Prem-i-air Powerful Evaporative Air Cooler Fan with 3.4 Litre Water Tank, 3 Airflow Speed Settings, Quiet Operation For Use in Homes and Offices

The first thing to say about this and also nearly any other "Evaporative Cooler" is that they DO NOT cool the room you are in. This is the nature of the type of appliance it is. It is NOT an air cooler in terms of room temperature. The room temperature itself does not change, and that is more or less how "Evaporative Coolers" work. You might evaporative coolers reducing temperature by somewhere around 1 degree Celsius, but that's not generally what they do.It's not their purpose. What they do is cool and refresh YOU . They can do that so well and make a real difference in the warm season.They actually have been quite well known to make the room slightly warmer at times, as the heat coming off human bodies actually often sends the room temperature up slightly. I have read over years many people getting angry about Evaporative Air Coolers, of all makes and models, measuring the room temperature with a thermometer. Some say they heat up the room up. Usually, it would not be the equipment itself which heats up the room. (This unit seems to give off no heat at all). It is the heat from your body being released as you store it much, much more than anything else around you in a room.I have seen videos of people trying to test the claims of the small table-top Evaporative Cooler models such as Arctic Breeze in a caravan in extremely hot USA summers. The tests measured the temperature over hours, going away and leaving it, coming back a couple of hours or so later to find the interior temperature has not been cooled at all. That's the case with ECs because they don't do that. They can though be really good indeed to cool your body in that warm room. This can for many people replace an air conditioner which does cool the room pretty well, without external exhausts and finding or having made, and installing, the right window covers and the security problems which may be involved.I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the Prem I Air cooler at first because I had read it has the evaporative water function which takes ice cubes, and also that it has ice blocks. Before I'd bought it I'd been using a small desktop device, Powatron Air Chiller, which was OK with 'hacks'. It has a little water atomiser but doesn't otherwise evaporate water like EVCs. Instead you put ice blocks in the space inside, and a mild fan sends the air through the ice blocks to cool you down a little if your face is less than two metres away. I actually 'hacked' it to fill the little space with more of my own ice blocks, so the air had to go around the blocks and not just through, and this worked pretty well. The ice blocks thawed and needed changing every 45 minutes or so, but that's ok if you have enough and they're ready in the freezer. It was actually a bit of a life saver, especially over time, while people used to air conditioners wouldn't think much of it. I needed more than that though.So, I was expecting that the Prem I Air floor standing unit chills the air by both the ice water fountain and then the ice blocks in the air inside. I was disappointed to see that there is no place inside the unit for ice blocks for the circulating air coming at you, but that they are to place inside the water tank. So - it is as it is, and it only uses the internal cool water fountain to chill you from its fanned air.The other disappointment was the size. This was the smallest unit I could find. Still it seems a little large. I can't knock off a star or anything when the size is exactly as described in the sales listings and it also seems to be the smallest air cooler unit in terms of floor space available to buy. But I would love it if they could knock off 9 or 10 cm in height, around 4 cm in width and 8 or 9 cm in depth going back.(The water tank doesn't need to be quite as big and the dimension percentages can also be reduced. I think this size water tank is more for all night usage and possibly hotter countries which don't chill much by the small hours. It's feasible to put water in to the very minimum level and stack dry ice cubes above which melt during the night. This is made by a British company and I hope they do well in selling this very good item around the world. While for most of the UK even in hotter summers, after this has been on for a couple of hours and one is asleep, that would be good enough.)I think the design is nice, the white and light blue, and reminds me of the 1940s or 1950s, especially with the plastic. A thought I had - it would be great if this were rust resistant metal, even at a much higher price, for a lifelong unit. I'm supposing this should last years anyway, but in terms of the environment we need to be talking about much less plastic in every sphere of life. But I can't find any metal units at all. I had seen some expensive, professional office versions a couple of years ago but not recently. These days, it's all plastic, plastic, plastic, and the more fuss we make, hopefully the more can be done. It's hard to buy many items nowadays which aren't made of plastic. Every other unit I saw when deciding which model to buy this summer was plastic.I have to say though, this is really great value. It's quite a hulk of plastic, and it's pretty incredible that that comes with this function for less than £55 including quite quick shipping (for me days earlier than advised). It seems well made and the plastic is not heavy plastic, and can be lifted fully without problem for most adults.The directions are not to move the unit when it's on - it may be dangerous, the same for all of these units. So if you have pets or young children, I think it would be OK if you just didn't put the bottom caster wheels on and warn them not to touch it and watch out. Without wheels I suppose it shouldn't be moved around by bumping into it. (The wheels are the only self-assembly part, while you don't need them at all.)Some reviewers have said the unit has had water collecting on the floor. I've only found anything like that - a few drops - when pulling out the bottom water tank drawer not smoothly. Watch what you're doing and keep a cloth ready, but it hasn't happened at all since I've been aware that some water can fly a little. I also put a simple plastic postage bag underneath before the first use in case. It's on a wood floor, so no real problem anyway, but I'd do that if you have carpet. While it's only water (and clear oils, if you use them). I honestly can't see what could stain, but you don't want wet patches. Mine wouldn't leak any unless you would move it quickly. (Power off first, every time as the instructions say). Or if you move it without thinking what you're doing, and I wonder if this was what was going on with some reviewers. The water tank has a tiny, millimetre or so gap and water could be forced out if you move the unit without thinking and taking care. You know a tank - if it starts swishing side to side from moving it without caution, a bit of water can fly out a number of times, which may not be noticed at first.There is a rear mesh filter. It's just for bigger dust pieces and safety. It's not a HEPA or similar (while I'm thinking of buying some HEPA material and sticking it onto the back for an air purifier function).The absorbent material for the rear fountain tray can be easily removed as a tray and washed with soapy water and rinsed and added again. (In saying tray this is a vertical tray which the ice water is sucked up to the top of and falls down through, making a slight fountain like sound which I like.)From the beginning I added essential oils (only clear ones) to the water. About 20 drops each of Maritime Pine, Peppermint and Tea Tree. I found 50ml bottles of each for around £5 in Ebay incl shipping, so it's not really expensive - they'll last. I first doused the absorbent part (which is kind of sharpish when dry) with water and the essential oils with a cloth. (But I learned you don't need to, as a mini water fountain is sent through the whole thing when you switch it on.) .I've seen reviews of numerous Evaporative Air Coolers - most notably the table-top Arctic Breeze cooler, many reviews - which say either that its absorbent material can smell really badly or that it can go mouldy after being left. I am thinking that the essential oils - both beforehand and 20 drops each in the water tank per day - should prevent this if it might happen in this unit. There is a great smell from these essential oils when blowing in your face and a nice room smell also. It isn't so strong in the room though as you're not burning off the oils as with an oil burner. WIth the lovely, cool breeze at your body and these particular scents, I find it can be like being at the beach beside pine trees.The instructions say to empty the water after a day's use. I didn't do this recently and left the water in for around 3 days without using as it was cooler. I didn't empty the tank (as my oils were in and I didn't want to) nor clean the absorbent fountain tray. (Though I suppose I could empty the water through a flask into an old soft drinks bottle, or use a basting syringe also and re-use the essential oils water next time.) But I don't think I need to remove anything for a day or two with the water lying there. I just used it again, adding a lot of ice to the minimum water level. I think the oils pretty much mean you may not need to wash everything daily - anyway for a few days. They're antibacterial and antimould, if you have enough of them in. I did get the very slightest musty smell for half a minute when I switched on the old water after 3 days, but hardly anything. That was before I put more oils in, anyway. (You should only use clear oils, and I'm unsure if the manufacturer recommends it. But I'm certainly going to do it.) I have a notion - from experience of an Evaporative Cooler years ago - that the strange polymer material of the absorbent tray may itself have a dry mustiness when dried out, and that is just a part of some of these coolers. At least it dispersed very quickly the way I'm using it.I've not had the unit too long, but I think the only possible element of harm from oils would be if the absorbent tray material would dry out with the oils on it many times, maybe that might harm the material. I doubt it, but it's a possibility. I'm not going to clean the tray after each day, though. I'm going to switch the fountain on for a minute at night time, and then again in the morning, so the tray material is nice and wet. If I don't use the unit for days, I'd still do this. If I don't use for a few days, then I'd wash out the tray material gently in soapy water and rinse well. This is not with the manufacturer's instructions, and just what I'm doing, and I suppose they are unlikely to recommend what isn't in the instructions, so take note of that.Basically, although I thought I was buying a unit with ice water and extra ice block air cooling, I'm really happy with it. I fill the tank with cold tap water and many ice cubes and put the ice blocks in. The water evaporates slowly, so you need to refill it if still using. Instead of adding more water, I just add a whole tray and a half of ice cubes each time, and I change the ice blocks to frozen ones at this time.The effect is like a nice, cool to cold wind at the coast and it is full body. It reaches from my feet to my head, going through my light, summer trousers, because there are adjustable up - down louvres in the unit front. They're in two halves, so you can have the bottom louvres louvred down to your legs if you want and the top louvres louvred up to your face. (I need to point it up to nearly the full extent, I'm just over 6 ft standing). The little louvres are all plastic and some people might think it's not great quality, but it works fine and should last if you take care. Considering the postage must be most of £10, the value for something in £40s is quite amazing in terms of value, and the quality is more than fine for this. Again, there is no reason why it shouldn't last a long time.For one person, the unit has worked very well. The great thing is that when I am sharing the room and the sofa with my mother, who loves the heat, when it is close and directed fully at me, she says she hardly feels anything. If the heating is on on a cooler day (Mum is that age) and I am still too hot, I can still use this unit on me and it works really well, while the other person will benefit from the room heating they prefer.This unit has swinging side to side louvres. This is a feature I think you need to look for in an EC, as otherwise you may be kind of left with a large personal unit only - more or less for one person's real benefit and more a fringe benefit of others. You can put the unit further away and it will work better for a number of people, but just less well. I love to put this at a distance of a metre only. To be honest, I'm finding sometimes I'm putting on a fan heater for a short time in the summer, some time after I use this. It does cool the body. A month ago I wouldn't have believed I'd be having a heater on for a while. I felt so hot at home.The description says the unit has a swing function, but it doesn't mean the whole unit swings like a fan heater, just the side to side louvres. This means that a number of people on a sofa or bench or around a table can benefit from it. Also, I like the effect of this for one person also at times, because it's quite like having a cross wind or being outside in the unpredictable wind.The unit has a really good fan, I think as good as the large, 12" pizza size table top fans or better. It is powerful. I was surprised how powerful it is on setting 1. It has 3 settings, though that doesn't mean that setting 3 is 3 times setting 1. It gets stronger by a bit between 1 and 3. Setting 3 is the best idea for starting off for 1 person, moving down to setting 1, and setting 3 is also a better idea when the louvres are swinging between a number of people.The unit can be used just as a room fan and it's a very good one. Otherwise, just press the evaporative cooling button when the ice water is in to use it as an evaporative cooler.A slightly smaller size with a 4-5% reduction in the nice, strong fan would really make this excellent. As it is, I think genuinely it's a great one to buy because it works, it really is great value and it is smaller than any other I have found (aside from the little desktop versions which couldn't be nearly as good). However again, it's still a bit too big for a huge number of homes to feel so much of a fit, homes which don't have large rooms and have nowhere to store this when not in use without going in an attic or basement. As such a unit would be out and around the home for most of the summer without going into attic or basement, a sightly smaller size would be so beneficial.Thanks to the seller, who seems great. The delivery (free, UK wide, especialy good as I'm in Northern Ireland where bigger boxes are often neither free nor as low-priced as UK mainland) was problem-free and quick. The seller clearly says that he doesn't want any reason for any buyer not to be satisfied, so you can contact with any problem or query and there is a promise to sort it out to the buyer's satisfaction.I ought to say that I've had this cooler on quite an amount less than I expected to because it works and faster than I'd expected, so I can turn it off after some time of use.

Very fast delivery - Ordered Friday night and delivered by Sunday lunch through Amazon Prime. Works well and light weight. Doesn't chill a room like Air con, but definitely cools the bedroom more than an ordinary fan. reasonably quite on setting 1, which is sufficient through the night.The water tank round out around 5am, so now filling to max before going to bed.

Very good product, works really well.Fill the bottom with water or the included ice bottles and turn on.Very powerful on high setting and reasonable on low and mid.Nice and light, feels really, really cool when air is blasting on you.Not a proper AC unit but very good to cool you down in hot weather.Very happy with it!Would reccommend.

You're looking for something to cool your room on a hot day, well don't bother with an ice cooler as ice melts very quickly and you are constantly refilling the icebox, if you look at the picture it shows a nice big grill with a directional flow when turned on, but the fan inside sits to one side (left side) and only blows through one half of the grill the rest is useless. it only just managed to keep my PC cool pointing directly at it.the details say is suitable for home and commercial office, shops and workshops, only any good if the room was the size of a small restroom ie: a Toilet

Most people have unreasonable expectations of evaporative coolers, expecting them to be air conditioners. Admittedly some of this could be due to over-enthusiastic advertising but if, like me, you remember at least some of your school Physics, you will understand that:1. These work through basic thermodynamics involved with evaporation of water;2. The higher the humidity level, the less effective they are;3. As the water tank warms up, the temperature differential between liquid and vapour states reduces, thus reducing the cooling effect; and4. Unlike a true air conditioner (which costs hundred of pounds more and needs venting), it does not use refridgerant to cool and, therefore, can never dump out as much heat.So, with that in mind, this is not a bad little unit, given the cost. Place ice water in the tank, switch on and you will get a modest blow of cooler air into the room. Bearing in mind its size, this will not cool a living room (where a large fan may be better), but for a small room (like my home office), it is not terrible. It has a range of speeds, plus a side-to-side swing feature and the air can also be manually directed up or down by about 30 degrees.Good points: it is quiet, at least compared to a fan and definitely compared to a mobile A/C unit, which will be very noisy. It can take ice cubes in its water tank, which can be refilled reasonably easily. The directability of the air stream allowed me to blow cool air at my back through the mesh of my office chair and made working at home bearable.Bad points: The tank is not sealed, meaning that vigorous movement may cause water to spill out of the tank (mine doesn't "leak", so I suspect others who report this are simply not taking care to move this carefully). The swing feature is hardly noticeable, and mine did not come with a remote. That said, you'll probably want to on full power all the time.More of a limitation than a "bad" point is that these won't work very well in very high humidity: when the air is 100% humid, it can accept no more water vapour, so this will prevent evaporation happening in the unit, thus reducing its effectiveness.So for the price, no miracle worker or bargain, but instead a cheap and cheerful, if physically limited, cooling solution for a small room.

I was hoping this air cooler would carry me through the 30°c we had the last couple of years. Yes, it is almost as expensive to use as gas heating but it kept me and the dog sane in August. I also bought some temporary blackout blinds to block the sun. Living like a vampire is better than being a an overheated, angry woman!

noisy don't really keep you cool