(Not) Cool Surge Portable Air Conditioner
By Steve Carroll
The Cool Surge Portable Air Conditioner “is a work of genius…so advanced that no windows, vents or freon are required.” With advertising copy like that, there’s no wonder folks are lining up to spend $298 to get one. (Cool Surge is a division of Heat Surge, the same folks that sell the Amish fireplaces.)
Once you’ve frozen the two “glacier packs” (no different from the keep-your-lunchbox-cool gel packs) and filled the unit with about a gallon of water, the Cool Surge claims to blast out “ice-chilled” air for hours, using only the power of a 60W light bulb.
Consumer Reports took the Cool Surge to task and found that during a four-hour test the device “failed to appreciably cool” a 227-square-foot room that began at 85° F and 57% humidity, common conditions for an average summer day. At “desertlike” 25% humidity, after four hours, the Cool Surge dropped the room by only two degrees. Based on these results, Consumer Reports has given the Cool Surge the “Don’t Buy: Performance Problem” rating.
Cool Surge [Corporate Site]
Cool Surge’s “Don’t Buy” Rating [Consumer Reports]
July 13th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Uhhh, basic thermodynamics. Energy used to lower the temperature of gel packs is radiated into the house by the coils on the back of the fridge. Motor used to blow air over the frozen gel packs radiates more heat into the air.
The energy taken from the air to thaw the gel packs is less than the energy required to freeze them. Plus the heat from the motor = net gain of heat in the house.
Are people just stupid?
July 13th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Place some ice packs in front of a $20 fan and you have the same effect.
July 13th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Dave P : Yes, many are. Most, however, are simply uneducated in basic physics. Marketing people understand this, and craft advertising to take best advantage of the fact. That’s why lots of these worthless pieces of junk will be sold to unwitting individuals, who are impressed with the claims made. Buyer beware. (P.T.Barnum was right; There’s a sucker born every minute.)
July 13th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
They need to contact BOSE and use their marketing deparment. They have been selling over priced under peforming products for years and as long as it is marketed right there are always people to buy it.
July 13th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
For that price you could buy a real portable air conditioner unit! I cannot believe this company can stay in business with ads that are so misleading. I’m sure CR’s review of it will cut into their business
July 13th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
So…they put “a fan blowing over a bowl of ice” into a box, and charge $300 for it? Wow.
July 13th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
What Barri said.
July 13th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
At least they don’t show fake-Amish people greenscreened onto a factory scene building these things :-p
cl
July 13th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
PHASE 1: Place ice packs in freezer
PHASE 2: ?
PHASE 3: Profit
July 14th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Here, make your own.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-12V-Air-Conditioner—Cheap-and-easy!/
July 14th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Don’t you want to pay even more for one for your golf cart?
.http://www.swampy.net/golfcartairconditioner.html
July 16th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Mike47- it’s just as likely that the marketing people are morons too. Some other people designed and made and the marketing moron said “Yeah, that makes sense.”
August 15th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
I got the ad letter mailed to me, was puzzled by the vague claims and did the web research to find out that this is basically a swap cooler. . . . a portable one and rather pricey at that. Down here in the desert southwest, swamp coolers are fairly common as they work well in a dry climate . . . but only in the early summer months before the monsoon rains arrive.
For $300, you can get a real swamp cooler . . . 2″ X 2″ X 2″ metal cube that sits outside, fits into the duct work and belts out cold air. Yes, something of that size can really cool down a small house. Aspen wood pads work better than the paper ones and smell nice, too. Most “real” desert people know how to change their own pads, adjust float levels, etc. It’s like a classic car in terms of basic maintenance.
Nothing wrong with swamp coolers, per se, as they are cheaper to run than conventional AC. But this one is overpriced (similar portable units on eBay for around $80) . . . and all swamp coolers loose their cooling effectivness fairly quickly as atmosperic humidity levels rise. That’s why you hardly ever see them used outside of dry desert environs.