Office workers enjoy many amenities. They have clean bathrooms, water, and access to a microwave. But what they don’t have control over is their climate. In offices it is either blindingly cold or absolutely sweltering, with no middle ground. Therefore, office workers may enjoy the Evapolar to help even things out.
The Evapolar is basically a little fan that runs air over a specialized material. The system is surprisingly simple. An accordion of nonmaterial made of basalt fibers sucks in water through capillary action. A small, low-voltage fan blows air through the fibers creating “extremely intensive” evaporation and cooling. There is no pump or freon, just a little water and a PC fan.
Please don’t mistake this for a full air conditioner. It blows air in a fairly small radius – just around your desk, say – and keeps things cool. I saw this thing at work and it did clearly cool things down. However, to say it can replace an air conditioner is a bit of hyperbole. But at $180 for early bird buyers you are getting a mini climate control system that may make your work day more comfortable.
The goal here is to reduce energy usage while keeping things nice and cool. Because it has almost no moving parts and, thanks to the basalt material, it won’t rot or spread nastiness while it spreads loving coolness and humidity. Again, don’t expect an arctic blast but you will notice a difference.
The product is shipping next June, just in time for the next heat spell down at the Old Officin’ Place.
