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As temperatures soar, sweltering homeowners are scrambling to get hold of air conditioning to stay cool. The number of installations in homes has tripled year on year.
But with costs averaging £1,000 for just one room, for many they are still prohibitively expensive. Many households are therefore opting for portable air conditioners, which may not be as effective but are substantially cheaper – starting from around £200.
However, most retailers and installers have waiting lists weeks long as they struggle to keep up with demand.
But what if you could get air-conditioning for a fraction of the cost?
Chinese online bargain shop Temu is advertising air-conditioning and other air-cooling devices for just a few pounds. They appear ready to ship so could arrive within days while the latest heatwave is still ongoing. Some claim to cool rooms, while others are handheld.
The cut-price retailer has been winning over British shoppers since its launch just four years ago with its eclectic range of technology, homeware, toys and clothes.
Around 13million UK shoppers use its app every month, making it the most popular shopping app second only to Amazon, according to analyst SimilarWeb.
Toby Walne gives his verdict on a handful of air conditioning products from Chinese online bargain shop Temu
But can you really purchase cooling gadgets from Temu for a fraction of the cost of those from other retailers and that do as good a job?
Our hot and bothered reporter Toby Walne tried out their best-selling 'air conditioning units' so you don't have to – making some surprising money-saving discoveries to keep you feeling cool – and spotted the worthless tat to avoid...
Pleasant waft rather than violent wind is Toby Walne's verdict on the Portable Air Conditioner - Temu's number one bestseller
I have high hopes for Temu's Portable Air Conditioner, which boasts 'violent wind' and is advertised as the 'number one best seller'. The picture of it on Temu's website appears to show frost forming on it.
As it costs just £8.03 and claims to be portable, I'm not holding out for a fully-fledged air conditioning unit to keep a whole room cool. But as Temu calls it an 'air conditioner and cooler' I'm hoping it'll at least be whizzier than a fan. It boasts five speeds and '720-degree adjustment'.
What arrives is a small, blue plastic device under a foot long with an uncanny resemblance to an old-fashioned microphone.
I turn it on and brace myself for being blasted across the room. Sadly, even at the highest setting it struggles to make even tissue paper flutter.
It contains two plastic fans to provide an innocuous waft of air rather than what might be described as wind. But if you sit within a foot of it then a gentle breeze can be detected and the hum of the motor is not too loud.
If you're looking for air-conditioning, this is clearly not it. However, if you want a small fan, then it does the job – and at a bargain price. It's not going to cool a whole room, but it would be ideal for use while sitting at a desk or a chair at home.
I try it out while reading a book for a couple of hours at home, and it certainly takes the edge off the late-afternoon heat.
On the downside – as with all the other gadgets – it was charged with a six-inch long USB cord. That means I can only position it near a plug or other device such as a laptop that it could charge from. It lasted 30 minutes between charges.
Ice cube images do not keep you cool. Toby was underwhelmed by the 'crazy ice-like air conditioning wind'
By amazing chance this gadget shares the same name as a well-known British manufacturer whose comparable handheld coolers sell for £100. The description promises that 'air dynamic supercharging, technology creates a crazy ice-like air conditioning wind'.
If I can get a Dyson-like fan for this price, I'll be winning – even if it's not the real deal.
But when the product arrives from China eight days later, there is no mention of Dyson on the packaging. Instead, it claims to be a 'handheld folding fan-ice cubes'. Not quite what I was hoping for, but 'fan-ice cubes' sounds promising in this heat.
In reality, I receive a small, plastic hand-held fan that does not cool me down – but does waft air.
It has a plastic handle with speed controls on with an encased fan on top that does bear some resemblance to the Dyson version that may have inspired it.
Press the speed control and ice cube images and blue stripes along the handle light up. The buttons are fiddly, which means I struggle to turn off the one labelled '400 per cent refrigeration effect'.
On the website listing, the product is called a 'silent small fan'
With an uncanny physical resemblance to a £450 Dyson Cool Air Purifier – plus a 'humidification' button to squirt out a cooling jet of mist – this looks like the bargain of the century.
It is designed for cooling down 'bedroom, room, office' and perhaps surprisingly a 'tent'. The online listing says the device is 'water and ice compatible'.
Presumably this means it has a tank that you fill with cold water or ice that it blows air over to cool the room. However, I've still to find out. Unfortunately, 16 days after ordering this 'best seller' it still seems stuck on the slow boat from China with no signs of arrival. The hot weather spell may be over if it ever comes. Temu is cheap but delivery times can be unreliable.
Verdict: Slow shipment from China means you miss the heatwave
This is a device designed to fit around the back of your neck – worn much in the same way you'd use a travel pillow, except this is made of plastic and has fans embedded in it.
Flashing millstone round the neck that's more disco than draft, was Toby's verdict
At £9.91, it's substantially cheaper than most of its rivals – Amazon has a similar-looking device for £14.99, John Lewis for £15, Currys for £29.99 – although I can't vouch for how the quality compares as I've not tried their versions.
The website listing claims the device is 'perfect for lazy use' as it can 'blow cold wind to cool down' in five speeds. When it arrives, the contraption has a touch of Star Wars Stormtrooper bling about it – chunky white with copper plastic trim.
But a near-fatal flaw is the tight squeeze it is to fit it even around my weedy pencil neck. There was a warm breeze to the jowls but an overwhelming hum from the motor made it near impossible to concentrate or hear anything – other than an irritating sound like a jet taking off.
Two-inch wide flashing red, green, blue, purple lights bizarrely stick out at both ends of the necklace. They appear to be a warning to passersby that a hot-headed idiot is coming their way.
The portable air conditioner is the size of a packet of cigarettes, says Toby
The gadget's main selling point is 'freeing up the hands'. Since attaching it to my belt doesn't work, I use a string lanyard to wear it around my neck instead. This results in an uncomfortable tickle of air under my double chins.
The gadget also has a second function as a torch, which when worn around my neck lights up my chin. This either gives continual light or you can hit a button to make the light flash to spell out SOS in morse code flashlight signals.
This product is great as a call for help on a sinking ship - more SOS than sea breeze
This 'best seller' costs little more than a paper folding fan (that costs £4 through an online shop such as Amazon).
The 'Turbo' is a 'three-in-one' that can be used to create a breeze for your body, be folded on a floor to cool overheated feet or – using a lanyard – to waft the face. It has five speeds and lasts up to ten hours between charges made via a USB computer port.
The Turbo fan is the cheapest on this list. It lasts up to ten hours and has five speeds
It's an uninspiring dull grey device, but at least dispenses with gaudy gimmicks and pointless flashing lights favoured by the other gadgets in my haul. The fan pushes out a gentle, if slightly noisy, breeze.
If you're really determined to join the current craze of using cheap, plastic gadgets to create a breeze, this is not a bad option. But for those preferring to cool down in traditional British stoical silence, a far more practical solution is to waft your face with a sun hat or dance the Spanish flamenco with a traditional folding fan.
Perhaps I was naïve to think I could get anything resembling air conditioning for such a low price – even if products I ordered were described as such.
After all, air conditioning is much more than a just a fan. It is where warm air from a room is drawn into a unit, passed over cold coils filled with refrigerant so the heat is absorbed.
Air conditioners are typically wall mounted with an indoor unit attached to an outside one. Portable versions tend to sit on the floor – they're typically a couple of feet or so high – and have a pipe attached that must be directed out of a window or door so that the extracted heat can be released into the outside air.
The Temu gadgets I bought are nothing like this – they are really just versions of a fan, where the air is circulated to create a cooling current of air.
However, if you're looking for a fan, Temu's Portable Air Conditioner in particular is not a bad version – and at £8.03 I think it's a pretty good deal.