Auto Cool Solar Car Vent

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Auto Cool Solar Car Vent

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Does your car get too hot in Summer?

2 Apr 17th, 2007

Advantages:
Pulls hot air out of the car

Disadvantages:
Too small to have great effect

Recommendable: No 

Detailed rating:

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laramax

About me: I am afraid I am not finding very much time to be on Ciao these days but I do pop in from time to ti...

Member since:11.10.2006

Reviews:249

Members who trust:133

Review rated by 61 Ciao members on average: very helpful

I love Summer and I love sunshine but I do hate getting into the car when it has been standing in the sun - the heat that builds up in there can be unbearable. Then I saw an advert for the Auto Cool Solar Car Vent in a brochure from Coopers of Stortford. A little device which fits on to your car window and takes some of the hot air out of your car. It works using solar power which means there are no running costs so, ever the sucker for a new gadget, I just had to give them a try.

They cost just £12.99 from Coopers so I decided to order two and test them out. I placed my order on a Wednesday and they were delivered the following Monday which I thought was quite speedy and pretty efficient. I was eager to take them out of the box and give them a try and, as luck would have it, we were in the middle of a mini heatwave so I was able to put them to work straight away!

The units themselves are quite simple. They are made of plastic and measure around 150 x 110 x 50mm. They have a little solar panel on one side and a small fan (approx 55mm) on the other and they hook over the edge of the window so that they are held firmly in place when you wind the window up to the top. All of the mechanism is safely inside the car, all that projects is the outlet for the hot air. Also in the pack is a rubber strip which you cut to length amd put over the top of the window on either side of the device to seal off the top of the window. It was all very simple to fit. The moment I hooked the unit over the window on the sunny side of the car the fan started to operate. It was easy to fix the rubber strips on either side of the unit and once the window was wound up it was ready to be left to do its work. Having bought two I fitted one to the front window and one to the rear window on the sunny side of the car.

Did it work? Well ............... yes it did in that the fan worked as soon the sun was on it and if I placed a hand beneath the outlet I could feel the hot air being extracted. It works by being an extract fan so it pulls hot air out rather than blowing the external air in. However the fan is so small that it is no match for the heat that built up when the temperature outside the car was about 22 degrees C. Even with two of these in operation to be frank they really weren't up to the job of cooling a hot car by a significant amount. The car was still very hot when I got in it and although it wasn't quite as stifling hot the difference was only marginal to be honest. In addition I would question just how secure the car is if it were left on a public car park with these fitted. It wouldn't be difficult to pull out the rubber strips and then put a wire into the car to open the doors. I might use them when the car is parked on my drive or at the office (which has a fairly secure car park) but I wouldn't use them and leave the car in a public car park as I think it would be just asking for trouble.

Would I recommend them?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No I wouldn't I am afraid. The fan isn't big enough to make a difference when you need it most and although it might make the car slightly cooler it isn't enough to make a real difference on a hot day. It also makes the car insecure so they can't be used in many situations.

I will keep them though because they will be handy when I take my cat to visit the old folk's home as it will make the car a little cooler when it is stood outside during the visit and every little helps I guess. I am also hoping it might make enough of a difference on slightly cooler days to make it worthwhile fitting them then.

It is a shame they aren't more effective as it might make me need to use the air conditioning in the car less but, as they are at the moment, I would save your cash and wait for a bigger, better and more secure solution to come on to the market.

 


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Comments about this review
Tewart

Tewart

18.06.2007 13:01

Disappointing - was about to order one as a gift for someone with no A/C until I saw your review. Most helpful - thanks for stopping me from wasting my money.

suzywong666

suzywong666

13.05.2007 12:19

It's a shame about the security issue, they would have been a fab idea for hayfever sufferers, who can't have the windows open. I do love your gadget reviews! Suzy x

missy0303

missy0303

30.04.2007 23:26

Aww nice idea shame it doesn't work though! x

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Review Ratings
This review of Auto Cool Solar Car Vent has been rated:

"exceptional" by (2%):
  1. Badger_Boy

"very helpful" by (98%):
  1. Tewart
  2. tartlette83
  3. suzywong666
and 57 other members

The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
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