How Do Heated Jackets Work?

If you're going to spend a lot of time outdoors during the colder months, (whether for enjoyment or employment) you'll really feel the benefit of wearing a heated jacket. Gone are the days of wandering out of the house in the morning to be met with the cold bite of winter, even if it's just to quickly run from your front door and into your car or to stop you from freezing whilst defrosting it.

Heated Jackets: Everything You Need To Know

Sceptical about heated jackets? Read on to have your questions answered.

How Do Heated Jackets Actually Work?

Heated jackets work similarly to heated blankets and heated car seats. During assembly, the back of each jacket is lined with an electronically powered copper heating zone, powered by a battery pack which sits within an inside pocket. They’re toggled on and off via a small temperature control inside the jacket, of which there’s up to three different heating settings to choose from on our range-topping Volter Shield II.

A Diagram of each component in a regatta heated jacket

How Long Does The Battery Pack Last?

On a full charge, you can expect up to two hours worth of continuous heating from our entry-level Voltera & Volter Loft II heated jackets and up to six hours from the Voltera III & Volter Shield III, though this is best used in short bursts to conserve some battery power for when you need really need it. The battery itself is USB powered and is sold separately from the heated jacket. We recommend disconnecting the battery when you aren’t wearing the jacket as the battery can slowly drain over time.

Fun Fact: You can also charge your smartphone!

Heated Puffer Jacket Showcase
Heated Puffer Jacket 2
Heated Jacket Phone Charger

How Long Do Heated Jackets Take To Heat Up?

Our heated jackets don’t warm up instantaneously, they’ll take a few minutes to fully get going to a point where you’ll start to feel the benefit. Once you’re fully warmed up, you won’t need to keep the heating functionality switched on, as our insulating THERMOGUARD technology will take over and help to retain all the core body heat you’ve built up.

Are Heated Jackets Safe?

Yes. Heated jackets are safe, though scepticism on their safety is reasonable as water and electricity doesn’t make for a healthy combination. If the jacket were to somehow get wet inside the lining, we would advise taking the jacket off and disconnecting the battery immediately, though getting wet won’t damage the jacket. The temperature control embedded within the jacket is waterproof, and you can even wash the jacket in your washing machine as long as the USB battery is removed before washing. It’s also worth nothing that you should not use a heated jacket if you suffer from a serious illness or chronic health condition such as heart disease, anaemia, low blood pressure, paralysis, hypertension, diabetes or any other condition that causes poor circulation.

As for the battery, you’re protected by a variety of safety features, including:

  • Over Charge & Discharge Protection
  •  Over Voltage Protection
  •  Over Current Protection
  •  Short Circuit Protection
  •  Over & Under Temperature Protection
  • Loop Back Protection

What About Overheating?

Our heated jackets have an internal thermostat, so that they only heat up to the desired temperature setting you have set it to. However, if the temperature were to exceed this setting for any reason, there’s a built in safety cut-out which will turn the jacket off immediately.

Looking For Your Next Heated Jacket?

Discover Regatta Great Outdoors’ entire range of heated jackets.

12 comments

  1. Alistair 26 January, 2021 at 18:08 Reply

    I’m delighted with my heated coat but the 2 hour life of the 5000mAh battery pack is less than ideal. I see that the same GP Powerbank battery manufacturer also makes a 15000mAh version which presumably will last longer. Is this safe to use with my coat?
    Many thanks

    • Christopher Taylor 1 February, 2021 at 11:58 Reply

      Hi Alistair, glad to hear you’re enjoying your heated jacket – certainly useful over the past few icy weeks we’ve had. The 15000mAh battery should last 3 times longer but will be bigger and heavier. It’s a balance of comfort/size/performance. We can only recommend the 5000mAh battery that we sell as we carried out additional safety tests on it. However, GP is an excellent brand who takes safety very seriously and their 15000mAh (PowerBank MP15MA) version has the spec that would work with the jacket.

  2. Janette 12 February, 2021 at 18:20 Reply

    I purchased a heated coat and didn’t realise the power bank came separately – by the time I did it had sold out at Regatta, so thank you for this information I was concerned whether a different one would be safe, now I know what to look for.

  3. Clarissa Thompson 5 September, 2021 at 21:45 Reply

    How long does the battery last for the womens £200 parka jacket and the more expensive £240 womens jacket (what is the difference between the two jackets?) . With both do you purchase the battery pack as well ?thanks

    • Christopher Taylor 8 September, 2021 at 14:32 Reply

      Hi Clarissa, thanks for your question. The batteries are sold separately to the jackets, you’ll be able to pick one up here. As for the two jackets – our range topping Voltera III (£240) has three settings. The maximum setting has a battery life of 2 hours, whilst the lowest setting will work for up to 6 hours. The £200 heated parka jacket has one setting and a battery life of two hours.

  4. EM 30 September, 2021 at 11:43 Reply

    Hi, you said that: “you should not use a heated jacket if you suffer from a serious illness or chronic health condition such as heart disease, anaemia, low blood pressure, paralysis, hypertension, diabetes or any other condition that causes poor circulation”

    What about Raynaud’s? I had thought these jackets may help with this condition, but not sure now given the above.

    Which of the mens jackets has the heating panels in the pockets?

    Thanks

    • Christopher Taylor 11 October, 2021 at 11:13 Reply

      Hi, thanks for your question – the disclaimer is there as the heated jackets don’t undergo any form of medical testing. For these cases, we recommend that people check with their GP if they wish to give the jackets a try, just as each case is unique to the person and we can’t make generalizations about the jackets safety from a medical standpoint. As for your question about the heated jacket pockets, the one you’re after is the Volter Shield III

  5. Tracey 13 October, 2021 at 14:41 Reply

    I’ve bought a heated coat and it doesn’t give any instructions on charging. I’ve had it on charge for 3 hours now and it’s still not charged. The button goes either Red,White or
    Blue. Does it have to be on a certain colour to charge?
    It would be helpful to have some kind of instructions on the coat.
    Also what about washing the charger won’t come out so when I wash it it’s going to go rusty.

    • Christopher Taylor 14 October, 2021 at 07:52 Reply

      Hi Tracey, the heated jackets do come with instructions accompanying them, in this instance they could’ve potentially fallen off somewhere. The jacket itself doesn’t charge up, it needs to be plugged into an USB power bank which is sold separately (found here). Once the power bank is charged, your jacket should be working. As for washing, each jacket has a silicone cover designed to go over the charger to prevent rust. If you check out our demonstration video here at 2:30, you can see what to look out for – https://youtu.be/P_i1NCi8AMY?t=150.

Leave a Reply to Janette Cancel reply