now to fig6 to 8 the main body section 50 comprises an air inlet 22 in the form of a plurality of apertures formed in the outer casing 24 of the body 12 and through which a primary air flow is drawn into the body 12 from the external environment in this embodiment the air inlet 22 comprises an array of apertures formed in the section of the outer casing 24 of the body 12 which is defined by the main body section 50 alternatively the air inlet 22 may comprise one or more grilles or meshes mounted within windows formed in the outer casing 24 the main body section 50 is open at the upper end as illustrated for connection to the base 40 of the nozzle 16 and to allow the primary air flow to be conveyed from the body 12 to the nozzle 16 a lower surface of the main body section 50 located below the air inlet 22 is lined with noise absorbing material 23 preferably an acoustic foam material to suppress noise generated during operation of the fan 10 the lower body section 52 comprises the aforementioned user interface and a control circuit indicated generally at 62 for controlling various functions of the fan 10.