New York might not be as cold right now as some places in the world (I was in Vermont last week and the high was 4°!), but it’s still cold enough for this California girl to pull out her Winter supply of space heaters and heating pads (no, I’m not 80 but I still love my heating pad). New York-based designer, Rochus Jacob, likes his apartment warm and toasty, too, hence his new project, “Rethinking the radiator.”
Did you know that if you reduced your room temperature by just 2 degrees you would, according to Jacob, “save a ton CO2 a year and cut cost by 40%?” Since my heating bill skyrockets in the Winter months, that last part sounds awfully nice, but if I lower my room temp by even 2 degrees, won’t I freeze to death? Jacob makes the excellent point that the old style of radiators were made for poorly insulated homes and need to be stored beneath a window in order to create a heat wall. But if your home or apartment has been updated in the last couple of decades, you can free yourself from the wall-hugging radiators of the past and get one of Jacob’s campfire-inspired heaters instead.
“The design refers to the analogy of a campfire,” Jacobs says, “which represents the social aspect and essential importance heating once had in our culture. Heat is a emotional value.” Made from wood and plastic, Jacob’s radiator also works with hot water, but it can be integrated into the center of the room to distribute heat more evenly and increase the interaction between user and object, which just might encourage you – and by you I mean me – to think twice before jacking the heat up to 85.
