Evaporative cooling isn’t new. We humans have been using a similar mechanism for millions of years to stay cool – perspiration. The way evaporative cooling works is pretty simple. Thermal energy in the air causes water to evaporate into vapor. That reaction consumes a certain amount of thermal energy, making the air around it cooler… just like you sweat to feel cooler. The VAYU is a tower-shaped evaporative cooler designed by Sumeet Singh and Jatin Bamane, relying on an energy-efficient way to keep rooms cool in the hot Indian summers.

The James Dyson National Award-winning VAYU cooler sports a slick, tower-shaped monolithic design (fitting well in with Dyson’s form language). The cooler comes with a water tank on the inside, and a fan that operates at 5-speed settings. It works much quieter than a traditional air-conditioner and consumes a fraction of the energy too. Water is poured into the tank using an inlet at the top, and an impeller and DC brushless motor help distribute the cool air throughout the room (while purifying it by passing it through a filter too). An angled air deflector rotates up to 250° to help distribute cool air all around the room, quite like the swinging vents on an air-conditioner would. Caster wheels on the base of the VAYU make it easy to wheel around the house too, giving it an element of in-house portability.

Even though the VAYU is currently just a concept, designers Sumeet and Jatin are working on building a functioning prototype, along with an app and a remote to control the cooler’s functions. The app will allow users to control the fan’s speed, switch between Eco and Night modes, toggle the deflector’s rotation, and even see the VAYU’s filter lifespan + order new filters when the old ones need replacing.

A National Winner of the James Dyson Award, VAYU now progresses to the international round of the award program, with the results being announced on October 13th.

Designers: Sumeet Singh & Jatin Bamane