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63 About this deal
As of July 1 2023, the government’s Energy Price Guarantee caps the per unit costs at 30p per kiloWatt-hour for electricity, so that a 100W appliance costs roughly 3p per hour to run. We’ve used this as our guide to air cooler running costs, although they may be lower depending on your tariff. The more settings, the greater control you’ll have over the fan’s air flow. Look for a minimum of three – any more and our tester found the differences between them negligible. Modes Tower fans work by blowing air over your skin, making living, working and sleeping more comfortable when the thermometer rises. The Symphony has the largest water tank we tested, which doesn’t translate into more power – it just means it lasts longer (two days and nights, in this case). But as it happens, the Symphony is powerful, too, with an airflow of 840 cubic metres per hour that allows it to cool rooms up to 12m 2. That’s a bigger space than many air coolers – although still not huge. No air cooler can chill a big living room. For that you will need a proper air conditioner.
We measure each fan’s noise levels to find the quietest models for dozing off to, as well as its energy efficiency to find out how affordable it is to run, and its oscillation range to see how well the fan distributes air around a room. Switching to Heat mode, I found that the airflow measured from 15cm away was 40ºC in both the highest and lowest setting. There was a significant difference with air speed, moving from 1.9m/s at the lowest to 2.45m/s at the highest heat setting. With the highest setting, I could feel a column of warm air from across my test lab. Once you’ve plugged in the fan, you can control it via the Climate app, available for both iOS and Android devices. Just follow the prompts in the app to get the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower connected to your Wi-Fi. This will keep your home environment just right all year round as it also doubles as a heater (read what we thought of its warming capabilities here.) As a fan, testers rated its adjustable oscillation, which goes up to a whopping 350 degrees, meaning it can reach multiple people dotted around the same room. Testers found its selection of air speeds improved their comfort nicely and it was generally quiet too, although not on its highest setting.Having tried other air coolers I now realise it’s a bit of an outlier, with a more efficient motor enabling a greater airflow. It is considerably lighter than other air coolers, too, with a small footprint that makes it better for smaller spaces. Dehumidifier Mode - When in dehumidifier mode, up to 1 litre of water is extracted per hour, equivalent to 24 litres per day. This of course depends on the humidity of the room. Such a high extraction rate is ideal for rooms with extreme damp, condensation and moisture issues. I measured noise at a maximum of 48.5dB on the minimum setting, up to a more powerful 60.1dB on maximum – both measured from 15cm. Effectively, this means that you will always hear the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower when it is turned on.
Portability - The appliance has four easy-steer 360 degree castor wheels. This, combined with its compact/lightweight design, makes it highly mobile. The clear instructions, complete with text and images, make this fan a breeze to set up and use. It’s well made with thoughtful design details, including the option to tilt the body of the fan, offering extra control over the direction of air. Its highest setting was notably strong and quiet too. The Chillmax is one of the most searched-for air coolers, but that may have more to do with JML’s hard-sell TV advertising than its cooling ability – which, to be honest, is fairly minimal. At a mere 7.5 Watts, it’s less than one twentieth as powerful as the Symphony air cooler above and could more accurately be described as a vaporiser, projecting a cloud of somewhat cool mist for about a metre.verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Using the remote control, you can perform all of the same functions, bar setting a schedule. There’s a simple LCD on the front of the fan that displays the settings, including the fan speed or heat mode and target temperature. There’s no indicator to show that Natural mode is turned on, although you’ll know because the fan speed becomes variable.
in-1 Appliance - The Princess Smart Mobile Air Conditioner is a multi-functional appliance with three modes - Air Conditioner, Dehumidifier and Fan. Such versatility allows the unit to be used all year around, whether during the hot summer, wet/cold winter or in more moderate spring/autumn weather. It was really a toss-up between this and the Tristar (see above) for the title of Best Value. They’re almost identical in terms of power and airflow and both have a two-year warranty. In the end, despite being a few pounds more expensive, I thought the Tristar just about edged it for being lighter and easier to move around. I measured power consumption at a maximum of 1983kW on Heat mode (in fan-only mode, power consumption topped out at just 28.8W). Given the average cost of electricity in the UK (18.9p per kWh), this means that the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower will cost a maximum of 37.48p per hour to run. Note that next to central heating, all electric heaters are comparatively expensive to run. Firstly, we consider its power, looking at the strength of each setting and the difference between them. To do this, we use an anemometer to understand how much air it blows, measured in feet per minute. The greater the range of speeds and the wider the difference between them, the more you can adjust the fan to suit you. Including many of the more advanced features seen in models from some of the bigger brands, but without the matching price, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower is a useful product that you can use all year round.Unfortunately, it doesn’t move as much air as its 120W motor would suggest and is a little bit more unwieldy than the other tower models. But it’s solidly constructed, has a big water tank and should last a long time. You can control this fan via its accompanying app, voice command or a traditional remote. Its instructions are clear, as is the app, which can change settings even if you're in a different room. We found the voice activation effective too. Want a fan that ties in with the rest of your smart tech? Look for a WiFi- and voice control-enabled model that can be operated remotely or from another room in the house. Our tester found app control particularly helpful – no more struggling to get the remote to connect if you're not sitting right next to the fan. Air purification The buttons on the fan could be more responsive, but we were impressed with the noticeable differences between the three air flow settings. Of the models we tested, this was also the quietest on high.
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