Overhead Raft

Many large workspaces such as factories and warehouses are prohibitively expensive to heat; warm air rises, so heating air in a high bay building in winter can be a futile and wasteful exercise. In contrast, NexGen’s raft provides comfort warmth to the area directly below it by delivering gentle infrared energy to people and surfaces in that space. The heating is largely directional, so rather than being lost to convection, most of the energy goes via infrared directly into the surfaces and people below the raft.

A single raft can provide comfort warmth to a workspace in a large, open warehouse which is otherwise unheated. This ability to heat individual workspaces means that organisations can save money by avoiding heating a huge space with only a few people in it. The raft warms up within minutes, so the workspace only needs to be heated while the worker is present. This avoid the expense of heating the facility gradually, in advance of the area being occupied.

Each raft is wired into an ultra-low voltage electrical transformer which is mounted above the raft – this is supplied by a standard mains connection. The power for each raft is simply controlled by a switch.

We use low-voltage power for two reasons: First, it’s much safer – even if you manage to damage the unit and short-circuit the power supply, an electric shock would not be dangerous to human health. Second, a low voltage supply heats the tile very gently, so the surface temperature of the tile remains low – typically in the range of 40-50C. This provides a gentle, comfortable warmth in the area under the tiles, and in the event that someone reaches up to touch the ceiling, there is no risk of fingers being burned.