Fans without blades

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I've seen these funky new kind of fans that have no blades. I have no idea how they work, I was just curious if anyone here has one and how you like them. Do they work better for you than a regular fan?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The Dyson ones? I've wondered about those myself.

I found this:

 

[RobertVA]

That "mixed flow impeller" in stage one looks an awful lot like the blades of a regular tabletop fan. It looks to me like the things are nothing more than an enclosed fan with a fancy outlet duct. Have you seen what they want for those things? Expensive, and the display models I've seen in stores don't seem to move any more air than ordinary fans at a small fraction of the price!

 

[iguana_tonante]

It looks to me like the things are nothing more than an enclosed fan with a fancy outlet duct.

Yep. For a moment, I thought they were a type of small, working magneto-fluid-dynamic engine, but alas, the explanation is much more mundane.

 

[Tiberius]

The idea is that the air coming out of the ring drags other air with it, thus moving a larger volume of air than the fan inside alone moves.

 

[B.J.]

Yeah, it's a bit misleading to call it a bladeless fan. It still has blades, just in a different location.

 

[JarodRussell]

Yeah, they just have the blades inside instead of outside.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It looks to me like the things are nothing more than an enclosed fan with a fancy outlet duct.

Yep. For a moment, I thought they were a type of small, working magneto-fluid-dynamic engine, but alas, the explanation is much more mundane.

Well, there goes my idea for a screenplay, The Fan For Red October.