AEG 12V Heated Hoodie

TERRIBLE - DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY – I purchased a Heated Hoodie as a gift. Not only did it take forever to be delivered,imagine my surprise when the gift was opened and there was no battery or charger. Emailed with my concern and was told that the battery and charger are sold separately! Wait, what?! Who sells a heated hoodie without the battery? Of course I check the website and there is no mention of purchasing the battery and charger separately. Not only that they don't offer a battery or charger on the website. Now I find out that tge hoodie is discontinued!! Still no respone from the company.

I love my hoodie. Without a battery it is very comfortable. With a battery it is fantastic – I am wearing my jacket now. This one is three years old and has been washed numerous times. It has faded slightly from washing but other than that it is still as good as when I bought it. Two years ago I bought another hoodie and a jacket. Great products.

after 3 months + the middle of winter – I recently moved down from bris to melb and was struggling with the cold. I got this hoodie from bunnings for $99 without any battery or chargers on impulse. I'm not an aeg person so didn't have any batteries or chargers for it (I've got all ryobi 18v) so for the first few weeks I wore it like a normal hoodie. The jacket itself is actually really great quality. By its self it’s probably an $80 jacket anywhere else with a quality waffle liner good zips and good stitching + its quite heavy and thick for a hoodie. However after a month it started to get those little lint balls on the outside. Annoying, but manageable with a lint razor.

After a month I caved and bought the batteries. However the jacket (not hoodie) kit is 199 and comes with 1 charger and 1 battery, It seems water proof and wind resistant on the outside. I opted for the hoodie so I could wear it under a normal leather jacket, unfortunately the hoodie doesn't have the option of coming in a kit. Bunning wants an extra $60 per bat and $75 for a charger. So instead i bought the 199 2pc drill/impact kit which came with 2 batteries and a charger. Then I sold the drills on ebay for $65ea after ebay fees and postage The 2 batteries and charger ended up costing me $90. Bargain. Going the other full retail way it would have cost 395 vs 190. That said, if you’re in need of a drill the 12v aeg ones are dam good and very compact! For the extra 100 or so it would probably be worth keeping. I unfortunately already have 6 drills and can’t justify 2 more.

So now I have the batteries and charger and its getting cold. The basic's are yes it does heat, yes it does make a difference, no it’s not as much as I was hoping for and now some of the design flaws start to show.

First the jacket has 3 heating zones. 1 upper back and 1 above each breast. They get warm and at temps around 7+degrees they work great. Anything bellow that and it’s useless. So keep that in mind if your waking up crazy early. However with even some mild physical exertion bellow those temps it starts to make a difference.

Second is the lack of heat zones under the pockets. I would have loved to see some even small amounts of heat under the pockets to keep your hands warm, I still have to wear gloves as my fingers go numb as hell.

Third is the battery location. On the left side, basically just bellow your kidney. Its good but not great. When sitting on normal seats I can’t notice it, but when you sit in the car it’s like a battery being shoved into your kidney. Plus it sits right in line with the seat belt so it’s like having a seat belt shove a battery into your kidney. Though keep in mind I'm a medium size and have an avg/slim build. Not sure how it would be with a xxxL etc.

Four, Well why don't I just use the included battery belt clip and put it on the belt? AHHA! You'd think that would be useful but aeg either in a move of tightassery to save 15cents or in a marketing ploy to force you to buy the 12v car lighter socket plug ($29) (which i haven’t bought yet but assume can be used to extend the cable) has made the cable that comes out of the jacket and attaches to the battery too short to be useful for any battery location other then the kidney pocket. If you try to put it on your belt any movement more than a slight yawn with tug the battery up and make it come off the belt. I assume you can use the 12v lighter cable to extend it but haven’t bought it yet so can’t confirm. I would have loved to seen a longer cable that would have allowed me to put the battery in say the pocket. Or a rubber grommet that would have allowed the cable to pass though the inside of the jacket to the left pocket, where you could hold the battery. Would also make the usb charging port super handy for headphones etc

So far I've washed it twice. It’s a bit of a pain to do as you can’t machine wash or dry it due to not wanting to get the heating elements tangled/ripped etc. So I've taken to wearing it (with no bat) in the shower, give it a soapy wipe inside and out rinse and hang under the heater to dry. Works ok but feels like I’m living in the 1800's washing clothes in a creek.

One of the good things though is the battery size. The 2ah is the right size and shape to make this work. Since its round it’s a lot easier to pocket. Just trying to get my T/ L shaped ryobi 18v into a pocket is a pain. I wouldn’t bother buying the 4ah battery as the shape would be to awkward.

On a high setting it last's several hours (3ish) I haven’t used the low settings as they are largely pointless for me, But nice to have.

All in all not horrible. Some design flaws. But a quality hoodie that’s probably as good as it gets. Possibly the most expensive hoodie you’ll ever buy. If you already have the aeg 12v batteries/charger or you ride a motorbike and just need the extra $30 12v plug then this is a no brainier. Unfortunately there’s not many alternatives, most other companies only make jackets. I’m tempted to buy another one rip out the heating element and sew it into my good leather jacket, though I wouldn't recommend that while under warranty ;P