NatureWind Studio

A fan is one of the few household objects nobody expects to be quiet. Moving air makes noise, and the noise is the proof it is working. Balmuda's answer was to stop throwing the air forward.

The NatureWind Studio measures 9 dB on its lowest wind level and draws 1.5 W while it does so, because it turns two blades at once rather than one. A normal fan spins a single blade and throws air forward as a tight column, which breaks up and thins a few feet out. Here a slower inner blade sits inside a faster outer one, pulling air in and diffusing the stream coming off it. Balmuda says this cancels the harsh vortices a single blade leaves behind, spreading air wide instead of far. The dual-blade layout is the company's own patent.

There are four wind levels, with a fifth, Jet Mode, reached by holding the wind button for a second. Power runs from that 1.5 W at level one with the head held still up to 36 W flat out. The head sweeps a maximum of 75 degrees to each side and the width of that arc is adjustable, though in Jet Mode it stops sweeping and simply points. Tilt is set by hand, 24 degrees up and 11 degrees down.

The off timer covers one to four hours, and if you forget it entirely the fan shuts itself down after 18 hours of inactivity. It stands on three legs and runs on 24 V through an AC adapter with a 9.8 foot cord, which is long enough to reach past the furniture between you and the wall.