I’m a bit of a junkie for smart design in the home, so when I saw the radiator mug, I knew I had to have it. I ended up buying it as a gift, but at least I get to see it in use from time to time.
The radiator mug is a porcelain vessel that is covered in heat-dispersing fins. Not only do the fins make the mug look incredible, they add surface area so that even the hottest drinks can be held without having to resort to a handle. The mug is crafted after a heat sink, similar to one in your car’s engine or in your computer. Be careful though; being able to hold the mug does not mean that your beverage is cool enough to drink.
This cooling solution is a lot more aesthetically pleasing than a double-wall mug, though air is the best insulator out there. I am in love with the combination of industrial design and porcelain which creates a brilliant juxtaposition of the old and new.
The mug is currently available from Charles and Marie and was designed by Stephen Reed.
Comments 16
I love this design. The mugs aren’t available until 2/08. How did you get this one?
Posted 05 Jan 2008 at 11:01 am ¶I ordered mine before Christmas. It appears that charlesandmarie.com is accepting preorders, meaning you can pay for one now, and they will ship to you upon its arrival in their stockroom. I highly recommend preordering one; it’s a great piece, functional and pleasing to the eye!
Posted 05 Jan 2008 at 9:33 pm ¶So.. with these heat dispersing fans, does the drink then cool down quicker than an average cup? That wouldn’t be a very good thing- at least I wouldn’t like that.
Posted 05 Jan 2008 at 10:18 pm ¶Your photos are much better than the photos on the product page. You have choosen a better perspective. Like Mike I wonder if the mug dissipates the temperature faster to the outside of the mug. Physically it should, because it has a small surface on the inside and a huge surface on the outside - and this is how engines are air-cooled. Do you have any experience on this?
Posted 06 Jan 2008 at 5:25 am ¶Nice reading… keep up.
Posted 06 Jan 2008 at 4:09 pm ¶theoretically the drink should cool off a bit faster because of the added surface area but I have not been able to tell a difference with mine. The porcelain is thick enough that not a whole lot of heat is lost, and the fins stay nice and cool even when filled to the brim.
Posted 06 Jan 2008 at 7:33 pm ¶Isn’t that what a handle is for?
Posted 06 Jan 2008 at 8:28 pm ¶White color only?
Posted 07 Jan 2008 at 5:49 am ¶I would like this in black and also bottomless.
Posted 08 Jan 2008 at 10:09 am ¶It looks like it’s been turned inside out….awesome!
Posted 09 Jan 2008 at 1:35 pm ¶martin wrote:
Isn’t that what a handle is for?
Posted 06 Jan 2008 at 8:28 pm
Sure, if you have no sense of fun, or appreciation for design. I personally prefer my mugs without handles. It’s more comfortable to hold.
Posted 10 Jan 2008 at 11:43 pm ¶um, radiators radiate heat; they are made of conductive material. Porcelain is an insulator; you can hold onto the mug because the porcelain is thicker (insulating) where you’re grabbing the mug and the ridges are providing less surface contact, transmitting even less heat.
Posted 11 Jan 2008 at 6:52 am ¶As some of you said, the fins will do little to cool off the actual liquid contained in the mug. First of all, ceramics in general are very poor conductors. So in this case, as sam-i-am noted, the extra material would function more to insulate the mug (although the greatest amount of heat lost in any open-top mug will still be straight up into the air). Secondly, the fins are not there to cool the drink; they are designed to dissipate what heat does get transferred into the mug into the air, from the sides of the fins, before it reaches your delicate fingers resting on the tips of the fins.
Posted 12 Jan 2008 at 12:57 am ¶I would also like to note that heat sinks have been around for a long time, so the combination of fins and a porcelain mug is really more of a juxtaposition of the old and very old.
It’s actually a clever design from a production perspective. Cups and handles are formed separately using moulds then hand joined before firing. Being able to mould just the one part means the that production can be automated easily.
Posted 13 Jan 2008 at 3:30 am ¶That mug will radiate the heat right out of your coffee!
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 4:35 am ¶I thought it was an antique phone pole insulator. Plug the end - same thing.
Posted 21 Mar 2008 at 6:51 pm ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
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