With warm weather on the horizon and summer fast approaching, you may find your home office is becoming now a stuffy, intolerable place to work effectively for long periods. Cameras, microphones, and monitors can be key in working outside of company grounds, but they can do nothing to regulate the temperature — and few of us want to look hot and sweaty on our now-frequent Zoom and Microsoft Teams company calls.
To help, ZDNet has created a guide listing useful gadgets and accessories to keep you cool during warmer months, as well as products that can help stop your laptop or smartphone from overheating and disrupting your workday and productivity.
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Purifying Heater and Fan
Best overall option
Features: HEPA Filters | 350-degree oscillation | Night-time mode
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Purifying Heater and Fan is our pick for the best home office cooling solution since it’s an all-in-one device. If you’re willing to pay for something stylish and multi-functional, this heating and cooling system can be used to evenly warm up or cool a full room, despite its small stature. In addition, it also purifies the air with HEPA filters that capture 99.97% of fine particles.
You can select direct airflow or oscillation, and as there are no blades, this may also be an option that is safer when children are around. The device also comes with a remote control, but can be controlled by the Dyson app or a compatible smart voice assistant.
Pros:
- Cools the air while also purifying it from allergens and pollutants
- Control via app, remote, or smart voice assistant
Cons:
- Most expensive option on this list
Aicheson Laptop Cooling Pad
Best for cooling your laptop
Features: 2 color options | 1.76lbs | 5 fans
Sweaty palms and foreheads are not the only consequences of temperatures rising — our devices can suffer, too. Overheating PCs can slow down, whirring fans can be an annoyance, and in the worst cases, frozen and crashed systems may need time to cool down before you can resume your tasks.
To prevent the temperature in your home office from impacting the performance of your laptop, a cooling pad is a worthwhile investment. Options include the Aicheson laptop cooling pad, a cooler suitable for laptops up to 17.3-inches, which covers the majority of consumer devices out there.
This model, which comes in either blue or red, is equipped with a silicone holder and five fans, and the pad’s height can also be adjusted for comfort.
Pros:
- Adjustable stand heights
- Helps keep your laptop at a normal temperature while working
Cons:
- Gaming laptops might need a different option
Razer Phone Cooler Chroma
Best for cooling your phone
Features: MagSafe compatible | 7-blade fan | 12 RGB LEDs
It’s always frustrating when your smartphone starts to overheat, and it’s not good for your device either. When your phone gets too hot, it can experience problems like battery drain, forced shutdown, or general slowness in web browsing and downloads.
Razer’s Phone Cooler Chroma helps solve this problem by connecting to the back of your phone and drawing heat away from it using its 7-blade fan. For iPhone users, it connects via MagSafe on iPhone models 12 and above, and for Android users there is a universal clamp option.
Pros:
- Draws heat away from your smartphone
- Great for mobile gaming
Cons:
- Make sure your phone is compatible
Mainstays Evaporative Air Cooler
Best portable option
Features: 2 color options | 3-speed fan | 2.55 pounds
If you are looking for a small, portable cooler you can bring into your home office and also easily use in other rooms, the Mainstays personal space mini air cooler could be a great fit.
The mini cooler is tiny — coming in at only 8×6.89×7.87 inches — and uses tap water rather than ice or advanced filters to push cold air into a room. Users can pick from two speeds and will be alerted when water levels run low. In addition, it runs up to eight hours per fill, aka, your average workday.
Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Portable and cool air
Cons:
- Not ideal for larger rooms
Cooluli Mini Fridge
Best for beverages
Features: 4 pounds | Cools down to: 35°–40°F and warms up to 149°F | 7 color options
It’s super important to stay hydrated when hot, so consider snapping up a small fridge such as the Cooluli mini fridge, available on Best Buy, to stash a few drinks in and to enjoy during work hours.
The Cooluli Classic, available in a variety of colors and patterns, cools down items by 35 – 40F below ambient temperature and has a 0.14 cubic.ft. storage capacity. If you don’t have the means to hook it up to the mains, a USB-based power bank can be used as an alternative.
When the weather changes, the fridge can also be used to warm up food and drinks, too.
Pros:
- Keeps drinks, medications, skincare, snacks, and more cool in your office space
- Can connect via USB
Cons:
- Super compact size may not fit much
What is the best home office cooling solution?
Our recommendation is the Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Purifying Heater and Fan since it’s an all-in-one device that heats, cools, and purifies the air. However, any of the products on our list are great cooling options—it just depends on what you want/need.
|
Product |
Price |
What does it cool? |
Features |
|
Dyson Pure |
$549.99 |
Large rooms |
HEPA Filters, 350-degree oscillation, night-time mode |
|
Aicheson Laptop Cooling Pad |
$25.99 |
Laptops |
Adjustable stand heights and 5 fans |
|
Razer Phone Cooler Chromas |
$59.99 |
Smartphones |
7-blade fan and 12 RGB LEDs |
|
Mainstays Evaporative Air Cooler |
$29 |
Small rooms |
3-speed fan, runs up to 8 hours per fill, uses tap water rather than ice |
|
Cooluli Mini Fridge |
$49.99 |
Beverages, skincare, medications, snacks, etc. |
Cools down to: 35°–40°F and a USB-based power bank |
Which cooling solution is right for you?
It is important that you make sure that there is a comfortable temperature in your home office, but we can’t forget to maintain and keep our devices as cool as possible, too, to prevent overheating and to extend their overall lifespans.
Beyond stands and the regular removal of dust and debris that can clog up our machines, you should also consider keeping your electronics out of direct sunlight, you should not stack devices on top of each other, and you should position them to allow for as much airflow as possible.
If your organization is mulling over a permanent work from home setup or hybrid model, it might be worth considering an investment for your home office that will keep you comfortable in the long term.
|
Choose this cooling solution… |
If you want… |
|
Dyson Pure |
The best overall option |
|
Aicheson Laptop Cooling Pad |
A solution to cool down your laptop while working |
|
Razer Phone Cooler Chromas |
To cool down your smartphone for mobile gaming |
|
Mainstays Evaporative Air Cooler |
To cool down a small room |
|
Cooluli Mini Fridge |
To keep beverages and more cold |
How did we select these cooling solutions?
We considered a range of cooling systems that could be considered long-term investments — especially considering many of us will be working from home for the foreseeable future — as well as budget-friendly options and products that are portable, multi-purpose, and can travel with you.
Why do I need to keep my electronics cool?
All modern electronics produce heat. If our devices are working too hard or airflow is interrupted, we may notice more warmth than usual emanating from them — and this can also be a sign that hardware is wearing out and due for replacement.
By regulating temperature, this may extend the life of your electronics, stop your devices from shutting down or becoming unresponsive, as well as prevent any permanent damage to circuits.
What are other methods to keep my devices from overheating?
The easiest method is to keep your electronics out of direct sunlight. Stacking them, too, can put pressure on hardware already feeling the heat, and making sure that dust has not collected or is causing airflow issues on a frequent basis is recommended. You should always leave an air gap between a laptop or tower PC’s vents and walls, too.
Are there alternative home office cooling solutions to consider?
Here are a few other options to look into:
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