The Mirror Has Two Faces
Mirror,mirror on the wall,who's the hottest of them all?
The question takes on new meaning with Solaris electric room heaters from Fondis of Thann, France.The devices are made from radiant1) glass,which is used for windscreens2) on airplanes and high-speed trains.In a room,they sort of look like mirrors.
The heaters consist of two glass plates sandwiched together3).When voltage4) is applied to a metallic layer between the plates,it warms up and radiates heat to the room.To protect them from breaking,the plates are ma de from the same tempered glass used in commercial buildings.Fondis' Jean-Marie Trotzier says that installed costs for a given room are similar to that of electric baseboard heat,but that the panels use 15percent less electricity.
The panels5),which come in a range of colors,have been available in Europe for around three years;their U.S.debut6) will come as soon as the company finds a distributor.
兩 用 鏡 子
魔鏡魔鏡告訴我,他們中間誰最火。
對于設(shè)在法國坦恩的Fondis公司的太陽能室內(nèi)電熱器來說,這個問題還有另外一層意思。這種產(chǎn)品是由用于飛機(jī)和高速火車的反光擋風(fēng)玻璃制成。在屋子里它們看上去很像鏡子。
這種鏡子加熱器由兩層玻璃板粘合而成。當(dāng)電流通過玻璃板之間的金屬層時,加熱器升溫并將熱量向房間輻射。為防止碎裂,玻璃板的材質(zhì)與商業(yè)大廈的鋼化玻璃相同。Fondis公司的讓-馬里耶·特羅齊爾說,對于相同的房間,這種加熱器的安裝費用與其他護(hù)壁板加熱器一樣,但耗電量可節(jié)約15%。
這種電熱板具有多種色彩,已在歐洲市場上銷售3年。一旦公司找到經(jīng)銷商,就將在美國上市。
NOTE 注釋:
1. radiant [5reidjEnt] adj. 發(fā)光的,反光的
2. windscreen [5wIndskri:n] n. 風(fēng)檔玻璃
3. sandwich together 粘合在一起
4. voltage [5vEJltIdV] n. [電工]電壓,
5. panel [5pAnl] n. 面板,儀器板
6. debut [5debju;5deIbju:] n. 初次登場, 開張