Indian inventor develops clothes to heat or cool wearer

An Indian inventor is developing clothes which keep the wearer comfortable in extreme temperatures. Kranthi Kiran Vistakula started with a jacket and is now applying his idea to shoes, scarves and even dinner plates. The clothes use Peltier light-weight plastic plates with a thermo electric device.



The device is powered by rechargeable batteries which can be topped up by vehicles or even solar panels. They can last up to eight hours on one charge. A Peltier plate consists of a junction between two metals. When an electric current passes through the junction, metal on one side heats up and on the other side it cools down.

The climate-controlled jacket, which weighs a little more than 1kg, has been successfully tested by the Indian army in Siachen glacier where temperatures are as low as -40C in winter. Mr Vistakula's company, Dhama Innovations, is now developing a range of other products using the same technology.


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Mr Vistakula is now setting up a manufacturing facility near Hyderabad for the mass production of his products, which include jackets, shoes, scarves, gloves and ear muffs. He is even considering a special jacket for cows. "Basically when the cow is cooled, it gives more milk in summer," he explained. "So we're working on a jacket like that - a huge one."