Air Conditioned Helmet

[LowRyter]

Wow.  You can actually purchase an air conditioned motorcycle helmet for $550.  Meaning 10 or 15 degree cooler than ambient air.  Weight is 3.3 LB. 

https://feherhelmets.com/

[oldbike54]

 If that thing really works you guys know what to buy me for my next birthday 

 Dusty

[yogidozer]

but won't all your friends call you airhead? 

[oldbike54]

but won't all your friends call you airhead? 

 Not any worse than what they already call me .

 Dusty

[Guzzi Gal]

Fantastic for desert riding if it actually works. Alas, it doesn't come in my size.

[Bill Owens]

I have often wondered if anyone has ever tried to use thermoelectric cooling to assist the cooling of air cooled engines.

[Moto]

Fantastic for desert riding if it actually works. Alas, it doesn't come in my size.

Guzzi Gal, you might need to scroll your display left or right. It comes in sizes XS to 2XL!

The technology description sounds plausible to me. I'd be interested in reading a good review before buying, but if those appear the price will probably go up as promised.

Since it is often said that 50% of your winter-weather heat loss comes about through your head, it makes sense there's lots of capillaries up there to cool the blood from the rest of your body. Of course I have no idea whether that claim is true.

If I move back to the Heat Belt someday....

Moto

[twowings]

One can only hope cooler heads will prevail...

[Perazzimx14]

I can flip up the chin bar on my modular helmet for free. I'll spend my money wisely use the $500 to buy 250 Shiner Bocks at the 88 Lounge to help cool off after a long day of riding.

[Idontwantapickle]

That looks pretty cool!
(sorry)

Not the first time that this has been done. Get yer way-back machine fired up and head for ~1990. AGV (those Italians!) built a helmet using much the same technology.

Hunter

[LowRyter]

One can only hope cooler heads will prevail...

on this board?   

[Guzzi Gal]

Guzzi Gal, you might need to scroll your display left or right. It comes in sizes XS to 2XL!

The technology description sounds plausible to me. I'd be interested in reading a good review before buying, but if those appear the price will probably go up as promised.

Since it is often said that 50% of your winter-weather heat loss comes about through your head, it makes sense there's lots of capillaries up there to cool the blood from the rest of your body. Of course I have no idea whether that claim is true.

If I move back to the Heat Belt someday....

Moto

Sadly, no XXS is available.

[Rainrider]

"You would think an electrical product for a motorcycle would have some mention of wattage," says the V7ii rider.

[yogidozer]

I think for $550  I struggle along with just opening the vents and visor

[Wayne Orwig]

"You would think an electrical product for a motorcycle would have some mention of wattage," says the V7ii rider.

I was digging for the same info. There is mention of a 3 amp hour battery running it for 2 hours. So maybe 1.5 amp. Hard to imagine that is all. Also hard to imagine that cooling the helmet helps much. I always used a damp shirt under a mesh jacket and got very cooled off.

[Perazzimx14]

Piezo type cooling while marginally effective in some area's I'm not sure this is a great use of the technology or maybe the technology just isn't ready for a use such as this. Unless there are micro ducts and fans circulating air putting an ice/gel pack in you helmet will have the same effect.

I use a Piezo dehumidifier in my curing chamber and it works good,  mostly. It also can quickly become overwhelmed with humidity as it is not as effective as a traditional compressed refrigerant dehumidifiers. 

Kudos to the  folks working on this and I wish them luck but this ain't for me.

[Kev m]

If that thing really works you guys know what to buy me for my next birthday 

 Dusty

Yeah, me too!

Saw that the other day. Damn.

[Johncolleary]

I would like to read a test on it

[yogidozer]

[pete roper]

I clicked on the 'How it works' link and it didn't tell me anything??? Then there is the flawed logic of using a black helmet to try and improve cooling in hot conditions. The inventor is also shown holding a *Something* with lots of fins on it and a bar through the middle. While I don't know what the science is behind this, (Probably because there was no effort to give an explanation!) since heat transfer is basically a surface area game I'm thinking it stinks of the same sort of charlatanry as those 'Oil Cooler Dipsticks' some fraud was spruiking a couple of decades back!

I break wind in it's general direction.

Pete

[Moto]

I clicked on the 'How it works' link and it didn't tell me anything??? Then there is the flawed logic of using a black helmet to try and improve cooling in hot conditions. The inventor is also shown holding a *Something* with lots of fins on it and a bar through the middle. While I don't know what the science is behind this, (Probably because there was no effort to give an explanation!) since heat transfer is basically a surface area game I'm thinking it stinks of the same sort of charlatanry as those 'Oil Cooler Dipsticks' some fraud was spruiking a couple of decades back!

I break wind in it's general direction.

Pete

Well, they do offer white and silver helmets, so I don't get your "black helmet" point.

As for explanations, they cite two older US patents, one from 2003 and the other, I recall, from 2006. These claim rights on the ventilation layer against the scalp and on the idea of an attached low-power electric cooling module, but only give suggested possibilities for the technology of the latter.

Seeing how old the patents are, I doubt the performance was the slam-dunk success the inventor claims. Maybe it's been developed to a useful degree over the intervening decade, maybe not. Reviews are needed.

EDIT: I just checked the European patent, which turned out to be BASF one for a clear top-coat. This is not relevant to their claims for the helmet, and seeing what it is makes me smell snake oil here.

Moto

[Wayne Orwig]

Peltier device I'm sure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

[Unkept]

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/would-you-buy-an-air-conditioned-helmet

AGV in the late 80's.

[pete roper]

Peltier device I'm sure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

Thanks Wayne. That makes sense.

[clubman]

For over 10 years I used thermoelectric refrigerators in my Freightliners. Run 24/7 they would last approx. 3 yrs. (either Coleman or Igloo) and while not great were better than no frig. at all. So, I have no doubt that the process will work fine in a helmet. Electrical draw should be easily handled by most alternators. But, those Igloos only cost $100 for the whole works. $500+ may be a little steep for the hardware you're getting in a helmet. If you ride all summer and live in Arizona these may become a necessity in coming years.

[not-fishing]

Being one of those who have no "insulation" on top I'll just do what I do bicycling and dose myself with water.

This along with a wet bandana - neck wrap is part of my "red suspenders" morals.  I need to keep it simple.

Heck I didn't have AC in the first 5 cars I owned and in Sacramento temps hit 106.

[Kev m]

Being one of those who have no "insulation" on top I'll just do what I do bicycling and dose myself with water.

This along with a wet bandana - neck wrap is part of my "red suspenders" morals.  I need to keep it simple.

Heck I didn't have AC in the first 5 cars I owned and in Sacramento temps hit 106.

I do that (dump water, wet neck wrap, etc.).

Coming back from Jay's this summer temps were topping 105F or something like that through Philly and I was getting downright fatigued. I would stop and pull ice cubes out of my Yeti tumbler and place them in my neck wrap so they'd chill the back of my neck as they melted and added water to the wrap.

But it wasn't enough... man I wanted more. Something like this (if it works) would be a god-send under those conditions.

[LowRyter]

I'd like to try it for sure.  $550 is less than a  Shoei or Nolan modular helmet. 

The guy claims to have been the inventor of the seat coolers used luxury cars like Mercedes with leather seats and adapted the tech to this helmet.  Totally agree that the helmet would be pretty useless if it fails to deal with humidity.  And no, I haven't found that opening a modular helmet, a visor, or wet rag is adequate to deal with the heat and humidity that stops me from riding; I do all of that now. 

[rider33]

having spent a few thousand miles in 95F+ last week, I'm interested and no, a flip up modular helps but it's far from a solution.  I have no doubt the tech would work tho the unit does look large and I wonder about the weight/aerodynamics.  Also, while I travel with multiple jackets and gloves to adjust to changing conditions, I don't carry multiple helmets so I wonder say how this does when an elevation change of a few thousand feet drops the temp from 94 to 52 in 10 minutes (not uncommon in mountainous area).  The real question tho is from a marketing perspective: a ground up launch in a declining market for a premium, speciality item seems ill advised, he would have been better off I would think liscencing to say Shoie and let them market it as a nitch product within their existing distribution network. That way he could have just let the checks (if any) role in and let someone else do the heavy lifting.  That's particularly true for helmets as head size & shape is anything but standardized.

[Dibble]

I've been playing with a Peltier cooler bought off Ebay for 15GPB blowing air up a length of hosepipe either up inside my backprotector or up into my helmet.

The hot weather finished before I'd worked out the practicalities of routing the hose, diffusing the cooled air, balancing the flow rate etc but it had potential.