Around The Home

Portable air conditioner would do more than keep things cool

Portable air conditioner would do more than keep things cool
With its (optional) 40,000-mAh battery capacity, Zero Breeze can beat back the outdoor heat for up to five hours of continual use
With its (optional) 40,000-mAh battery capacity, Zero Breeze can beat back the outdoor heat for up to five hours of continual use
View 4 Images
Zero Breeze's cooling output is listed at 1,000 BTU per hour and designed to handle areas up to 50 sq ft
1/4
Zero Breeze's cooling output is listed at 1,000 BTU per hour and designed to handle areas up to 50 sq ft
Zero Breeze adds some utility with its built-in Bluetooth speaker, USB charging ports, and LED light ring around the fan exhaust
2/4
Zero Breeze adds some utility with its built-in Bluetooth speaker, USB charging ports, and LED light ring around the fan exhaust
Zero Breeze joins the ranks of convenient outdoor/camping gadgets like the Little Luxury Cooler and Cinch! pop-up tent
3/4
Zero Breeze joins the ranks of convenient outdoor/camping gadgets like the Little Luxury Cooler and Cinch! pop-up tent
With its (optional) 40,000-mAh battery capacity, Zero Breeze can beat back the outdoor heat for up to five hours of continual use
4/4
With its (optional) 40,000-mAh battery capacity, Zero Breeze can beat back the outdoor heat for up to five hours of continual use
View gallery - 4 images

With global temperatures reaching new record highs, it's as important as ever for individuals to mind the sun and heat. A San Francisco-based startup has launched a Kickstarter campaign for a portable air conditioner that packs more than just a rotary compressor. The Zero Breeze is designed to illuminate, play music over Bluetooth, power devices, and last up to five hours on its rechargeable battery.

Portable air conditioners are widely available in sizes ranging between that of a toaster oven to an upright garbage can. While most any of these can effectively chill interior spaces to a point, the need for a continual power source limits outdoor options. The team behind Zero Breeze has managed to cut the cable requirement without significantly sacrificing the cooling power.

Zero Breeze uses rotary compression refrigeration technology along with an "environmentally- and ozone-friendly" Dupont R-134a refrigerant. Since the system is closed, users won't need to worry about adding refrigerant over time. Zero Breeze's cooling output is listed at 1,000 BTU per hour and designed to handle areas up to 50 sq ft (4.6 sq m). In closed quarters, it could reportedly be possible to bring the ambient temperate down to 44.6 F (7 C).

What makes the Zero Breeze appealing is the optional battery for portable operation. With the added 40,000-mAh battery capacity, Zero Breeze can beat back the outdoor heat for up to five hours of continual use on the medium fan setting (3.5 hours on high). Given that the unit's 18.3 x 6.4 x 3.8 in (46.4 x 16.2 x 9.6 cm) size and 8.8 lb (4 kg) lets it carry like canister vacuum, Zero Breeze joins the ranks of convenient outdoor/camping gadgets like the Little Luxury Cooler and Cinch! pop-up tent.

Zero Breeze's cooling output is listed at 1,000 BTU per hour and designed to handle areas up to 50 sq ft
Zero Breeze's cooling output is listed at 1,000 BTU per hour and designed to handle areas up to 50 sq ft

This portable air conditioner adds some utility with its built-in Bluetooth speaker, a pair of 5 V / 1 A USB charging ports, and LED light ring around the fan exhaust. Although the 3 W speaker and 250 lm aren't the biggest and brightest out there, they may certainly work in a pinch and eliminate the need to pack extra devices. And with a noise level rating of 48 dB, you can converse about the Zero Breeze without having to shout.

The team behind Zero Breeze claims to have developed multiple working prototypes and is poised for production. Just remember, anything can happen when it comes to crowdfunded campaigns – we've seen promising projects succeed at first, yet fail even harder later on. Almost three years after helping raise millions for the Coolest Cooler on Kickstarter, the majority of backers are still left empty-handed as Amazon sales slowly bridge the financial gap.

The Zero Breeze Kickstarter campaign has raised 147 percent of its US$100,000 goal in two days, with another 43 days of funding left to go. Early-bird pledges for a single Zero Breeze air conditioner start at $349, saving $150 off the planned retail price. Each unit comes with a power adapter, exhaust pipe, and drain pipe. Additional tiers offer to bundle in the separate battery pack.

If molding, tooling, and manufacturing go according to plan, backers can expect shipments of Zero Breeze to start as early as March, 2017.

Source: Zero Breeze

View gallery - 4 images
23 comments
23 comments
Nik
So, it uses a 40 Ah battery, about the same as a very small car battery, or a motorcycle battery, why add all the zero's? The specification should quote volume, not square ft/m which is meaningless, 50 sq ft at 1/4 inch high, wouldn't do very much to cool anyone, except a few bugs scuttling across the ground. 1000 BTU is about 300 Watts, which might just about cool a dogs kennel, if it was a small dog. In the open air, it would be like trying to heat your campsite in winter with three 100 w light bulbs, and a fan. Anyone buying this device is wasting their money, if they think it will have any appreciable cooling effect in the great outdoors.
BartyLobethal
But those people at the beach look so comfortable...
grabejud
if im right, the photos of people enjoying outdoors is probably using the device as a speaker
Milton
File this in the "just what we needed" department. There's something super ironic about this device contributing to the problem it is solving for.
Tom Lee Mullins
I think that is a cool idea for hot days. I think that would be great for camping, small campers and small houses.
dionkraft
I don't see this as a viable outside stand alone unit unless it was right up into your face. AS I see it - it would be better used as incorporated into a face shield or a helmet design to envelope the users face in A/C to cool their face/head down. Mounted as a back pack and plumbed into a helmet would render the wearer a nice encapsulated environment to which the wearer would be cool and comfortable as well also if the helmet was well sealed against the outside air. Reminds me of the A/C suits those Astronauts had had to be carried by one hand long ago. As far as batterys go - go with some standard like a 20v Dewalt in multiples to keep the cost down.
Nik
Judging by the length of the shadows, the people were on the beach in late afternoon/early evening, so it was probably quite cool enough without the 'air conditioner.'
MarylandUSA
Nik's comments are spot-on. The other commenters are right, too. What's the point of this sentence: "In closed quarters, it could reportedly be possible to bring the ambient temperate down to 44.6 F (7 C)." Using this device in a closed room would be pointless: Without a means for venting, it would add more heat than it removed.
chomper
I have a pontoon boat with a double bimini top that I had a full camper enclosure made for. It's great in the evenings but on a sunny 75 degree day the temp inside climbs to just over 100 degrees. I would love to have a portable unit like this but there's a few problems.
"In an enclosed space..." at what volume and what ambient temperature?
"5 hours of battery..." why not just let me plug it into my existing battery bank, a solar panel, or an already available power source? Why does everyone think they need to include a 40,000mah battery? There's already plenty of companies producing them and battery production is not what this company does. Let the battery company make the batteries and focus on just making the A/C.
Same can be said for the speaker and the light....
A cooler with a block of ice in it and a hole in the lid for a fan to blow in it will work just as well and lasts about as long...costs about $30.
timboc
This is disgusting, it amounts to environmental vandalism. Put a hat on instead.
Also within a closed space and being a refrigerated system it would not work as it puts cold air out at one end and hot air at the other. Therefore the amount of energy taken from the battery to run this thing would be the net output of heat into the closed space.
Load More