Are you one of those people who runs hot? Or do you crank up the heat - because you're always cold?
A new device -- called the Ember Wave-- could bring a truce to thermostat wars in your home or office.
It's a device you wear on your wrist that promises to help keep you more comfortable.
But does it really work?
Jodi Kogovsek is like the Heat Miser.
“I'm always hot, I've always been hot, that's just me,” she says.
She has no problem with winter and you can usually find her wearing a t-shirt and rarely a jacket when she’s outside. Her hands are so warm she can melt the ice on her car windows with a touch.
So we asked her to test a new device called the Embr Wave. Marketed as your personal thermostat and developed by MIT Scientists. The Embr Wave claims to cool you down when you’re hot and warm you up when you’re cold. So what was Jodi’s first impression?
“I thought it was extremely clunky and huge,” she said.
But as an admitted skeptic, she was still game to give it a try.
According to the company, the Embr Wave uses thermoelectrics and precisely engineered algorithms to produce effective temperature waves. The device has a light bar, hold down the blue side for cold and the red side for heat. It heats and cools quickly.
“You can actually feel it getting getting cool underneath and it lasts for awhile and it will go intermittently in little bursts so like I would feel it in my sleep,” Jodi said.
She’s used to always keeping her hair up in a pony tail because she sweats, a lot. She’s usually turning down the thermostat in her home too, but after a few hours of wearing it, she noticed a difference.
“I was actually comfortable for the first time in a long time in my own house and I was like wow,” she said.
But she was still skeptical so she kept it on for two days until the charge died. Then she had to admit something.
“I was very surprised, it has kept me comfortable, when I had to take it off to recharge it I went back to my hot, hot self, but when I put it back on, within a half hour I was feeling the difference,” she said.
Jodi gives the device high marks, but sees a lot of room for improvement.
“I think it's overpriced and not worth it and it's big and it's clunky and it's uncomfortable to wear,” she said.
At $299 it’s not cheap, but she says for those who are desperate, and have the money, she would say give it a try. Reviews on the website indicate the company was pretty good at accepting returns too.
Jodi says the charge lasted two days, and she now wishes she had it when she was going through menopause to cool down those hellish hot flashes.
Learn more about the Embr Wave by clicking here.