€320 Dyson heater: 'heats just like a €20 one'

€320 for a device that, according to one forum user, heats like a €20 one

Is it worth spending €320 on a heater-fan just because it's a Dyson? The question comes from a recent purchase: two gift vouchers worth €416, a final outlay of €320 after the discount, and a 2,250-watt gadget that promises both cool air and heat. The buyer sums it up in one line: "Heater+fan". The response, however, spans 35 messages and spares no one.

The first blow comes from the technical side. A designer fan in summer and a ceramic heater six times more expensive than the rest, one analysis concludes. The accusation isn't that it doesn't work, but that it does nothing a €20 device can't do. The fan doesn't cool the air: it just moves the air that's already there. The heat, ceramic or not, is no magic either. And the price, according to another calculation, is explained by something else: 80% of what was paid is the brand.

How much power does a 2,250-watt Dyson heater use?

The wattage is the most repeated figure. 2,250 watts is what the device declares, and in terms of energy consumption, that's the same as a cheap panel heater or a plate of the same power. The price difference isn't in your electricity bill, but in the shop window. A €50 device consumes the same. A €20 one heats the same. The question nobody answers with a figure is how much of those €320 goes to design and how much to function.

The quietness argument also comes up. The buyer admits that you can hear something, but not much, and that nuance becomes the only point in its favour that survives scrutiny. Some defend the gadget without reservations: a great piece of kit, says one owner of an even worse model who considers it the best purchase in a long time. Opinion swings from enthusiasm to contempt with no middle ground.

Textured walls, parquet flooring and the cabinet with a built-in thermometer

The conversation drifts towards the flat. Cream-coloured textured walls, Eighties herringbone parquet and a cabinet with a built-in thermometer. The domestic portrait becomes a character of its own: the dated flat, the décor of another era, the contrast between a futuristic device and a living room that looks straight out of 1985. Like seeing a spaceship inside a bullring, one comment sums up. The criticism isn't just about the price: it's about the aesthetic incoherence of putting a Dyson in a flat that hasn't changed since the textured walls went up.

The parquet, on the other hand, gets a staunch defence. It looks like oak, but it's solid, which makes it better than any modern laminate. The textured walls take the worst of it, though removing them costs an arm and a leg. The implicit conclusion: the flat will hold up, the device maybe not.

Return it and buy a phone or a laptop

The most repeated recommendation is to return it. With that money, buy two or three dry-technology panel heaters, advises one commenter who steers clear of the word ceramic and distrusts thermal inertia as a selling point. Another option: a phone or a laptop, paying a bit more. The consensus, if there is one, is that €320 for a fan with a heating element is a bad deal. The exception are those who already own one and defend it: the best gadget they've picked up in a long time, even if theirs is a shabby version compared to this one.

The thread remains open. The buyer doesn't say whether he'll return it. The device stays plugged in, the textured walls stay on the wall, and whether €320 for design is expensive or cheap depends on whether you look at the bill or the living room. Check out this product at MediaMarkt, the buyer concludes. As if that settled anything.