[bzer1]

Well I guess I'll chime in as well. I did a search on heat transmission and submission of annodized aluminuim. I don't completely understand the science behind what the engineers said but the jist is that paint and powder will in most conditions act like an insulator as will aonodizing. However in most conditions anodizing is preferred because any bare aluminum that is exposed will begin to corrode. The natural corrosion will have much higher insulation properties than even paint will have depending on the thickness. Also the conditions are very important. In some cases it is better to anodize or powder coat, such as in a high IR environment, because the insulating properties will actually help keep temps even. In a convection or conduction environment it can create problems if you heat tolerances are very tight. Also in the examples given, color could also play a role in both methods of coating. This is a very interesting and confusing subject, because you would naturally think that the rules of heat transfer would be consistant, but according to some of the thermal dynamics engineers the rules change with every variable.