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The 5 best home office cooling solutions: Beat the heat

What is the best home office cooling solution? ZDNet's top pick is the Dyson Pure. We listed the top accessories for you and your office to stay cool while working from home.
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Purifying Heater and Fan | Best overall option
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Purifying Heater and Fan
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Purifying Heater and Fan
Best overall option
View now View at Best Buy
Aicheson Laptop Cooling Pad | Best for cooling your laptop
Aicheson Laptop Cooling Pad
Aicheson Laptop Cooling Pad
Best for cooling your laptop
View now View at Amazon
Razer Phone Cooler Chroma | Best for cooling your phone
Razer Phone Cooler Chroma
Razer Phone Cooler Chroma
Best for cooling your phone
View now View at Amazon
Mainstays Evaporative Air Cooler | Best portable option
Mainstays Evaporative Air Cooler
Mainstays Evaporative Air Cooler
Best portable option
View now View at Walmart
Cooluli Mini Fridge | Best for beverages
Cooluli Mini Fridge
Cooluli Mini Fridge
Best for beverages
View now View at Best Buy

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. 

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

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

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 

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 8x6.89x7.87 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

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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