Personal air conditioner on your wrist

[madoka]

I ran across this A/C that fits around your wrist:

https://embrlabs.com

Now, instead of spending $300, wouldn't I get the same effect by just buying metal discs to act as heat sinks and tying them around my wrist when I get too hot?

 

[aigomorla]

my guess is that it uses a very low power Thermoelectric Peltier.
The cold side is the side touching the skin.
The hot side is the top.

Since its a TEC, it can easily reverse its current to act as a heater as well.

But in short, its a scam.
Notice how its made to look apple like, to fetch the apple audience, because only a apple user would not bat an eye at the price tag on that product.

 

[who?]

A Peltier can make your skin cooler so how is that a scam?

 

[PottedMeat]

the diagram makes it look like the hot and cold sides are thermally coupled thru the casing lol.

here's the key phrase

Embr Wave warms or cools one spot on your body to help you feel warmer or colder without changing your core body temperature.

it's at a very temperature sensitive part of the body, in direct contact under the wrist, so you're going to notice it being only a few degrees above or below skin temperature. even though thermoelectrics are pretty much the least efficient way to move heat it won't have to do much work to create the differential.

its a peltier + mcu + charge controller + touchbar + lithium cell, probably costs <$8 shipped from ebay if they think its worth knocking off

 

[madoka]

If my understanding of how this heat transfer works, where can I buy some pieces of cold metal that I can hold or put on my wrist that can act like a heat sink?

 

[Red Squirrel]

In principle I can see how this would maybe help, though it would be more effective if it was on your forehead, but would also look really silly. A peltier would work nicely, but a heat sink with small fan could work too.

At the end of the day though it's all about the BTUs. Something like this is not going to be able to remove a lot of heat in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Darwin333]

So if it is 98+ it doesn't work?

 

[who?]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...c52-513f-bdac-d1b4ca6bd912&pf_rd_i=2998409011
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...c52-513f-bdac-d1b4ca6bd912&pf_rd_i=2998409011
https://www.amazon.com/Electronics-...pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1525928834&sr=1-25-spons&psc=1

 

[dullard]

my guess is that it uses a very low power Thermoelectric Peltier.

You don't have to guess, it says it is a thermoelectric module right on their website.

This device will work, but it is a very minimal effect. You can do the same thing with anything hot or cold. Madoka's idea of a piece of metal will do the same minimal effect, although metal might look ugly and / or have sharp corners and won't work to cool you if the metal is above body temperature (such as if it was stored outside or in a hot car).

I just use a cold pack in the freezer wrapped in a flour sack towel: it cools far more and lasts far longer than this device. Tie the cold pack onto your wrist and you are done. It isn't as elegant of a look, but I don't care for my uses.

The bigger problems that I have is that the Embr Wave can only cool for 2 minutes before needing to turn off for a long period of time. They didn't design a way to get the heat out of the device efficiently, so it would overheat if you had it on longer. And can only run 40 to 100 minutes on a charge with a brand new battery (meaning after a year or two think less than half an hour of usage per charge).

 

[soulcougher73]

My wrist is cool but the rest of me is sweating like a pig ...

 

[Nashemon]

You don't have to guess, it says it is a thermoelectric module right on their website.

This device will work, but it is a very minimal effect. You can do the same thing with anything hot or cold. Madoka's idea of a piece of metal will do the same minimal effect, although metal might look ugly and / or have sharp corners and won't work to cool you if the metal is above body temperature (such as if it was stored outside or in a hot car).

I just use a cold pack in the freezer wrapped in a flour sack towel: it cools far more and lasts far longer than this device. Tie the cold pack onto your wrist and you are done. It isn't as elegant of a look, but I don't care for my uses.

The bigger problems that I have is that the Embr Wave can only cool for 2 minutes before needing to turn off for a long period of time. They didn't design a way to get the heat out of the device efficiently, so it would overheat if you had it on longer. And can only run 40 to 100 minutes on a charge with a brand new battery (meaning after a year or two think less than half an hour of usage per charge).

If all of that is true, this thing sounds like a piece of trash.

 

[madoka]

So my understanding is that your palms and wrists are particularly sensitive to temperature. If these guys can market a $300 wristwatch to cool your wrist, surely I can mimic the same effect by holding a piece of solid metal there with velcro or holding a solid egg made of aluminum or copper in my hand.

I just want to know where I can buy metal shaped like this.

 

[aigomorla]

your better off buying those battery powered fans which spray mist water.
Im sure you will get a more efficient rate of cooling from evaporation.

Maybe if you can somehow make it a iphone X addon, you might manage to get away with charging people 300 dollars for it.

I just want to know where I can buy metal shaped like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-St...rd_wg=G3Yt5&psc=1&refRID=K62FJHRF84XRAHCPFPS7

And then throw on some enzo ram heat sinks... lol...
https://www.amazon.com/Enzotech-Gra...&qid=1525989815&sr=1-23&keywords=ram+heatsink

It comes pre thermal taped... lol..

 

[Red Squirrel]

So if it is 98+ it doesn't work?

I think the only thing that would work for that is a refrigerated moving truck to GTFO of that place.

 

[Thebobo]

Maybe if you had like 10 on each appendage I could see it working and maybe a bigger one for my johnson er I mean your neck and your head.

 

[lxskllr]

Your kidneys are a good place for altering perceived temperature. Warm or cold on your lower back gives better results than average. It's a particularly sensitive area. I used to offer to massage my daughter's kidneys. I'd take my knuckles, and press in and up on her lower back. Didn't take her long to decide she didn't like kidney massages :^D

 

[Red Squirrel]

Maybe if you had like 10 on each appendage I could see it working and maybe a bigger one for my johnson er I mean your neck and your head.

Here's an idea, an air conditioned helmet! It could even have a small solar panel on it to power it.

 

[lxskllr]

Here's an idea, an air conditioned helmet! It could even have a small solar panel on it to power it.

Years ago, I was considering a solar powered fan for my hardhat. To many problems to work around for practical working use imo.

 

[destrekor]

your better off buying those battery powered fans which spray mist water.
Im sure you will get a more efficient rate of cooling from evaporation.

Maybe if you can somehow make it a iphone X addon, you might manage to get away with charging people 300 dollars for it.



https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-St...rd_wg=G3Yt5&psc=1&refRID=K62FJHRF84XRAHCPFPS7

And then throw on some enzo ram heat sinks... lol...
https://www.amazon.com/Enzotech-Gra...&qid=1525989815&sr=1-23&keywords=ram+heatsink

It comes pre thermal taped... lol..

Come on let's get real - taping heat sinks is not going to achieve nearly the same effect (however minimal) that having a peltier cooler strapped to your body is going to produce.

Nor would I ever classify this as a scam - it can't be a scam if it's doing exactly what they says it is doing. I don't see anywhere that says it will cool your core temperature; this isn't a rescue device to save you from heat stroke. It's a mind over matter effect, more or less. Having a single body part slightly cooled, if placed correctly, can stimulate your nerves in a way that helps your body believe it is cooler.

It isn't designed all that well (innards at least; the physical design ain't too shabby) and costs far too much than it should, but that doesn't make a scam.

The real beef anyone should have is the limited total run-time and severely limited momentary run-time. Only a few minutes at a time will indeed minimize the total impact it could achieve if left to run longer.

 

[Darwin333]

Maybe if you had like 10 on each appendage I could see it working and maybe a bigger one for my johnson er I mean your neck and your head.

Uh huh, your wife said 10cm was being generous for you...

 

[sdifox]

So my understanding is that your palms and wrists are particularly sensitive to temperature. If these guys can market a $300 wristwatch to cool your wrist, surely I can mimic the same effect by holding a piece of solid metal there with velcro or holding a solid egg made of aluminum or copper in my hand.

I just want to know where I can buy metal shaped like this.

It's called a bracelet.

 

[aigomorla]

Come on let's get real - taping heat sinks is not going to achieve nearly the same effect (however minimal) that having a peltier cooler strapped to your body is going to produce.

depending on the ambient outside and wind outside, you are going to get better cooling.

Why? because those fins have way more surface area for heat disapation, then that product has.
Also, the fact its always working, doesn't require power will make it more efficient.

Add a ice cube on top, and it will probably outperform that tec unit because again, more surface area added on the fact its a better material for heat transfer. Looking at Copper Vs Alu, where copper is superior for thermal transfer.

Also i have worked and played enough with peilters to know what kind of performance they do.
I have used them a lot in either my chilled liquid cooling systems, as well as my many adventures in sub ambient cooling.

When i see how small and under powered that unit is, it just makes me want to laugh at the creators, and laugh even more at the poor soul who got scam'd into buying one.