Chocolate Puddles?

On Christmas Eve, Santa puts all the Christmas presents under the tree. With so any presents for so many people Santa can’t possibly remember what is in each parcel and will put the presents in a big pile (assuming everyone has been good) however he can. Normally this isn’t a problem but with the rise of boutique chocolate shops and underfloor heating I wonder if there is a potential problem looming.

While most underfloor heating is run at low temperatures the heating fluid is often over 30c and with a pile of presents acting as local insulation I can see opportunities for localised heating, particularly with low thermal mass systems. If a present containing chocolate is at the bottom of the pile it could get slightly warmer than in a room heated with radiators. I doubt that it could get hot enough to cause the chocolate to become soft but it is something to be mindful of.

Our system will hopefully run with very low temperature fluid (21C) which will never allow localised heating so we shouldn’t need to worry. If there is a problem then an insulating rug below the presents would probably do enough – it might even be a useful application for aerogel.