Orient Cloud 3 fan

Every life-changing product needs a buzzword and the one that Orient uses for the Coud 3 fan is “Cloudchill”. After filling up the 4.5L water reservoir, the cloud chamber converts this water into nanoparticles, which can be seen as a mist emanating from the perforations around the rim. The aerodynamically designed propeller blades help spread these nanoparticles throughout the room and since you have 30 degrees of oscillation and 10 degrees of tilt available, you can pretty much have everyone in the room covered. The difference between the Cloud 3 and other mass-market or commercial solutions is that the mist doesn’t feel like water particles being expelled out into the room. Orient’s Cloudchill tech actually breaks down the water into such tiny particles that they can’t even be felt, merely seen. This makes it a lot more room friendly for domestic purposes, unlike the giant wedding fans that drench you in a wet drip. 

Controls are simple and are replicated on the remote control as well. Three speeds for fan, three for cooling, swing mode and a breeze mode. The last one modulates the flow of air to emulate a natural pattern of a strong gust of wind, with variations in fan speed. 

Like a regular pedestal fan but on steroids, the chunky stem of the Cloud 3 includes a 4.5 litre water (or ice) reservoir which gives it about 8 hours of cooling time. There’s also a bundled vial of fragrance that can be added to the combination of ice and water to spray the room with floral scents. The assembly of the various parts is pretty straightforward and although the brand offers installation help, anyone with even a vague understanding of should be able to manage within a few minutes. You will need an extra pair of hands to hold the top half of the propellor unit while you attach the water inlet pipes and wiring harness for the control unit, but it’s more straightforward than it sounds. Thanks to wheels, the Cloud 3 fan can be easily dragged around the room, but certainly, a handle would not go amiss. 

Its large presence cannot be ignored in a small room, so the Cloud 3 is ideally suited for medium to large rooms. Its motor has enough grunt to propel the air into the far corners, but it is significantly noisy, especially so when you have it in an enclosed room with soundproofed windows. The Cloudchill tech is a bit of a mixed bag. While it does cause a cooling effect, it’s reach is limited and targeted directly in front of the propellers, which means that the “up to 12-degree” cooling effect was never really achieved in the peak of Mumbai summer in our room. Sure, if you’re seated directly in front of the Cloud 3 up to about 6ft away, you will enjoy a cool breeze caressing you. But it doesn’t really bring down the ambient temperature of the entire room, as advertised. At least not in our room. 

Shut the fan off and unlike an AC, the ambient temperature is instantly palpable. With a full tank of water, the best that it could do was make a 2-3 degree difference in a limited space, even at the maximum cooling setting, which is C3. Eventually, I just ended up using it like a pedestal fan for which it was very effective and thanks to its clean design, lends itself to modern decor quite well.

It may not be a game changer like the promo videos would have you believe, but the Cloud 3 fan does make a cool visual in the room with its contemporary industrial design and the dry-ice like vapours that emanates from its edges. It should’ve been more silent for everyday indoor use and the cooling effect, while tangible is just not up to the claims. If you’re not expecting an AC substitute in your room, the Cloud 3 fan would be alright.