cooling vest update: I finally have enough tubing length that I assembled the entire system in my bedroom.
it seems like it has enough cooling power that when I'm sitting in this bedroom, in the morning, on the sunny side of the house, with windows closed and no A/C running, it keeps me pleasantly chill. this is in contrast to the feeling of choking from heat that I would normally feel in such conditions, and indeed felt until I donned the vest
seems like it works :D
it actually doesn't feel that cold. i think there's 13C water running through it (i forgot where i put my only off the shelf thermostat & i was too dying from heat hot to construct one) but the silicone tubing isn't that conductive; in any case, it feels "normal" more than anything. "normal" as in "not agonizing"
btw the power consumption @ 24V is only 80 W, so this is a much much greener alternative to traditional AC, comparatively speaking. you're consuming 10-30× less power depending on the size of a comparable portable or split system
not to imply that the latter are somehow bad, it's just a nice aspect of this particular one. it also has barely any refrigerant inside.
