Dyson's $449 heater seems like a ridiculous cost, but it saved me hundreds of dollars last winter

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Dyson

• The Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Link purifies, heats, and cools air for you. It automatically removes 99.97% of pollutants and allergens and can heat or cool a much larger room than its size suggests.
• It's not at all cheap (and there are cheaper options out there), but it definitely works better than many we've tried and is bound to last longer.
• Even though its price is cringe-worthy at $449 on Amazon (it was originally priced even higher at $600), it saved me hundreds in electricity costs last winter.

This winter, my tiny two-bedroom apartment racked up a $500+ energy bill in one month. Our heaters were fighting the cold drafts (and, likely, improper insulation) and were coming up short. As a result, my roommates and I tried to find a not-entirely-miserable compromise between using them and just layering on sweatshirts and getting into bed right when we got home.

After we got slapped with the electric bill that could power a post-apocalyptic city for three years, we decided we needed to make a more permanent change. So, we started using the mini but all-powerful Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Link. It shorted out our apartment the first few times because it was drawing too much power, but a cheap $20 investment in this surge protector solved the issue.

I'll get into the details below, but after we started using the Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Link our energy bill went from $500 to a small fraction of that. I wish that it was feasible to buy one for every room.

It's a cringe-worthy investment at $449 on Amazon (originally $600), but, considering that was what we would be spending on one month alone to heat our apartment, it was more of a no-brainer for us than the average person. If you have more acceptable energy bill costs, it'll do the same thing (save you money) but the savings might be slightly more modest upfront and just as useful over the long-term.

The Dyson Pure Hot +Cool Link takes up minimal room and provides maximum impact. It heats a big room evenly, takes up almost no space, looks much nicer than cheaper models, and has added features that are actually helpful rather than gimmicky, like voice-control, a 7-day schedule you can set, and a night-time mode.

Dyson

If the features and long-term savings are worth $450 to you, then the Link will follow through on its promises. You will get what you pay for, and thanks to the excellence Dyson is known for, you can assume that it will continue to fulfill these promises for years to come (if you actually change the filter every now and then). If something goes wrong, Dyson offers a 2-year parts and labor warranty, and if you don't love it, you can return it easily for your money back up to 30 days after your purchase.

My stereotypically tiny New York apartment has limited floor space, so believe me when I say that this little thing is impossibly efficient. I barely notice it in the room, but it doesn't look strictly functional like this cheaper option we considered. Our common space expands into our kitchen, main hallway, and our entryway, and the high ceilings and long, narrow space has always been notoriously hard to heat evenly. Anything small enough to fit would over-bake the living room and not touch the kitchen or dead zone hallway. The Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Link, with its oscillation and long-range projection, doesn't have that issue. The awkward maze of rooms all feel evenly heated. For us, this made the Link worth the extra money.

The Link also has a night mode, wi-fi connectivity, app controls, and a handy remote, too. The app is easy to use and has helpful features I'm actually interested in (like air quality), and the night-time mode uses quiet airflow settings. You can set a 7-day schedule on the app and forget about it, letting the Dyson Link handle temperature on autopilot. You can wake up to a warm house and know that it will shut off when you leave, so you aren't wasting energy or money but you're never missing out on convenience. You can set a timer and literally walk into a cozy, warm living space.

It also works with Amazon Alexa, and you can use voice control for everything from increasing the airflow speed to turning on the night-time mode.

While I mostly cared about the heating and cooling features, it's also wonderful that the Dyson Pure Hot+Cool Link also works as an air purifier. It claims to automatically remove 99.97% of pollutants and allergens as small as 0.3 microns. And whether you're aware of it or not, your household air can be full of exactly that, especially if you have pets. Thanks to the inclusion of new activated carbon granules, your Link can now protect against even more harmful pollutants like formaldehyde, benzene, toluene and napthalene, which can be commonly found in building materials and household basics.

Right now, the Pure Hot +Cool Link bought new is cheapest on Amazon ($449), down from $600 originally.

Buy the Dyson Pure Hot+Cool Link at Amazon for $449

This article was originally published on 3/21/2018.

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