It may be the last gasp of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, but it’s always cold somewhere, whether it’s outdoors or inside. If you suffer from cold, stiff hands, you know how difficult it can be to work comfortably on a computer all day. Somehow, all that typing and mousing does little to warm things up. What you need are hand warmers, obviously, and they might as well be smart and made to fit your hands.
Fifteen-year-old [Printerforge] created these bad boys in an effort to learn how to code LCDs and control heat like Magneto controls ferrous metals. Thanks to digital control, they can heat up to specific temperatures, and they happen to run for a long time.
Power-wise, these warmers use a 18650 cell and a TP4056 charging module. Everything is controlled by an Arduino Nano, which reads from both a thermistor and a potentiometer to control the output.
[Printerforge] really thought this project through, as you’ll see in the Instructable. There’s everything from a table of design requirements to quick but thorough explanations of nichrome wire and basic electronic theory.
And then there’s the material consideration. [Printerforge] decided that polymer clay offers the best balance of heat conductivity and durability. They ended up with two styles — flat, and joystick grip. The best part is, everything can fit in a generous pocket.
Clay is good for a lot of things, like making the perfect custom mouse.
Can anyone tell me about their experience with electric hand warmers? They don’t sell in my part of the world even if its 0C or lower.
Is the battery life enough?
Hand warmers, no, but foot warmer and a heated vest i can. The vest has a battery the size of a bit larger than 2x AAs but smaller than 2x 18650. When over 0C, and not running it full blast and turning it off when i get to a car, it seems to do fine for about 6-8 hours. Under 0C, well you have to blast it more, so it does not last as long. Unfortunately mine does not have lower back warmer, which i really could use and i think is the most important to warm.
The foot warmers i have not used that much, because it’s kind of a hassle and over 0C i don’t need them, they take 2 x AA batteries. Trying to remember the battery life, for me it might be alright since i do not need to have them full on, but i think if it was a pair of 18650s it’d work for me for the 8 hours i need it, and then some. Same with the vest.
How well they work is much much more dependent on how and where you use them. Specifically, in a well insulated interior pocket they will actually do quite well. But anywhere they can leech that heat to the environment they are next to useless. Patch pockets on the outside of a coat usually are not insulated that well (if at all) so using them in there doesn’t work well. The absolute temperature they produce isn’t that much but the amount of heat they can put out is pretty ok. I hope that makes sense. Also same story with chemical warmers, those kinds that use little glowing ember rods (my favorite) etc.
The heated joystick as gross as it looks is a good idea not just for cold play but many heavy equipment operators who mostly sit and get less circulation to the limbs. That hand still has to be nimble for fine control over big loads.
Now to make a heated computer mouse.
Kudos to [Printerforge]! Thorough is definitely the right to describe that project write up. As I’m reading through, I’m realizing I may have most of the materials needed in the junk box – might try this out for my partner who has Raynaud’s.