The History of Hotfoil-EHS

Hotfoil-EHS Headquarters in Hamilton, NJ

Hotfoil has a long, established history of product innovation and quality.

Since its founding in the United Kingdom in the mid 1960’s, the company has gone through several changes in ownership and management. In 1993, my father, Neville Richards, and I took ownership of Hotfoil, Inc.

AFTek in Chatanooga, TN

• In 1996, Electric Heating Systems (EHS) was formed to provide equipment to the heat treating industry.
• In 2007, we recognized the value of producing our own transformers, both for internal needs as well as external sales. Soon after, a welding equipment and transformer manufacturer named AFTek was acquired. AFTek-EHS operates today in Chattanooga, TN.
• In 2010, HeatandWeld.com was launched as the e-commerce division of Hotfoil and EHS, selling our line of heaters, controls, and heat treating consumables.
• In 2012, Hotfoil and EHS merged into a new entity appropriately named Hotfoil-EHS, Inc. The merger produced an organization with over 70 employees and an impressive engineering capability.

Hotfoil-EHS in LaPorte, TX

Through continued re-investment of profits, Hotfoil-EHS subsequently acquired additional large fabrication facilities and assets, resulting in expansive facilities that include laser cutters, CNC machines, sheet metal breaks, Bridgeport milling machines, rollers and welding machines.

Today, Hotfoil-EHS is a full-service engineering, design, and manufacturing company for any type of industrial heating requirement.

Hotfoil-EHS in LaPorte, TX

From what started in 1993 as a humble 800-square-feet facility in a commercial office building, has grown to a total of 68,000-square-feet of manufacturing space located in Hamilton, NJ, Chatanooga, TN, and LaPorte, TX. In 2018, Hotfoil-EHS will open it’s first international location with the launch of a new Birmingham, England facility.

Common Types of Process Heating Systems and Equipment

External Electric Vessel Heater

In all process heating systems, energy is transferred to the material to be treated. Direct heating methods generate heat within the material (e.g., microwave, induction, or controlled exothermic reaction), whereas indirect methods transfer energy from a heat source to the material by conduction, convection, radiation, or a combination of these functions. In most processes, an enclosure is needed to isolate the heating process and the environment from each other. Functions of the enclosure include, but are not restricted to, the containment of radiation (e.g., microwave or infrared), the confinement of combustion gases and volatiles, the containment of the material itself, the control of the atmosphere surrounding the material, and combinations thereof.

Common industrial process heating systems fall in one of the following categories:

Large heat treated parts - still red-hot.

• Fuel-based process heating systems 
• Electric-based process heating systems 
• Steam-based process heating systems 
• Other process heating systems, including heat recovery, heat exchange systems, and fluid heating systems. 

The choice of the energy source depends on the availability, cost, and efficiency; and, in direct heating systems, the compatibility of the exhaust gases with the material to be heated. Hybrid systems use a combination of process heat systems by using different energy sources, or different heating methods with the same energy source.

Hotfoil-EHS are skilled experts in a wide variety of process heating systems design and fabrication. Contact them at 609-588-0900 or visit their website at http://www.hotfoilehs.com.