GLN presents

July. A short film about radiant cooling, by GLN.

A short film about one summer in Wuhan, and a room kept cool by radiant panels instead of blown air.

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A red suspension bridge over the Yangtze under a grey summer sky, towers on the far bank.
[Cicadas]Wuhan. The river is over a kilometre wide here, and the air still doesn't move.

I. The heat

A steel truss bridge over the river in white summer haze, a bare tree in front.
36°C at noon.
A shirtless man rests on a street cart at a sunny crossing while a woman cycles past.
By eleven, the shirts come off.
A street outside a noodle shop: a woman walks under a sun umbrella, people pass on scooters.
Umbrellas are out. It isn't raining.
An old man in a white cap sits barefoot on stone steps, his sandals beside him.
The steps are cooler than his flat upstairs.
Sunset over the river, seen from a tree-lined promenade on the bank.
The sun goes down. It is still 31°C.

II. The night

The Wuhan riverfront at night, lit towers reflected in the water.
At night the walls give back the heat they stored all day.
A wet street at night under green-tinted light, people crossing with umbrellas.
Then it rains.
Black and white: a figure under a clear umbrella in the rain, lights blurred behind.
[Rain on the umbrella]Even the rain is warm.
A woman seen from behind on a wet street at night, a red traffic light beyond.
Home at eleven. The flat is 29°C.
A dark balcony corner at night, a curtain lit orange, towers beyond the window.
Illustrative
Nobody sleeps well in July.[Air-con humming]It blows on your neck all night.

III. The room

A man stands calmly in a dark, quiet room at a tall window above the lit city.
Illustrative
[Quiet]The air is 27°C. The walls are 22°C.It feels like about 24.5°C.No fan. No draft on your neck.
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How the room stays cool

Three things happen, and none of them blow air at anyone. Here is the scene as the script has it.

Int. Bedroom, Wuchang. Night.

A slim panel on the wall: 600 by 1800 millimetres, 90 deep, aluminium fins. There is no vent anywhere in the room.

Out on the balcony, a heat pump cools a loop of water. Its compressor stays out there.

The water comes down inside the wall from the ceiling and meets the panel at a single fitting. No pipe shows.

The walls and ceiling settle a few degrees cooler. Heat leaves the sleeper by radiation. Nothing is blown.

The air

27°C.

The walls

22°C.

The sleeper

(turning over)

Feels like about 24.5.

No condensation water appears indoors.

Cut to: January.

Same panels, warm water. The walls stop feeling cold.

Felt temperature is roughly the average of air and surface temperature (ASHRAE 55, ISO 7730).

Heat pump,
outdoors

Water pipe, inside the ceiling and wall

Single fitting

Panel,
600 × 1800 × 90 mm

Air 27°C

Surfaces 22°C

Feels about 24.5°C

Set drawing: the bedroom in section. Heat moves from the sleeper to the cooler surfaces as radiation. The pipe runs inside the ceiling and wall.

Not appearing in this room

  • Vents
  • Ducts
  • A fan
  • A compressor
  • Pipes on the walls

The panel

600 1800
Model
GLN Still 1800
Size
600 × 1800 mm, 90 mm from wall to front edge
Fins
Aluminium
Finishes
Chalk, Slate, Bronze
Cooling
About 420 W per panel
Heating
About 510 W per panel

Output figures are demo figures. The same panels heat in winter.

Book a screening

A screening is half an hour in our Wuhan showroom with the panels running. Sit down, stand next to a panel, put a hand on the wall. Come on the hottest afternoon you can find.

Where
GLN showroom, 118 Zhongnan Road, Wuchang, Wuhan
Open
Every day, 10:00 to 19:00
Phone
027 8765 4321
Day
Showtime

Demo form: nothing is sent anywhere.

GLN

Radiant heating and cooling. Wuhan, Hubei.

Credits

Starring
A room at 25°C
With
The Yangtze
36°C at noon
Warm rain
Everyone who couldn't sleep
Heating and cooling
GLN radiant panels
Panel
600 × 1800 × 90 mm, aluminium fins
Heat pump
Outdoors, on the balcony
Pipes
Inside the walls
Not in this film
Vents, ducts, an indoor fan
Filmed in
Wuhan (stock photographs, see credits)

Photography, from Unsplash

The red bridge
skyzhou
The truss bridge
gary_t
The street cart
so666max
The noodle shop
stevelong3
The steps
chasta03
The promenade
nyenchen
The riverfront
robertchen13
The green street
ayumikubo
The umbrella
heyemmby
The walk home
valentinakond
The window
avechenri
The quiet room
dying_apricity
Grading
Warm by day, teal by night
Type
Sofia Sans Extra Condensed
Atkinson Hyperlegible Next
Courier Prime
Showroom
Wuchang, Wuhan

The photographs are stock images, not GLN projects or products.

Book a screening