VARME Hand Heater makes the job at the PC more comfortable
More than one in 20 of us have cold hands all the time. It can be uncomfortable and bothersome when you must work, for example at a computer.
Engineer Søren Abildgaard and economist Michael Hyldgaard stands behind the product Varme, as they named it. It's a pair of fixed wings that a user plugs into the mains via a 60-W adapter and switch it on. Shortly after, heat radiates down onto the hands, so it feels comfortable and increases performance.
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In a time of expensive electricity, it is nice to know that the consumption of electricity is minimal, and there is no risk of the hand heater igniting paper or anything else lying on the desk.
"There are no glowing elements and therefore no risk of overheating," says Søren Abildgaard.
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Very cheap to operate
"Even when electricity is the most expensive, it will cost just a few cents to have the heater on for an hours," says Michael Hyldgaard
"It all started in 2012. My brother worked as a church servant in Viborg Cathedral and told me about their huge heating bill. They had to warm up the full cathedral so that the organist could practice - that is, so that the organist could keep his hands warm," explains Søren Abildgaard and continues:
"I had come up with infrared LED and the possibility of focusing the heat radiation with low energy consumption. With the organist, I now had a very precise goal, namely cold hands. And it wasn't just a problem for him, but many others, I soon understood. That's why I started to explore the possibilities more closely," says he, who is 51 years old and has 68-year-old Michael Hyldgaard with him on finance and marketing. Both are from Aarhus, Denmark.
Conceptual development
The VARME team have recieved important guidance from
Hui Zhang, PhD, who is a Research Specialist at the Center for the Built Environment at UC Berkeley. Here, Hui Zhang explain her interest in the VARME project and how she sees VARME helps to keep hands warm, improves comfort and reduces the energy consumption.
Product design
The design of the VARME hand heater is conceived by the Danish architect
Anne Qvist who have also been a major support to our project.
"Working with design is a great passion for me. I'm really interested in the object, its place in the room or the landscape and its relationship with human beings. I love the challenge, especially the challenge of something new. IR FOCUS's concept of using the heat generated by LED is extremely interesting to me.
Our general approach was to productize the technology into products that could also attract investors’attention and show what this new technology could be used for. We have developed a series of different products. " Anne Qvist explains and continues:
"The 'Hand Heater is a favorite design of mine because it meets a need - 10% of all people have very cold hands. That's awesome - a real problem and a design solution that communicates IR FOCUS's vision.
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With the hand heater, I have tried to create a design that fits into different settings - the office, computer gaming, the home etc. Different colors in textile give a white range of options. I'm really excited about going to market with this new product."
Safety design
There are always safety concerns where heat is produced. The hand heater adresses these with a clever design and the inventive use of infrared LED technology.
"The infrared heat is not too strong to become a risk, because it is sent from 8 LEDs distributed in the width of the hand heater," says Søren Abildgaard. "The LED spots then direct the heat as kind of parallel beams, each not strong enough to do any harm."
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Furthermore, the infrared LED's are mounted into a heat-dissipating cast aluminum frame surrounded in an insulating cover to protect the user when handling the powered-on device.
As with any other high power electronics, the infrared LED's produce excess heat that needs to be removed from the hand heater through convection to the surrounding air. However, with our design we keep all surface within acceptable temperatures. Actually, many of our users likes to put their hands directly on the hand heater after, for example, they have been out for a walk.
User: More pleasant day
Janne Dalgaard Nielsen is accountant at the company Beierholm, and she has been using the hand warmer for half a year.
"I tend to have cold hands, and when I work at my PC and the weather is cold, I turn on the hand warmer and it immediately helps. It does not send a stream of air, but heats up the keyboard and makes it warm in a good way. It feels very comfortable, because if you freeze your hands, it affects the rest of your body. I can have the hand warmer on for a whole working day, but occasionally turn it off. The heat from it certainly makes my working day more pleasant and efficient," says Janne Dalgaard Nielsen
Read more reviews on Trustpilot.
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How VARME works
The heat waves are emmitted from eight infrared LEDs that raises the temperature by 10 °C in front of it. When the hands are within the working area, they recieve the soft and pleasant warmth. This makes the hands and fingers more flexible.
Søren Abildgaard, co-founder, explains the technology.
The video below show the hand heater being turned on, and how it then heats the area in front of it. After one minute, the temperature in the target area is up by 6 °C and is still raising. Meanwhile, the hand heater itself stay with only minor temperatur elevation.
The snow melts in the heat spot from the hand heater.
Specifications
Try follow this
link to see the engineering design.
Going to market
We have been confirmed in our thesis about the need for hand heaters and our product has proved of high value to our users. This has encouraged us, and we are now more determined that ever to bring our product to the market. We therefore have established full supply chain and have had the first small series produced.
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We have done type testing to the relevant standards for the European markets, but needs also testing for the American market. We are in process to get the American type testing, and the funding from this campaign will be an important help.
We care about earth resources, and this includes packaging and transport. We therefore have a custom designed packaging that minizes the use of material, and the size during transport. You will recieve the VARME hand heater in this custom produced packaging.
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VARME on Indiegogo
We are still an early start-up, meaning, we are two co-founders, Søren Stig Abildgaard and Michael Hyldgaard, who works on VARME only in our sparetime.
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Nevertheless, we have succeded to develop the VARME hand heater and have established the full supply chain for its production. We have recieved the first small series of hand heaters and keep this stock of finished boxed products ready to be shipped.
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A challenge to our project is, that it seems not to fit to any retailers or other established distributors. We need to develop the market our selves and that means we need happy customers who can share their experiences and become advocates.
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We have learned, those who struggle with cold hands always knows of others in same situation. We need the first customers, and that is why this Indiegogo is extreemely important to us.
Your support by buying one of our hand heater will be invaluable to us, and we will do our utmost to meet your expectations by doing great service.
Campaign prices - the perks
We have 30 hand heaters on Early Bird price at $170 / DKK 1190 / €160 / £141
During the two week campaign the prices will be $220 / DKK 1540 / €207 / £183
Please be aware, that shipment fees will be added.
