The dyson products [regardless of the products] are so uncompetitive with the current status quo in performance and prices that most mainstream US buyers will have absolutely no reason to purchase.  Yes, for those who have more money than sense and have to be the first to have the newest, the dyson brand appeals.  But once that NICHE market is met and usually quickly, dyson products struggle to sell side by side with the competition, especially in the current bad economic times.  Hence the past dyson trend to constantly intro new vacuums year after year and non-vacuum products.  Niche market requires constantly new products to sell and fund the ongoing operations.  Works for awhile but not forever.  Especially in bad times.

Carmine D.

I’m very much in two minds with the Dyson fan. I saw one on display in Harrods earlier in the year. It’s interesting, I like the unusual design and the tech. Turn it on and you kinda see what they mean; the air is smooth and the rate easily controlled. But you can’t help but think “is that all?” for 200 GBP?

..and yet I can remember days from the summer 3 years, when the weather was unbearable and for the first time ever I went out and brought a pedestal fan... and had to wear ear plugs at night and put up with what I am now told is sub-standard ‘choppy air’. If the Dyson fan had been around then, I might be have tempted to invest...

That said, it’s never going to sell to a large amount of people in the UK, at that price, to be used  for a few days in the summer. For some, it could be seen as some as an investment that might last 10 years. If the price at some stage gets to 100 GBP, that would equal 10 GBP per year – which isn’t so bad. But clearly, it’s a fair better proposition in places that have a hot climate, where you’d use it most days in the summer.

I don’t really need one, it is a steep price, but whatever the commercial realities, it does seem that again Dyson has succeeded in turning a usually unexciting product in to an object of desire.