Like many who work remotely, I can’t say how much I miss life in the office, much less how damn cold the buildings I worked in always seemed to be. I was wrapping myself in sweaters and socks in the middle of summer, muttering darkly about « supercooling ». But now that my dining table is my office and my apartment has no central air conditioning, I find myself sweating and constantly struggling to find a comfortable temperature.
A/C on, A/C off. Fan on, fan off. Window up, window down. In my two years of working from home, I spent many, many days putting on and tearing diapers and playing with my various cooling devices. I find that many fans blow hot air inefficiently and dry out my skin, while AC units are often too cold (and expensive) for my liking. By chance, I noticed that something called a Evapolar Evachill Personal Cooler was a product often purchased by SELF shoppers (I’m a trade editor here, hence my insider knowledge). Curious, I asked to taste one and was very pleasantly surprised by his results.
How the evapolar evahill works
Shaped like a little cube that reminds me of a Bluetooth speaker, the Evapolar Evachill is an evaporative cooler that uses water to cool, humidify, and purify the space around you. It works much like a diffuser; Inside the cube is a filter and a water reservoir, which you fill with about 800ml (3.3 cups) of water and a nifty little funnel that you can keep inside the cube itself. same.
Now for science, which I paraphrase from The Best Buy Blog: Once you turn on the chiller, the water saturates the filter and, as it evaporates, the water molecules turn from liquid to gas. These molecules then draw heat from the air, cooling it and adding moisture to the air. The Evahill pushes this cooled air towards you using its internal fan.
The cooler too purifies the air. Its replaceable cartridge (which looks like a mini air purifier cartridge) is made from biodegradable basalt fibers that filter dust from the air – one more trick a fan doesn’t usually get out. This filtered ($29) needs to be swapped out every three to six months, depending on how often you use the device (namely, there’s no signal to remind you to replace it, so it’s something you you will need to follow you). The chiller operates for nine hours on one tank, which is a full working day.
Why I recommend the Evapolar Evachill
The cooler lives on my desk, next to my monitor, which also powers it via a USB cable. On days when it’s muggy but turning on an A/C seems like overkill, I turn to the Evachill.
To control the three levels of airflow intensity, I simply press the single button at the top of the cube. The lightest level is like a cooling whisper, while the strongest of the three is like a strong, soothing breeze. All settings are very quiet and not annoying at all. On the front of the cooler are flaps that look like air vents on a car, which I can adjust to get air where I need it (in my case the sweet spot is usually just right around my forehead or around my chest).
