Shoppers claim this can offer more relief from the heat than a traditional fan (Image: Getty)
With the Met Office forecasting that the hot weather will “continue” after the UK grappled with its third heatwave of the year, many people may consider buying new cooling gadgets. Some people feel the heat more than others and may consider investing in devices more powerful than a conventional fan.
Meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “For the time being it looks like the heatwave is set to continue, but depending on where you are, there may be a brief respite in the heat to come.” The cost of installing air conditioning can be very expensive, but other, more affordable solutions do exist.
Wickes, the DIY store, is selling the Tristar White Air Cooler (£68 excluding delivery) online. The “compact” cooling device has been praised by shoppers as being “better than a conventional fan”, with cooling results “you need to maintain an ideal temperature in your home”.
Describing what the affordable unit does online, the store said: “The Tristar Mobile Air Cooler 4L uses cold water to cool the airflow so you can enjoy a refreshing breeze a few degrees lower than the ambient temperature. With an air-cooler, there is no warm-air exhaust, so you will not have to struggle with a hose or drill a hole in the wall.
“The air cooler is portable because of its sturdy castors, just fill the reservoir up with water and plug it in. You can cool the water further by freezing the two supplied ice packs and adding these to the water tank.”
Similar devices are available elsewhere for under £100, such as the Swan Oatmeal 5L Nordic Air Cooler (£89) from Asda or Amazon’s INNOPOWER Four-in-One Portable Air Conditioner Cooling Fan (£99.99). However, the majority of shoppers had rave reviews about the Wickes deal.
One said: “It’s not air con, but having cold water and ice packs in there does cool the room down better than a conventional fan. Not too noisy, either in my opinion
Another put: “So happy to have found this unit. Life saver during the heat wave. Does what it says it blows cooled air. Not exactly like proper air con cold, but excellent value for the money. Very quiet. Can be used as a fan without the cooling feature too.”
Someone else wrote: “Fantastic bit of kit – so much so that I bought two! They’re powerful and cool down the room nicely when set to both swing and cool mode. The ice packs really help too, lovely cold air. The tank is big and tends to last a full 10 hours or so if on high and cool settings.”
Wickes Tristar White Air Cooler (Image: Wickes)
But not everyone had a good experience with this device, and some demanded refunds. One claims: “Didn’t do anything like it was described to do! Even with ice blocks in the water tank and we barely felt anything.”
Another put: “Tried with cold water and no noticeable difference! Threw some ice cubes in the well with the water, but still didn’t make a difference. Returning for money back.”
But, overall, most of the 99 shoppers who shared reviews said that they were pleased with the device and kept it. One of the other five-star reviewers said: “It does a far better job than a fan and does blow out cool air. would happily buy again and have already recommended it to many of my family and friends. definitely happy with this purchase.”