Sony's new wearable air conditioner runs even cooler - Engadget
www.engadget.com
And it should be more comfortable, too.
  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    First, Peltier elements are pretty inefficient. Second, I’m dubious about the design — a Peltier element moves heat from Point A to Point B, and the whole device appears to still sit beneath the shirt. I suppose that the hot side is the outer side, but what you’d ideally want is to have hot air blowing as far away from you as possible.

    I’m skeptical that it’s better to carry a battery-powered Peltier element than to carry something like an evaporative cooler. That’s more-energy-efficient, and you don’t have the problem of part of the device getting hot.

    EDIT: Or, if you can’t leverage phase-change from liquid water to water vapor because of high humidity, cooling vests that leverage solid to liquid phase-change.

    How a Cooling Vest Invented by a Furry Made Its Way Into the U.S. Military

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgEnglish
      01·
      6 months ago

      than to carry something like an evaporative cooler

      Evaporative coolers don’t really work in high humidity. If you live in an area that’s a dry hot, they work great. Summers in my area, though, are very muggy. Other than ice pack based products, the only passive coolers I’ve found work in humid environments are these sweat bands that have either desiccant beads in them or that stuff that’s in diapers. They pull the sweat away keeping it out of your eyes and give a little evaporative cooling at the same time.