Camping in cold weather.
Brick is a product of my bachelor’s degree thesis with a title “Useful object from ceramics”. My goal was to take advantage of the physical properties of ceramics and apply them to a relevant problem.
Problem
After realizing that a ceramic object could act as a heat battery it was natural to make the connection to camping since I have been in scouting my whole life. It can get cold at night in your sleeping bag. From my own experience I know there are a lot of places where you can have a perfect summer day with the temperature above 30°C but it can drop under 10°C at night. There is also camping in spring, autumn and winter.
Solution
Brick is a sleeping bag heater that takes advantage of the heat from the campfire or a stove. With a ceramic core topped with layers of stainless steel, cork and felt it keeps the user warm for up to 9 hours.
Safety
Magnetic lock prevents the heater to open while sleeping with it in sleeping bag.
Comfort
Since this is a completely new product the user experience had to be thoroughly thought through to make it safe and easy to use.
Indication
Copper strip indicates the temperature due to thermal expansion. On the other hand it also prevents the core to be pulled when the temperature is too high. If the temperature goes over 150°C the strip deflects so much that it doesn’t fit the stainless steel insert.
Location
Research has shown that compared to other parts of body feet temperature has the biggest impact on general temperature comfort of humans.
Efficiency
Brick keeps it heating effect for up to 9 hours depending on the conditions. This graph shows the temperature on the surface of the heater when used at night in a sleeping bag in a tent at the atmospheric temperature of 15 – 13°C.
