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Xiaomi's Alternative Take on the Air Conditioner

Innovation from the top down?

By Rain Noe - December 3

in Object Culture

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has branched out from making smartphones into home appliances and even EVs. The company clearly has no problem thinking outside of the box. Which explains this Top Air Vent Pro, their alternative take on the air conditioner:

The first thing that will be strange to Western consumers is that, unlike a window air conditioner or a mini-split, it does not draw air from outside the dwelling. It actually sucks it in from the bottom. It's intended to be mounted near the ceiling, and blows cool air along it.

Because cold air sinks, the thinking is that this cools the entire room off effectively, without the inhabitants feeling a draft. (Cultural note: In China, it's popularly believed that drafts, particularly on one's neck, makes people sick.)

When the seasons change and it's time for heat, the unit's deflector blasts hot air straight down along the wall. The idea is that the heat would then travel along the floor and dissipate upwards.

I'd want to read some user reviews to see how well this arrangement works, but the unit is Asian-market-only.

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Cody O

a day ago

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Window units, mini-splits, etc do not draw air from outside the dwelling. All of these systems remove heat from the interior air and transfer it to the external air (or reverse, to heat the home), which is why this type of setup is broadly called a "heat pump."
I suspect this Xiaomi product is a standard mini-split system that is just highlighting the venting configuration.

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- Benjamin S
  
  Cody O
  
  a day ago
  
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  That's right, the Xiaomi product page shows this as the interior portion of a mini-split system:
  https://www.mi.com/shop/buy/detail?product_id=20527
  
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