Danfoss’ radiator thermostat is celebrating its 75th birthday. In 1943, the founder of Danfoss, Mads Clausen, invented the world's first radiator thermostat. Seventy-five years later, the product is still helping the world control temperatures.
"The first prototype of the world's first radiator thermostat was tested in my father's office. It was the birth of the world's first thermostatic valve for controlling the temperature in a room. The actual marketing began in 1952, when the radiator thermostat was launched as a device that saves money and makes centrally heated rooms more comfortable, and from there on it just took off," recounts Jørgen Mads Clausen, chairman of the board at Danfoss.
The product was patented and gave Danfoss a leading position when the company began mass production of the radiator thermostat. Since 1943, approximately 350 million have rolled off Danfoss' production line. The latest version is the Danfoss Eco™, which has won the Ret Dot and Danish Design Award.
"It is a strength for Danfoss to have been on the market for so many years, and there is an abundance of Danfoss DNA and cultural heritage in even our brand new electronic thermostats,” said Anders Barkholt, vice president of Danfoss Radiator Thermostats. “Mads Clausen developed the leading technology in the temperature regulation and the intuitive turning motion of the thermostat that makes it so easy to use. That knowledge and technology have now been incorporated in all our new electronic thermostats. That way we keep up with trends in line with consumers' wishes."