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U.S. Gymnastics Brings In-Bed Air Conditioning Into Olympic Village

Bedjets to the rescue

By Rain Noe - August 8

in Object Culture

Apparently a number of Olympic athletes have abandoned Paris' Olympic Village in favor of hotels. For sustainability's sake, rooms at the Olympic Village are not air conditioned. With Parisian temperature in the 90s, some federations brought their own A/C units, and others opted to simply check into air-conditioned hotels.

The US Gymnastics team opted to bring BedJets to the Village. I'd never heard of these, and have learned they're contraptions that blow cool air under the blanket:

Here's how they work:

Enter a caption (optional)

These run $390 to $430 a pop.

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Sam Ley

3 months ago

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Don't love the focus on individual responsibility here - we know that systemic changes to utilities and industry are what will turn back climate change, not small individual depredations. This seems like an extension of the major efforts of fossil fuel companies to make people feel guilty, then focus on their own actions rather than the actions of the companies...

That said, I've used a similar method for many years at Burning Man - a small swamp cooler made from nested 5 gallon buckets and a 12V fan, directed into the tent and under the bed sheets. It can't hope to cool a large space, but having a flow of cool air coming under the sheets can be quite heavenly.

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- Alan Nomoto
  
  Sam Ley
  
  3 months ago
  
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  You lost me with “Burning Man” about personal responsibility. Maybe a decade ago.
  
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- Dee An
  
  Sam Ley
  
  3 months ago
  
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  >"This seems like an extension of the major efforts of fossil fuel companies to make people feel guilty, then focus on their own actions rather than the actions of the companies..."
  I strongly agree. However, I don't think this product is the best place to make this point.
  Ultimately, just cooling the small volume that needs cooling (under an insulating duvet) is inherently more efficient than cooling a large volume such as a room or house.
  
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