When is a fan not a fan? When it's an air circulator, apparently. When the weather warms up, my wife and I had been using an old pedestal fan we bought years ago, and it does a fairly good job of making us feel cooler in our bedroom.
But fans are noisy, and they actually do nothing to lower the temperature. They just blow air directly at you, which makes you feel cooler while you're in the area it's pointing at. Air circulators, on the other hand, are designed to move all the air in the room. And that not only benefits everyone in the room, it also means you don't have a blustery column of air blowing at you.
I've been testing an air circulator from Meaco, a firm I've grown quite fond of after testing some of its products over the summer last year.
The MeacoFan 1056 Air Circulator is a beefy desktop fan that can move 1,056 cubic metres of air each hour from a single spot in the room and, because it's an air circulator and not a fan, it can oscillate in various directions, which means the air will bounce off walls and ceilings.
It is a bulbous thing and it takes up more space than a standard desktop fan, but that's largely down to its special blades. They're designed to work as an air circulator, rather than just blowing air forwards.
These trick blades also keep remarkably quiet as they spin, to the point at which the MeacoFan 1056 has been given a "quiet mark" accreditation. To put it into numbers, it emits just 20db - but comparing this and a standard fan side by side is even more impressive.
There are two ways of controlling the settings on the MeacoFan 1056. There's an illuminated panel on the base, or a little circular remote control that mounts onto the centre of the fan surface.
There are timers, a night light, a well-made leather strap to move it around with and an eco setting. While this lowers its power consumption, it's worth remembering that the MeacoFan 1056 is very efficient to start with, consuming just 1p per hour according to Meaco on its highest setting.
Another unexpected benefit of using an air circulator over a conventional fan is that, if you use it on your desk, the "waft" can be so gentle it won't blow your papers around.
The MeacoFan 1056 costs £109.99 and that's similar to some of the more premium standard fans out there, so it's also keenly priced.
It's worth bearing in mind that fans don't lower the temperature of a room per se, for that you'd need an air conditioning unit (which Meaco also offers) but they do a remarkable job of making you feel cooler and clearing up muggy air.
And once you've switched your standard fan for an air circulator, there's no going back. It's a great way to keep cool in your house.
Meaco offers a free storage bag worth £19.99 for Meacofan 1056 orders when bought directly from their website Its handy for storing the bag over the winter months.
