Convection vs NexGen
- a comparison
Traditional convection systems warm the air and circulate it around rooms. While well understood, this approach has disadvantages:
- Radiator energy loss: radiators are typically sited on external walls and under windows in order to reduce the heat gradient across a room – to avoid cold spots. Unfortunately, this means that the hottest part of the heating system is located next to the coldest external surface, thereby maximising the heat loss through the wall and the window.
- Slow warm-up: the radiator and the air take a long time to heat, so the heating is turned on a long time before the room is to be occupied.
- Fast cool-down: Poorly insulated or draughty properties can suffer multiple air changes every hour – so warm air is lost quickly.
In contrast, NexGen covers the ceiling, so all parts of a room are warmed. NexGen’s infrared energy passes through the air and heats our skin directly and quickly. Infrared therefore isn’t so sensitive to leaks of warm air.
NexGen’s infrared systems work very differently to convection systems. NexGen skips the process of heating air and uses Far Infrared heat to warm people and the room directly. This leads to several efficiencies:
- We feel warm at lower air temperatures. When we step out of shade and into sunlight, we feel immediately warmer – even though the air temperature is the same – because we are feeling infrared from the sun. In the same way, we feel warmth from NexGen’s infrared without making the air temperature higher. Hence room temperatures can be lower, saving energy.
- Rapid warmth: Only takes 2-3 minutes to reach comfort warmth, so less energy is lost during warm-up.
- Bounces back off glass: Infrared doesn’t pass through glass, so energy stays within the room.
- Slow cool-down: Infrared energy is stored in objects and the fabric of the room. This energy is re-radiated into the room even after power is switched off, keeping the room warmer for longer.
- Uniform heat: Low temperature and large surface area coverage of ceiling (~80%) distributes heat to all corners of room.
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