Heated clothing can help against freezing in winter, but it also has many disadvantages. Find out what they are and what alternatives there are here.
So you can enjoy time outside when finishing looking through the online sportsbook. Heated clothing is available in a wide variety of designs: from jackets to shoe soles to gloves, you can dress in it from head to toe.
The heating elements used in the clothes, such as wires and thin flexible heating foils, are heated by lithium-ion batteries, which can have a runtime of up to ten hours, depending on use and location.
You can adjust how much the clothing heats by pressing a button or, in newer models, even on your smartphone via an app.
But there are some advantages and disadvantages of heated clothing. Heated clothing promises cozy warmth in winter. However, the disadvantages outweigh them.
One obvious advantage is that heated clothing is not only warm, but actively warms you, so you don’t freeze, or at least freeze less. Plus, you can still wear a heated fall jacket into the winter, saving you the need for a thick winter jacket.
However, the heat in heated clothing is generated by lithium-ion batteries, which have some disadvantages. They are sensitive to cold, so using them in heated clothing is questionable.
In addition, these batteries can be dangerous, because in extreme cases they can heat up strongly in the event of a defect and suddenly ignite or even explode. If they are not regularly recharged over the summer, they can be broken by the next winter.
CAN YOU WASH THEM?
Washing also becomes problematic with heated clothing. If you can’t remove the heating plates, you either can’t wash the garment or have to hope they survive a wash cycle.
If the battery then no longer works, you are faced with the problem of disposal, as the consumer center Hamburg informs. The clothes do not belong directly in the old clothes container, you would have to remove all electronic components first.
But sometimes that’s not even possible, so you’re left with either broken clothes or electronic waste that’s costly to dispose of.
The mining of the limited resources lithium and cobalt oxide is also very problematic because of the negative effects on nature and people. In Congo, for example, cobalt is often mined using child labor, and accidents at work are commonplace due to the lack of safety clothing.
The workers, who see no other way out than to work in the mines because of poverty, are exploited. Among other things, lithium mining can lead to the pollution of water bodies, exacerbate water shortages and cause severe environmental pollution due to the chemicals used.
In addition, according to the consumer advice center in Hamburg, it is not so good to keep warm all the time. Heated clothing can weaken the body’s own heat-balancing mechanism – you’re no longer used to the cold and consequently freeze faster.
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IS IT WORTH IT?
Instead of heated clothing, a warm tea from a thermos can also provide relief on the go. Even if heated clothing seems like a good idea at first glance, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages: The clothes are often not very durable and difficult to dispose of.
Not only do the built-in batteries pose a fire hazard when worn directly on the body, but the mining of the resources needed for them is problematic for people and nature.
Also, heated clothing can weaken the body’s natural thermoregulation and make you more sensitive to cold. The exception where it can be really helpful and necessary is in extreme cold situations and certain illnesses where people need to keep warm permanently.
If this is not the case with you, it is better to dress in a twilight look and additionally warm yourself with tea from a thermos flask, for example.
You can also wear thermal underwear instead of heated clothing to protect you from the cold temperatures.
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Tip: When buying clothing of any kind, look for natural materials in organic quality and from fair production. You can get inspired by the fashion labels from our best list for organic underwear or best list for fair clothing.
