Thermaskirt / Climaboard / Thermodul

BB, no idea on cost, but just a few thoughts on the 'math'

from the site
<<Because ThermaSkirt® is made from an alloy that is 5 times more effective at passing heat than steel.>> my emphasis

We need to be clear on what we mean by passing heat.

As we all remember from our school days, heat moves from a warmer body to a colder body in 3 ways
1 conduction
2 convection
3 radiation

the thermal conductivity
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html

of Alu is much better than steel so the heat gets transferred to the Alu from the water better than if steel.
The issue here is the ability to radiate heat which is generally measured by the coefficient of emissivity
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/emissivity-coefficients-d_447.html

The radiation energy per unit time from a body is a function of
the surface area
the surface temperature and
the emissivity.

This is the formula for calculating The Net Radiation Loss Rate

<< If an hot object is radiating energy to its cooler surroundings the net radiation heat loss rate can be expressed like
q = ε (Th**4 - Tc**4) Ac
where
Th = hot body absolute temperature (K)
Tc = cold surroundings absolute temperature (K)
Ac = area of the object (m2)
ε = emissivity of the object [ the range is 0 to 1, with 1 being best]

Now you will see from the table of co-efficients of emissivity that paint is 0.96 so a painted Alu rad should work very well, assuming the heat transfer from the Alu to the paint works well.

The importance of the temperature in the formula is clear from the fact that it is to the power of 4 so low temp water from a heat pump might not work because the surface area may not be large enough.

My one concern is that it seems to fit tight against the wall so how much of the heat gets lost there: need to have it very well insulated and put Alu foil tape on behind.