Quote Originally Posted by meanmoe View Post
Hey iandh, that's not a very fair analogy because it only deals with the transient. The foil simply reaches steady state in less time. It doesn't address the steady-state heat transfer though which is all we really care about. At steady state, distance is less important.

On another note - I can't believe this thread still doesn't have retail product pics in it yet. I'm so not excited anymore .
It's just an analogy to help people that are having trouble imagining that thin stainless tubes could outperform thick copper ones.

Regardless of what the analogy shows in relation, the science still says that the water/air delta at equilibrium will be lower on the stainless foil, than it will on the copper sheet.

Distance determines the minimum theoretical water to air delta... material does matter, but it doesn't necessary hold you back as long as you can compensate with less thickness.