Temperature Plummets 3°C in 3 Minutes... The Secret Behind Vests with a 1,300% Surge in Sales

[Anchor]

Whenever heading out these days, people first reach for cooling products like neck-band fans or cooling patches to bring down the heat, even just a little. Recently, cooling vests that use tiny semiconductors to draw heat away from the body have even made their appearance.
   
Reporter Choi Seung-hun tried one on himself to see just how well it performs.

[Reporter]

A semiconductor factory construction site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Despite the blazing sun, a worker wears an extra vest layered beneath his safety vest.

It is a "cooling vest" designed to cool down heat accumulated in the body.

[Lim Ho-gwan / Safety Management Company Employee: There is definitely a part where you can better manage your physical strength. Even after returning to work, you feel a bit less exhausted and sweat noticeably less....]

Fans are attached to both sides, and a cooling plate called a "Peltier element"—which utilizes semiconductors—is fitted on the back.

The principle uses the "Peltier effect," where passing an electric current between different semiconductors makes one side cold and the other hot, thereby expelling heat from the skin outward.

I will try wearing this cooling vest myself and measure it with a thermal imaging camera to see how much the temperature drops.

Before putting on the vest, the surface temperature of the back was 36.9 degrees, but about three minutes after wearing it, it dropped by 3.7 degrees to 33.2 degrees.

The manufacturer explained that cooling vests have gained so much popularity that sales are surging by 1,300% compared to last year, and such semiconductor cooling methods are also spreading into everyday products.

A Japanese electronics company has released a body temperature regulator that cools the skin by pressing a cooling plate tightly against the back of the neck.

[Shin Yu-bin / Electronics Company Marketing Team: Since it is hardly noticeable when tucked well inside your clothing, you can enjoy your own optimal temperature without worrying about other people's gazes....]

There are also products that combine cooling plates and fans to be hung around the neck or secured to the waist.

[Kim Seong-hyun / Camping Equipment Company Sales Headquarters: Whether you are commuting to work, watching professional baseball games, or going on a trip, you can comfortably use it hung around your neck....]

However, just because your skin feels cool does not mean that your body's core temperature drops or that heat-related illnesses are prevented.

You must stop using it if any abnormalities occur on your skin, and it should not be charged while wet.

(Photo: Lee Moo-jin | Video Editing: Chae Chul-ho | Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.