First foldable thermal insulation material fascinates experts
with exceptional effect in practice

In stand N 800 the Dutch company TONZON shows the first foldable insulation material in the world, the TONZON Thermocushion. This product is based on the enclosure of (free available) air layers between strong foils with special surfaces. Research shows this technique gives a very high thermal resistance with a minimum investment of material and energy.  The Thermocushion weighs only 60 gram per square meter but make a ground floor even warmer than the air directly above the floor without using artificial added heat. A phenomenon that has wondered a lot of experts and consumers in other countries already. This is not a modern fairy tail or a perpetual mobile machine but pure reality. You can see an animation that explains how this is possible on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ8bPjWMCnc

Beside the remarkable Thermocushion TONZON developed the concept of a radiator foil that is applied on the backside of the radiator and not on the wall. This approach is more effective, convenient and more beautiful because this foil does its energy saving work invisibly since it is placed directly on the back of the radiator. For schools and other public buildings, this is really the only way to reduce heat loss behind radiators in an aesthetic way. 
See the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_L867FF228
The foil will be heated by the radiator, but has the property that it cannot radiate heat. Only the air that comes against it is heated. This warm air rises and warms the room. The rear wall will hardly gets heated. Technically the most perfect solution, since the radiation is shielded directly at the source. The advantage is that thanks to its heat resistant double sided tape the film will stuck for years to come. It is also easy to apply, without taking the radiator of the wall. If we want to reflect the heat from the radiator we would need a reflector much bigger than the radiator in order to reflect all the heat rays from the radiator. Often, however, is advised to use a reflector a little bit smaller then the radiator, so that it's not seen from the inside. Doing so, an important part of the energy saving power remains unused. The top of radiator is always the warmest. So exactly the most intense radiation is not reflected. Thereby most radiator foils reflect no more than 70 to 90% of the heat rays. Another disadvantage, when sealed to wall behind the radiator, is that they constantly come off and sometimes mould formation is taking place behind the foil. In a lot of practical situations, these films are already removed.

Beside these products TONZON puts 3 theorems on a 95 cm x 185 cm big wall poster at ECO-Build. Each of these theorems is more or less in contradiction with the thoughts and assumptions of many experts and consumers.

Theorem 1
A reflective foil underneath the tubes of a floor heating system has no thermal insulating effect at all.

On the wall poster we show infrared pictures of heated floors from above and below the floor. Underneath the tubes are reflective foils. The temperature of the top and the underside of the floor appear to be almost the same. In one case the underside is even warmer then the top probably due to the fact that the floor is covered with a carpet. The bottom of the crawling space underneath the suspended floors also is much to warm. These reproducible pictures show there is little or no effect of the reflective foil underneath the tubes. On scientific grounds it is easy to see that in fact there is no effect at all.

Explanation: A reflective foil only effects heat flow by thermal radiation but does not effect heat flow by conducting and convection. Inside the floor the warm water tubes do not emit thermal radiation so there is nothing to reflect. There is only a heat flow by thermal conduction from the warmer tubes to the colder material surrounding the tubes. The thermal resistance of a reflective foil is negligible, so the warmth is easily conducted through the foil.

Thermal radiation is only emitted at a surface and absorbed by a surface. Most materials (glass included) are not transparent for thermal radiation. So inside the floor there is no heat flow by thermal radiation so there is nothing to reflect.

Justification: We could have made millions by selling people our special foils to put beneath the tubes of a floor heating system or underneath laminate floor boards. But this would be irresponsible as people would cut down on other thermal insulation as they believe they already made a big step. The insufficient insulation leads to a higher energy consumption. This is bad for the financial situation of the consumer and for the environment as a whole.     

Theorem 2
TONZON Thermocushions make a ground floor even warmer than the air above the floor (in a passive way).

In this case ‘passive’ means there is no artificially added heat used to get the floor warmer than the air right above the floor. Many experts and consumers kept this for impossible. Some said this looks like a modern fairy tail, other felt this looks like a perpetual mobile machine. In order to explain this phenomenon we have made an animation. Please click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ8bPjWMCnc to look at this small video and/or download the PDF>>   

Theorem 3
With TONZON Thermocushions suspended floors will warm quicker, get warmer and cool slower than when insulated with conventional thermal insulation.

Since 1982 most ground floors from new build houses in the Netherlands are made of concrete and insulated with polystyrene. Though their energy index according to the EPBD is often very low, people complain about the lack of comfort and unexpected high heating bills. When the ground floor has a floor heating system comfort is better but the bill much higher. At our wall poster we show infrared pictures from the top and the underside of a ground floor with polystyrene floor insulation Rc=3.5 m2k/W. One can see the floors are not very warm. The underside of the polystyrene radiates their heat constantly towards the soil and foundation walls. (The cold foundation walls are like negative radiators cooling down the crawling space). This constant thermal leakage caused by thermal radiation from the underside of conventional thermal insulation are the reason these floors only slowly get warmer, will not get that warm and lose their heat very quick. This is the reason the fitters of floor heating systems often advise their clients to leave the heating system at a constant temperature because the system will react very slowly. After installing TONZON Thermocushions additionally against the polystyrene the floor heating system react very quickly.

Explanation:   conventional thermal insulation radiates the heat that comes through towards the colder soil and foundation walls. This constant leakage will slow down the warming up of the floor and prevent the floor from getting warm if moderated heating takes place.
The Thermocushions are much more able to keep a big temperature difference between the underside of the floor and soil and founding walls with only a small thermal leakage because of the many surfaces with low emissivity that are separated by bad conducting air layers. Inside the Thermocushion these air layers are stratified because of the absence of convection.

For more information, visit our stand N 800 or call
Ton Willemsen ++31 6 53174462
E-mail: tonwillemsen@tonzon.nl