Beat the heat: tech to help you keep your cool

With temperatures in the UK set to skyrocket today, many Brits will be worrying about how to stay comfortable and safe in the hot weather. As someone who feels the heat at the best of times, the thought of working, sleeping and pretty much just existing in 35-degree heat is far from ideal.

Luckily, there are some nifty gadgets on the market designed to help make the hot temperatures more manageable… and they’re seriously cool (see what I did there?). Here are a few of my favourite examples of technology that can help the nation avoid a meltdown during a heatwave.

I’m a big fan

Not to sound dramatic, but having recently upgraded from a standard hand-held fan to a Dyson tower fan I can honestly say that it has changed my LIFE. Admittedly on the expensive side, it’s certainly an indulgent purchase just on the off chance that we’ll actually have a summer in the UK. However, for someone who almost constantly feels unbearably hot (heatwave or no heatwave), it’s totally worth it.

Gone are the arguments about sleeping with the fan on, as this little miracle worker is so quiet that you can sleep soundly while it either oscillates (if you fancy sharing), or hits you directly with a sweet, sweet beam of cooling air. Plus, it comes with a handy remote, so you can control the device from afar. Easy breezy!

In the hotseat

While the Dyson fan may be lightweight enough from room to room, it’s not exactly portable enough for travel (yet). This means that when you unfortunately do have to leave your house and go to work, you’ll need an alternative solution that won’t get you funny looks on the aptly-named Bakerloo line.

For anyone who has ever had to commute in insufferably hot weather, you’ll know that a train tube or bus carriage can quickly turn into an oven-like torture chamber. While there are plenty of hand-held fans on the market, the D-FantiX Misting Fan gives a double whammy of fanning and an additional cooling spray of water. Plus, its handy travel size means that you can take it with you wherever you go to make the heatwave that bit more bearable.

Hot under the collar

Many companies, including TechNiche are creating smart clothing such as cooling wristbands and jackets to keep wearers cool. Taking it onestep further and more into a health-tech dimension, Japanese tech consultancy NTT DATA has created a sensor-embedded shirt called Hitoe that monitors the wearer’s vitals and can detect the early symptoms of heatstroke. In the future, such technology could be used pre-emptively to help save lives when temperatures climb.

If the hot weather hasn’t put you off your gym visit, there’s even technology to help you cool off after a workout. Both the Cool Towel Pro and the Mission Instant cooling towel from Bloch are great examples of this. The material just needs to be soaked in water for it to provide an instantly refreshing cooling effect to the user. So, there’s no need to throw in the towel when it comes to exercising in the heat.

Cool it

Ignoring all my terrible puns, staying safe in the sun is no joke. Aside from top tips like using sunscreen, staying in the shade and keeping hydrated, there are plenty of newspapers citing more practical solutions to dealing with the heatwave this week.However, if you’re after a tech solution, hopefully the options above will help to make sure you’re hot to trot, no matter what you’re doing this