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Thermo-Gel

Meegan & Peter have pointed us in the direction of “Thermo-Gel” and tell me that it is a legal requirement to have it in fire danger areas. I found the following demonstration on You Tube.

I think we need to find out some prices here in Australia?

March 10th, 2009 | Category: Bushfire Risk, CFG, Commentary

4 comments to Thermo-Gel

  • admin
    March 11, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    I got a reply from Forest Systems the Ausie distributors:

    Hi Mick. The home kit retails at $720 we will give a 10% discount for orders over 10 units you can go to thermogel.com.au for more detailed information, we can also arrange a demonstration for your group if you wish.
    Col C

  • phall3113
    March 23, 2009 at 8:28 am

    Here is the link to Thermo-gel’s supplier in Australia http://www.forestsystems.com.au/

    Just to clarify, it was a friend of mine in the USA that told me it is a building code requirement that they have this on their site for houses in the Lake Tahoe area in California.

  • mark.abela
    May 20, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    I spoke with Patrick from Barricade Fire Protection, http://www.barricade.com.au/1470050/barricade-fire-blocking-gel-products.htm he was very helpful. The Barricade product will protect your home from 12-36 hours. It has been engineered to be non-toxic and will breakdown over time. A home kit is priced at $671 for gel and applicator; email me, mark.abela@optusnet.com.au, if you are interested and we may be able to do better on price. The gel shelf life is a few years.
    My concern is knowing when to apply the product, it is expensive, we evacuated twice (after Black Saturday), three applications costs around $1800 (the applicator can be reused). Other thoughts are painting the house with a fire retardant paint on all exposed timber, windows will need fire resistant shutters and/or installing an underground bunker; a 2M cubed concrete bunker is priced around $10,000 dollars and air will be a premium so how cold you fit breathing apparatus and pets in that space? I am thinking of building my own bunker using besser blocks filled with reo and concrete, a sleeper roof covered in soil, and fire proof door. Needs to be air tight so the fire doesn’t draw all of the available oxygen out. Other issues are knowing when to seal yourself in the bunker (and start the air supply clock ticking), leaving it too late to flee from the house to the bunker could be dangerous due to radiant heat, wrapping yourself in a wet blanket may do the trick, but I believe just breathing the super heated air could be enough to kill you.
    Anyone else thinking about building their own bunker, a shipping container seems another obvious choice?
    Mark Abela

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