Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2

Electric heating in homes is used widely in Canada, particularly in the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec. Many other countries, including 34% of households in America, also use electric heating in their homes. Electric resistance heat can be supplied by centralized forced-air electric furnaces or by heaters in each room. Room heaters can consist of electric baseboard heaters, electric wall heaters, electric radiant heat, or electric space heaters. Dimplex North America Limited is the world leader in electric heating, offering a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial products. One of their products is Electric Baseboard Heaters. Dimplex North America Limited and recently they engaged with Lambton College's Bluewater Technology Access Centre (BTAC) to add more value to their electric heating products (Electric Baseboard and make the product less expressive and safer when used in abnormal conditions or if the consumer inadvertently does not follow the instructions of use. The research team will focus on material selection, screening alternative materials and formulation material development that could be used in the heater. The optimized product is predicted to improve the cost per unit, while reducing the cost to produce. Glen Dimplex expects to increase the volume of sales of baseboard heaters per year and create new positions through the results of this project.