As Britain swelters through its third heatwave, many people will be desperately looking to buy air conditioning units online.
But experts are warning against portable devices that claim to be ‘designed by NASA engineers’ and can ‘cool a room in 90 seconds’.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said some companies are exploiting demand, making exaggerated claims that lure desperate customers in.
A quick search by the Daily Mail found one online advert, which appears to feature AI-generated videos, for a portable AC that ‘brings down the temperature instantly’ by ‘blasting out a steady stream of cold air’.
The £69 device claims to cool a room from 34°C to 17°C in under two minutes.
However, one buyer compared it to a cheap fan, complaining that it did not cool their room at all.
‘With many of these ads appearing during hot weather, it’s easy to be drawn in by promises of quick, low-cost cooling,’ the ASA said in a statement.
‘But in reality, many of these products simply can’t deliver the performance advertised.
One online advert, which appears to feature AI-generated videos, is for an AC that ‘brings down the temperature instantly’. It claims to have a ‘patented airflow acceleration system’
The £69 device claims to cool a room from 34°C to 17°C in under two minutes – but one buyer compared it to a cheap fan
YouTuber Stuart Matthews bought a similar cube-shaped device online to test live on camera at home.
The ‘air con’, which boasts similar room-cooling abilities to the one mentioned above, runs off a USB cable and features a water reservoir that allegedly assists with the cooling mechanism.
Mr Matthews purchased the device, which cost around £80 including postage and packaging, to see if it would bring down the temperature in his workshop.
Holding it up to the camera, he said: ‘It’s a fairly light piece of kit, all made out of plastic with a bit of a vent that moves the air up and down and a bit of a fan at the back.
‘The advertising that goes along with this claims that this will chill quite a sizeable room by quite a number of degrees very quickly.’
After testing it, he concluded: ‘It’s the same as a fan – the sort of thing you’d buy for children when it’s a hot day.
‘I think it’s worth about a fiver. The best thing you can achieve from sitting in front of this for an hour is to be slightly damp from all that water being blown out.’
He added: ‘I do really feel for the people that have been sucked into buying some of this rubbish, because they’re the ones that normally can’t afford to lose their money.’
YouTuber Stuart Matthews bought a similar cube-shaped device online to test live on camera at home
After testing it, he concluded: ‘It’s the same as a fan – the sort of thing you’d buy for children when it’s a hot day
The ASA said people may have seen advertisements for portable air conditioning claims that ‘sound too good to be true’.
Some of the problems it has seen include claims that a small device can cool an entire room or even an entire home within minutes.
It also warned of exaggerated claims about how much energy the product uses or how much money it could save compared to a conventional air conditioner.
Some products may claim to have been developed with ‘revolutionary technology’, along with fake or misleading customer reviews claiming exceptional performance.
‘We’ve seen similar misleading ads before, particularly for mini-heaters during colder months, where exaggerated claims suggested small plug-in devices could replace conventional heating,’ it said.
Other red flags to watch out for include dramatic backstories, poor grammar or inconsistent branding.
The Daily Mail has contacted both AC companies mentioned in this story for comment.
