How does NexGen work?
All NexGen products are based on a core heating element made from a specially constructed, largely carbon-based material which sits between two copper electrodes. The element is encapsulated within water-resistant and fireproof sheets of paper. When low voltage electricity is passed between the electrodes, the element warms up to around 40-50oC. At this temperature, the NexGen ‘paper’ emits energy mainly in the form of far infrared, which we feel as warmth.
The NexGen paper emits infrared both upwards and downwards. Humans feel the energy that is emitted downwards, not upwards, so we minimise the heat lost upwards into the ceiling by placing insulation between the paper and the ceiling. This solution appears in three different formats:
- long sheets of ceiling paper (up to 3m long x 75cm wide) with fireproof foam backing – ‘mats’
- 60cm x 60cm squares of phenolic covered on one side with NexGen paper – ‘tiles’
- 2m x 1m panels of phenolic, again covered on one side with NexGen paper – ‘rafts’
Some well-insulated properties – particularly new-builds – don’t need the extra insulation, so in these cases, we simply install NexGen as a ceiling
Humans feel infrared in a different way to convection. Infrared passes through the air and reaches objects, including human skin, directly. Some of it passes deep into our flesh, but we feel infrared primarily through the thermoreceptor cells which are around 0.5mm beneath the surface of our skin. Thus we can feel warm under the influence of infrared even when the air around us is cool.
