News: British industrial design firm Dyson has launched a tiny vacuum cleaner for British homes, which are the smallest in western Europe and often lack space to store a full-size cleaner.
"57% of Brits complain that they don’t have enough space in their homes for storage," a Dyson spokesperson told Dezeen. "A lack of storage space shouldn’t mean people have to compromise on the technology they buy. Engineers should respond by developing smaller, more efficient technology."
The DC49 Multi Floor is just a fraction bigger than a sheet of A4 paper because it's the first cylinder vacuum to be powered by a Dyson digital motor - the same motor that powers Dyson's Airblade hand dryers.
It's also designed to be the brand's quietest cleaner yet. "When people are living on top of each other, technology needs to be quieter," Dyson explained.
"Investing in our core technologies means we can develop leaner, more efficient machines. Using the new high-speed Dyson digital motor, we have developed a machine that is smaller and quieter, yet even more powerful," British inventor and founder of the company James Dyson said.
The digital motor inside the vacuum weighs 670 grams and generates 1050 watts, whereas a normal AC motor generating the same power would weigh an average of 1.2 kilograms.
Dyson developed the product in response to the Royal Institute of British Architects' report last year entitled The Way We Live Now, which found that many British homes lack storage space for household utility items like a vacuum cleaner, ironing board and rubbish bins. One participant in the survey admitted to storing his vacuum cleaner at his mother's house, a twenty minute drive away.
In April this year another RIBA report entitled Case for Space revealed that the average new home in the UK is just 46 square metres, the size of a Jubilee Line train carriage on the London Underground, making them 15% smaller than in any other country in western Europe. The report also found that new-builds had decreased in size by 11% in the last ten years.
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Here's some more information from Dyson:
Smaller. Lighter. Quieter. High performance Dyson vacuum technology: Concentrated
Homes are getting smaller. The average new-build one-bedroom home in the UK is just 46 square metres (the size of a tube carriage on the Jubilee Line); and 57% of people say there is not enough storage in their homes for their possessions. Compromising on space shouldn’t mean compromising on technology.
Designed for the technologically astute Japanese, DC49 is engineered to be Dyson’s smallest, quietest Ball™ vacuum cleaner yet. The Dyson digital motor V4, allows DC49 to deliver the performance of a full size machine, in a small package.
Powerful but quiet: Engineers were challenged to develop Dyson’s quietest vacuum. Acoustic engineers developed simplified airways in the floor tools, funnelling the turbulent air downwards to dampen the sound. They adjusted the motor’s orientation, and smoothed the airflow inside the vortex fingers of the cyclone to reduce sound from the machine.
Concentrated technology: DC49’s body is lightweight, weighing just 2.7kg; making it 30% smaller than the DC47 Ball vacuum cleaner.
Ball technology: The machine is light to pull, can pivot on the spot, and follows obediently without snagging on corners. It has a low centre of gravity for negotiating tight turns and getting around furniture. There are over 100 components arranged in the ball including the motor, ducting and 5 metres of cable.
Improved floor tools: DC49 comes with both turbinehead and motorhead floortools. These have been re-engineered to improve pick-up and sound quality, and reduce weight. Simplified airways decrease noise levels and a self-tightening mechanism keeps the brush bar stable. A dust capture channel prevents dirt from escaping back to the floor, increasing pick-up. The new configuration of carbon fibre filaments and nylon brushes removes fine dust from hard floors and ground-in dirt from carpets.