Proactive Thermal Management: The Right Time Is During Design

By Dennis Scott, Noren Products

Higher power requirements, smaller product footprints, more demanding environments and less access to traditional cooling methods have all made thermal management critical to the success of a project. Thermal success used to be based on the extent that a product was neither hindered nor damaged by excessive heat. Now, however, with greater emphasis on repurposing energy instead of just dissipating it, thermal management has become a positive differentiator demanded by the customer.

The ability to manage all of these thermal issues from the beginning of a project is key to a successful, cost-effective product that does more than arrive in a timely manner to the marketplace; it differentiates the end user as someone who is energy-aware and a positive steward of our resources.

Superior thermal management has often been an afterthought when bringing a new product to market. It only rushes to the forefront when initial testing reveals product damage, performance degradation, or increased injury risk due to unsatisfactory heat and 2 energy management. The usual response is to design a retrofit, which should be understood for what it is—a last minute compromise to make the product usable. Retrofits generally involve compromising one aspect of a well-designed solution leaving another aspect partially solved.