An air displacing device for transferring air from a first location to a second location comprising a housing including a fan, a prime mover for the fan, means defining an air inlet to receive air from the first location, and an air outlet to deliver air to the second location and a duct for air through the housing from the inlet to the outlet, the fan being operable by way of the prime mover to cause air to be displaced along the duct from the inlet to the outlet, the housing serving to define a datum plane characterized in that the housing has external members adapted for displacement between a first, standby, configuration where the projection of the housing from the datum plane is a minimum and so the volume of the housing is a minimum and a second, working, configuration where the projection of the housing from the datum plane is a maximum and so the volume of the housing is a maximum. The invention is particularly applicable for hand driers but is also applicable to other air moving devices such as vacuum cleaners, air conditioning units and drying apparatus for objects other than hands.