Keeping a cool head is difficult at the best of times, least of all when it’s summer and merely thinking of touching bare skin to the pavement already gets you a second-degree burn. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to spend all summer in an air-conditioned room, but what if you took said room with you? Introducing [Hyperspace Pirate]’s air-conditioned vest.

Following on from last time’s adventures with a battery-powered air-conditioner that merely blew cold air onto one’s overheating body, this time the same compressor is used for a more compact build.
Since obviously using your body as part of the condenser would be uncomfortable, instead a heat exchanger was used that transfers the delicious frosty cold to water-filled tubing, zip-tied inside a very fashionable vest.
The basic unit runs on a couple of LiPo packs, but a solar-powered circuit was also built and tested using two small-ish panels. Of course, the requisite backpack-sized setup for that configuration is somewhat bulky, but at least the panels can also provide shade in addition to power for the compressor, hitting two fiery birds with one frosty stone.
Compared to one of those solar-powered caps with a built-in fan, this unit with some refinement could actually be an improvement, as well as keeping you a lot chillier. We’re looking forward to [Hyperspace]’s trial runs in the upcoming Floridian summer, as well as future chilling adventures.


Somewhat related: has anyone ever rigged up a refrigerator so that its compressor was in a different part of the building, running refrigerant lines to it like a minisplit? That way you don’t have to have this thing buzzing in your kitchen every so often as it leaves crenelated shapes on your power usage graphs. If you put the heat rejection coil in the basement, it might even reduce the humidity down there. (North of 42 degrees in North America, heat is welcome in the basement all year round.)
While split HVAC is efficient for large spaces, for a small, heavily insulated appliance like a fridge, the energy required to pump refrigerant long distances is not really worth it. Additionally a split system would require specialized technicians to install refrigerant lines, increasing upfront costs significantly compared to plug-and-play units. Such an installation may also require permitting and inspection further adding to hassle and expense. Refrigerators consume very little power (less than 5% of an AC unit), so the high cost, complex professional installation, and maintenance for a separate exterior unit do not justify the minor energy savings and minor reduction in noise.
I am an HVAC cowboy and would handle the details myself. I have minisplit installation equipment, though refrigerater systems probably use different coolants. I am not proposing this for casual soccer moms.
If price is no object $5k+ new, There are commercial reach in refrigerators with remote compressors, They are less efficient, and lack residential safety certifications so they may void warranties or home insurance policies. You may need a buddy that works in AC/refrigeration to get it installed, because many/most professionals wont do residential installs of commercial equipment due to potential liability issues.
FWIW, I never notice my refrigerator running. The money might be better spent repairing/replacing the current unit.
I have a friend who had a cooler bike vest the cool him down, it was battery powered though. worked great
Over the west he needs a mylar blanket to insulate and limit the cold loss to the exterior.
Good one.
using your body as part of the condenser would definitely be uncomfortable, at least in summertime. The evaporator would be far more useful. (like it says in the video)
The thing seems inspired by the “earth suits” in Stephenson’s Termination Shock
Stephensons 2021 Termination Shock’s earth suits were inspired by ~80 years of NASA tech Water-cooled vests first appeared as specialized technology in the mid-1960s, primarily developed for NASA Apollo missions to prevent astronauts from overheating in space.
Shafer Enterprises (COOLSHIRT) developed liquid-cooled vests for surgeons in 1987, Compcooler has been selling their liquid cooling vests, hoods, etc for at least 15 years.
Stephensosn’s 4 year old book brief existence is insignificant. Id be surprised if [HP] has heard of it let alone read it.
type correction ~80 should have been ~60 years.
fng spellcheck, TYPO correction TYPE should have been TYPO
This is the Earthsuit technology described in Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock. Since there’s already a name for it, I suggest the term Earthsuit is used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termination_Shock_(novel)
https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/589125/
the term EARTHSUIT
Registration Number: 6853434
Status: Registered (filed Feb 1, 2021, and registered on Sep 20, 2022)
Owner: Whole Life Nutrition, LLC, based in Concord, MA
Category: Clothing products
So I suggest avoiding the term earthsuit in developing personal climate control vests.
Ew, it’s cli-fi… Do people actually read this stuff
yes. i read all of his books. some i like better than others, but i can realy recommend snowcrash, termination shock and diamond age. but the term cli-fi is making me puke. yuck.
cli-fi? srsly? What skewed your mind in that direction? Do you even understand the plot?
So what would you consider appropriate reading material?
So, infrastructure for clothing? What am I missing?
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