Warmtepanelen, studio C.a.R.e

“BoTu krijgt het warm!” (BoTu gets it warm)

With this headline as a motto, we rolled out a campaign to find inhabitants of the Rotterdam workers district Bospolder-Tussendijken (BoTu), who where in the situation of (voluntary) warmth scarcity and who committed their knowledge and handiness to create something unique:
a need-based, locally produced, circular (and beautiful) infrared warmth panel

We were overwhelmed by the creativity, playfulness and dedication of the group that formed over the course of in total 9 design- & making sessions.
Between the months September till November, the group crafted 9 panels in total, with some more ideas to be realised at a later time point.
From December on, each group member is testing their individual warmth panel in order to see if the design works and how much energy they are able to save by using the panel.
The basic idea of using highly efficient, low-consumption infrared warmth panels is: warm your body, not the space (and all the air therein). With an average consumption of 50W/h per panel to warm one´s body instead of up to 2400W/h for warming the space around it, the energy-saving potential is significant.

If you want to know more about the project details, please continue reading.

See also here for the making process.

Warmth panel project details

mission: designing, building and testing of versatile, locally made, circular (and beautiful) infrared warmth panels as a local alternative for fossil heating energy (gas) or high consumption electric heating devices, and also as a local alternative for (under questionable circumstances) industrially made heat emitting panels.

Specs:

infrared thermal radiation emitting carbon foil (very efficient: converts 99,9% of the electric current into thermal radiation) with a consumption of 160W/m²

connectable to the 240V net

variable build up, including a base and sometimes a hull or textile application

almost all materials – including the heat foil - are circular: rests from productions, leftovers or reused. Some special or technically necessary materials where bought new

variable dimensions, reaching from smaller panels with a ca 30cm x 40cm base to larger ones with a 120cm x 50cm base.

Scope:

the basic idea is: warm your body, not the space (and all the air therein)

the energy consumption reduction is significant: in a most ideal (or radical) situation, a person can safe more than 95% of the usually needed heating energy.

A short excerpt on the potential of energy saving:

If we set our thermostat 1°C lower, we can safe an average of 6% of energy. If we cumulate and go 3°C lower (e.g. form 21°C to 18°C), the effect cumulates, too, and can reach 20-30%.
This is already something.
If we would be able to use no additional heating at all, the effect would be very significant.
Rough example: a 50m² space would use an average of 7000 kWh per year to be warm.
If we would use no heating through the entire year, but warm ourselves just with warmth panels while sitting and for instance working in front of the computer or watching TV, and otherwise stay warm through moving, cooking, warm clothes etc., we would have an average consumption of 180 kWh per year.
This is roughly 3% of the classic central heating energy consumption.

“BoTu krijgt het warm!” (BoTu gets it warm) With this headline as a motto, we rolled out a campaign to find inhabitants of the Rotterdam workers district Bospolder-Tussendijken (BoTu), who where in the situation of (voluntary) warmth scarcity and who committed their knowledge and handiness to create something unique: a need-based, locally produced, circular (and beautiful) infrared warmth panel We were overwhelmed by the creativity, playfulness and dedication of the group that formed over the course of in total 9 design- & making sessions. Between the months September till November, the group crafted 9 panels in total, with some more ideas to be realised at a later time point.From December on, each group member is testing their individual warmth panel in order to see if the design works and how much energy they are able to save by using the panel.The basic idea of using highly efficient, low-consumption infrared warmth panels is: warm your body, not the space (and all the air therein). With an average consumption of 50W/h per panel to warm one´s body instead of up to 2400W/h for warming the space around it, the energy-saving potential is significant. If you want to know more about the project details, please continue reading.See also here for the making process. Warmth panel project details mission: designing, building and testing of versatile, locally made, circular (and beautiful) infrared warmth panels as a local alternative for fossil heating energy (gas) or high consumption electric heating devices, and also as a local alternative for (under questionable circumstances) industrially made heat emitting panels. Specs: infrared thermal radiation emitting carbon foil (very efficient: converts 99,9% of the electric current into thermal radiation) with a consumption of 160W/m² connectable to the 240V net variable build up, including a base and sometimes a hull or textile application almost all materials – including the heat foil - are circular: rests from productions, leftovers or reused. Some special or technically necessary materials where bought new variable dimensions, reaching from smaller panels with a ca 30cm x 40cm base to larger ones with a 120cm x 50cm base. Scope: the basic idea is: warm your body, not the space (and all the air therein) the energy consumption reduction is significant: in a most ideal (or radical) situation, a person can safe more than 95% of the usually needed heating energy. A short excerpt on the potential of energy saving: If we set our thermostat 1°C lower, we can safe an average of 6% of energy. If we cumulate and go 3°C lower (e.g. form 21°C to 18°C), the effect cumulates, too, and can reach 20-30%. This is already something.If we would be able to use no additional heating at all, the effect would be very significant.Rough example: a 50m² space would use an average of 7000 kWh per year to be warm.If we would use no heating through the entire year, but warm ourselves just with warmth panels while sitting and for instance working in front of the computer or watching TV, and otherwise stay warm through moving, cooking, warm clothes etc., we would have an average consumption of 180 kWh per year. This is roughly 3% of the classic central heating energy consumption.

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