Personal Mini Air Conditioner

Product Description

Small fan that can cool air up to 30F. This revolutionary evaporative cooling fan is the closest thing to a hand held mini air conditioner! Use it outdoors or keep it indoors as a desk fan. Provides gentle cool breeze. Uses evaporative cooling technology. Add water to soak the cooling filter. Ambient air is forced through the wet cooling filter and cools down. Works best in dry and hot climates. Fully portable and mobile, take it literally anywhere you want. Rotatable turbine wheel allows adjustment of the cool breeze of air. Humidifies air - makes breathing comfortable and alleviates allergies. Variable power control. Stands by itself on any flat surface. Comfortable adjustable leather strap. Ergonomically designed, user-friendly, and easy to use. Environmentally friendly. 4xAA batteries allow 5 hours portable operation. Connect to USB (cable included) or home socket power (sold separately) for continuous operation. Includes dedicated 60ml water bottle, USB cable and 1x cooling filter. Best for hot flashes, home and office use, camping, outdoor sports, watching the game, and more. Mere 12oz with batteries loaded! Cooling filter life expectancy: 1 year. Patent-pending. Version 2.0.

Features

• The original patented hand held cooling fan as featured in Technology Review magazine (M.I.T.) in 2010.
• Small fan cools air up to 30F. *best used in hot and dry environments. Humidifies air and alleviates allergies.
• Runs on 4x batteries or USB power (adapter included).
• Cooling fan assembly utilizes a 30db whisper-soft turbine system.
• Cooling filter life expectancy: 1 year.
• Wash filter with soap and water before first use and occasionally during life of filter.

Top Reviews

Video review of the handy cooler
by Tanookal (5 out of 5 stars)
May 15, 2012

Since there are controversial discussions if the handy cooler REALLY works, here's my video review of my take on this product. Verdict is, the handy cooler does work and it's a nicely implemented product. The weather here at Palm Springs is great for swamp coolers like this and it gives a nice kick if you freeze the filter. (Sorry about the background construction noise and the wind noise from handy cooler!)

I've had the handy cooler for just over a year now and so far I really like it. It's been lying under my bed for the whole winter, but now the heat is back and I've brought it back in action.

What I liked:
- The design. Looks good. Feels good. I like the swivel vent head too.
- Portability. I bring it around to classes, work and around home.
- Performance. Cools like a charm.
- Size and weight.

What I would like to see improved:
- Rechargeable lithium battery option. The unit is not capable of recharging batteries. However, I recommend getting 4 rechargeable batteries, and charge them with battery docks. It'll cost you $40+ but will save you on the long run.
- Longer cooling duration.
- a longer USB cord!

It's a nice little fan with a twist, but be sure to stock up on batteries.
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works great, but you need to understand the limitations
by R. M. Sills (5 out of 5 stars)
July 25, 2013

I live in a non-air-conditioned house in northern California. On hot days, the house might heat up to about 90 F, with a relative humidity of about 30%. This little device works great, delivering a steady stream of cooled air.

There are two things that you should understand about this. First, the effectiveness of the cooling depends on the relative humidity; it cools well in a dry climate, but is no better than a simple fan in a moist climate. Weather forecasters often give temperature and relative humidity; but instead of relative humidity, a more useful value is the dew point, which is always less than or equal to the temperature. (The dew point for US cities is shown on the web site of the National Weather Service.) If T is the temperature and D is the difference between the temperature and the dew point, the air coming out of this device is roughly T-fD, where f is in the range 0.35 to 0.50.

For instance, on a hot afternoon (90 degrees) at my house, the air coming out of the fan is about 77 degrees; this is 13 degrees cooler than the ambient air and feels very pleasant. The dew point at my house in the summer is usually about 55 (all day), so the cooler is effective on hot afternoons. In a humid place like Miami, on the other hand, the summer dew point is about 75, so the cooler would have little effect.

The second point is that cooling occurs only when the filter is wet. (The filter is just a sponge cut to the right size.) How fast it dries depends on your climate and the fan speed. I find that after about 35 minutes, the portion of the filter right behind the fan has dried out; at that point, the amount of cooling diminishes from 13 to 5 degrees. The filter isn't yet completely dry, but it has become much less effective.

To summarize: First, this device requires a dry climate to provide much cooling. Second, you have to add more water to the filter fairly often to keep it moist.

The instructions say that you should apply 30 ml water to the filter (and a container is provided to assist you). When I use the device in my house, I find it easier to use a kitchen scale. The dry filter weighs 7 g, so I just add water until the total weight is about 37 g. If you put in too much water, it can puddle at the bottom or drip out if you turn the device.
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Have realistic expectations
by Sean (4 out of 5 stars)
May 16, 2014

I live in AZ. We are getting ready for our scorching summer. I was hoping to find something just like this to kind of take the edge off a bit. My AC works fine in the house but running it all the time gets kind of expensive. Especially since it's just me, no need to cool the whole house. This seems to be working fine. As I said in the title, please have realistic expectations. This is not going to cool your whole house or keep everybody cool in a Mini-Van on the way to Disney. If you keep it about 6 inches away from your body it produces a very cool breeze. Imagine if you were to stick your face right in front of an AC vent (Obviously on a smaller scale.) Once you get a little more than 6 inches away or so it provides a cool breeze which is probably about the same as a regular fan. The key it to be very close to it. You'll get a good 30-45 minutes before you need to re-wet the sponge. Not bad all things considered.

It seems to be well built. The batteries last about 4 hours, give or take. I was hoping to use it mostly on AC power and keep it next to my bed at night and hopefully be able to turn the AC up a few degrees in the house, but the cable is way too short. I'm planning to buy a USB extender cable so it'll reach from the outlet to my bed. So there's another $6. If you use batteries it's best to use rechargeables.

On low speed there is almost no noise. On high speed it seems to be about the sound of a regular fan on high.

Here are some suggestions for improvement...Obviously provide a longer USB cable. If you use this in your office and your PC tower is on the floor it will not reach your desk. Provide an extra sponge in the package. For the price they charge I'm sure they could throw in an extra one so one could be cooling while you're using the other.

All that being said as long as you aren't expecting too much this will work well for you. This isn't perfect and I'll still be on the lookout for something better but for now this will do.
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This is not an Air Conditioner as Title Says it is. BOGUS
by Mr Slim (1 out of 5 stars)
July 25, 2014

This title clearly is wrong and misleading. The title clearly states this is an air conditioner. It is not an air conditioner and no where on the box or packaging does it say it is an air conditioner. This is basically a fan that takes moisture from a sponge you need to keep wet and blows that moisture on to the person. The packaging clearly states it is an evaporator fan. It also appears to me that so many reviews on this product are fakes and between the misleading and wrong title stating it is an air conditioner and the bogus reviews of this product it is made to look better than it is. Don't waste your money for this hunk of junk. Beware of the adapter this listing suggests because I bought the AC adapter and it does not even fit this unit. I tried for ten minutes to get the ac adapter in the unit and it clearly does not fit in the ac adapter pin. So both items are bogus. Don't fall for all this bogus reviews.
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How cool to stay cool.
by Kerowyn (5 out of 5 stars)
June 26, 2013

There are days that I get an hour or so off at work and I like to go to my car to unwind, relax and listen to music. Doing so during the Texas heat of summer can be problematic. This nice little fan helps keep the heat away. Any other personal fan would just keep blowing the hot air about, yet this little beauty helps to cool that air down. Granted I haven't tested its mettle against the Texas August Heat but so far it is a welcome accessory to my restful peace. The little ml bottle that comes with it is a great help in not using too much water.

HINT: What I like to do to help the system work a bit cooler is start off with cold water. I keep some water in my insulated bag with ice to use.

Knowledge gained: I did note that if I use this in direct sun or the sun hits it for a while it will speed up the evaporation of the water making the air a bit hotter. so when ever possible use it out of direct sunlight or have extra water on hand to add as needed.
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Amazing, for what it is
by AWS910 (5 out of 5 stars)
October 14, 2011

This is a great little device. Everyone in my office is jealous of it.

The sponge dries out pretty quickly at high speed, but now that I've gotten better at it, I can re-wet the sponge in less than a minute.

Addressing the concerns/comments others have posted about this - it is true that you can construct something like this for half the price.... it's just hard to duplicate this product when you consider the flexibility, convenience, and price.

I found the design to be slightly lacking on one way: The air intake is at the top of the sponge. This means that, after 30 minutes or so, the top part of the sponge will dry out, and any other water will drop to the bottom part of the sponge(and the intake won't draw air through it). This means that suddenly, it only becomes a fan that moves air. You open the sponge compartment and find that the bottom part of the sponge is still quite wet. The quick solution to this is to just add a little water at the top of the sponge and be done with it. However, I discovered a trick to force it to use moisture from the entire sponge...
* Wet the entire sponge according to the instruction manual. Put it in the unit, close the cover, and turn the unit on. Set it upright on your desk. Business as usual.
* Take one a post-it note(the bigger 3x5-ish ones are better), and cover the top half of the sponge vent with it.

The fan may run a little slower, since it's now being forced to draw air through the entire sponge, but the net effect of this is two-fold:
* When the sponge dries out, it's actually closer to 100% dry.
* No mid-sponge drop-off of cooling power.
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Not a mini-air conditioner
by DSantiago (4 out of 5 stars)
May 13, 2013

I needed something to keep me cool this summer while I sit in my car for an hour on lunch since my car A/C is broken, I thought this would be a good replacement, sadly I was wrong.

It's only tolerable if you soak the sponge then freeze it but it still wasn't enough to keep me cool in 80+ degree heat.

The ice packs I put in my lunch bag worked much better then this.

Good product but not a replacement for an air conditioner.

It does however work better then the mini fan I bought last year that sprays a mist of water.

I use the Handy cooler at home instead of my A/C to save money and it does fine, plus, the USB cable works great when i'm at the computer. will not work right plugged into my PS3, I guess it doesn't give enough power.

A good product but if you're like me and looking for something to keep you cool in your car, you'll do what I did and save up to fix that A/C.
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and here in California it doesn't really even help to keep you cool. The one good thing I can say ab
by Jonathan Le (2 out of 5 stars)
June 22, 2016

Totally lackluster. The fan isn't very strong, the thing is really bulky making it not ideal for carrying around, and here in California it doesn't really even help to keep you cool. The one good thing I can say about this is that the ability to connect it to an AC adaptor is nice, but then that defeats the purpose of portability.

Just buy a desk fan if you need to stay cool, or something better than this.
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works! - bought 2
by sigh.. (5 out of 5 stars)
February 16, 2012

this actually works!

i was really hoping it would cool the whole office down but that was just my own personal wish

i bought one because certain people in the office likes to close all the windows and have no ventilation.

then coworker(s) have space heater on so im left with stuffy warm air and sweating at my desk so i bought the second one with the outlet plug.

im debating on buying another one.

The 2nd handy cooler is actually louder than the 1st cooler, im not sure if it has to do with it being plugged into an outlet.

The 1st cooler sponge shrinks in size when the water has evaporated.

The 2nd cooler sponge does not shrink and i have to flip it to fit it to get all the water out so it drys completely before i leave work for the day.

i highly recommend this product.

i dont care that the 2nd cooler is louder because im trying to make a statement at work and if they care, they would fix the ventilation, open a freaking window or find another solution because it is hurting my productivity.

i ordered another outlet plug because using the outlet plug is much stronger vs. the usb when you turn it on to the highest speed.
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I love this thing
by Beast M. (5 out of 5 stars)
July 10, 2011

I live in the dry Southwest and this handy cooler is perrrrrefect. It's well engineered, quiet, and very convenient to bring around. It's no new technology. It's just evaporative cooling technology that's been out for decades. However, this is the first I've seen at its size. A couple of important issues for anyone wanting an evaporative cooler: you MUST live in a place with a humidity level lower than 60% (it works better in lower humidity levels and at 20% humidity it is awesome). Honestly, this is a great device only for dry places. There are all kinds of helpful charts on the internet showing the relative efficiency of evaporative coolers depending on humidity levels. Basically DO NOT buy this if you live in a place where there is like 80%+ humidity.

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