SunAura Thermal has achieved a significant milestone in our global expansion strategy: our products are now exported to over 50 countries worldwide. This achievement reflects our commitment to product quality, competitive pricing, and comprehensive customer support that resonates with heating professionals and homeowners across diverse global markets.
Written by Ethan Sun, Founder & CEO, SunAura Thermal — from the Qingdao export desk that has shipped underfloor heating to customers in 50+ countries since 2009.
Our Global Distribution Network
Our global distribution network has been built over 17 years, starting with our first export to a single European country in 2009. Today, we serve customers across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa through a network of authorized distributors, OEM partners, and direct sales channels. Our distribution partners are carefully selected based on their technical expertise, market presence, and commitment to customer service, ensuring that SunAura Thermal products are supported by knowledgeable professionals in every market we serve.
In Europe, our products are distributed through partners in over 20 countries, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, and the Nordic countries. European customers value our CE-certified products for their compliance with stringent EU safety and performance standards. In North America, we serve the United States and Canadian markets through specialized heating distributors who appreciate our product quality and competitive pricing.
OEM and ODM Services
Beyond distributing products under the SunAura Thermal brand, we offer comprehensive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) services. Our OEM clients include established heating brands in Europe and North America who trust our manufacturing capabilities to produce products to their specifications. Our ODM service allows clients to customize product designs, packaging, and branding while leveraging our engineering expertise and manufacturing infrastructure.
Our OEM and ODM services include product customization (power output, dimensions, materials), private label branding, custom packaging design, technical documentation in local languages, and certification support for specific markets. This flexibility has enabled us to serve clients ranging from small regional distributors to large multinational heating brands, each with unique requirements and specifications.
International Logistics and Support
Our international logistics capabilities ensure that products reach customers worldwide efficiently and cost-effectively. We work with major freight forwarders to offer sea freight, air freight, and express delivery options, depending on the urgency and destination of the shipment. Our standard lead time is 15-20 days for sea freight to major ports worldwide and 5-7 days for air freight to most international airports.
Technical support is available in English and Chinese, with response times of less than 24 hours for email inquiries and immediate support available through WhatsApp and WeChat for urgent matters. We provide comprehensive installation guides, video tutorials, and technical specifications in multiple languages. For large projects, we offer on-site technical support and training, ensuring that installation teams are fully equipped to install our products correctly.
Regional Market Adaptations
Each market we serve has unique requirements in terms of product specifications, certifications, and customer preferences. We have adapted our products and services to meet these regional requirements. For the European market, our products carry CE certification and are designed for 230V electrical systems. For North America, we offer products designed for 120V and 240V systems, with UL certification in progress. For the Asian market, we offer products compatible with 220V systems and certified to relevant national standards.
We also adapt our product offerings to regional climate conditions. For Nordic markets, we offer higher-power-density heating products designed for extreme cold conditions. For Mediterranean markets, we offer lower-power-density products optimized for milder winters. For tropical markets, we offer specialized products for bathroom and spa heating applications where year-round comfort is desired.
What 50+ Countries Actually Taught Us
Export breadth is not a vanity number — it is a training programme. Every new market corrected one assumption. The Nordics taught us that power density and freeze protection matter more than showroom aesthetics. The Mediterranean taught us that bathrooms and terraces, not whole houses, drive the order book. The Middle East taught us that voltage tolerance and packaging survive long sea voyages better than marketing promises. The result is a product line that is genuinely regionalised rather than a one-size catalogue shipped hopefully everywhere. Our export underfloor heating systems are now configured per market before they are quoted.
The macro backdrop makes this export story durable. Space heating remains one of the largest energy end uses worldwide, and the International Energy Agency’s buildings analysis keeps residential heating at the centre of decarbonisation policy. As grids decarbonise and building codes tighten, the addressable market for exported electric heating elements keeps widening — which is why we keep adding regional certification work rather than resting on the 50+ countries already on the map.
How We Support Distributors Across Time Zones
An export network only works if support travels with the goods. Our technical desk answers in English and Chinese within 24 hours by email, and urgent matters move on WhatsApp and WeChat the same day. Every shipment carries installation guides, wiring diagrams and commissioning sheets in the relevant language, and project-sized orders arrive with a zone layout drawing and a load summary so the installer works from a document, not from guesswork. For large hospitality or residential developments we send an engineer on site for the first commissioning — the cost of that trip is repaid many times over in avoided call-backs.
Commercial partners get more than a catalogue. Distributors receive margin structures, sample packs, co-branded marketing material and training sessions for their sales teams. Brands looking for a private-label heating manufacturing partner get custom wattage, dimensions, packaging and documentation built around their market. And partners who also sell controls can standardise on one wifi thermostat export range across film, mat and cable, simplifying both stock and after-sales. Buyers tracking the regulatory side should read our overview of energy efficiency regulations for heating systems before quoting into a new market.
Data and Evidence: The Export Record Behind the Number
The 50+ countries figure is backed by concrete operations. First export was in 2009, one year after founding; today the network spans Europe (20+ countries), North America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Standard lead time is 15-20 days by sea to major ports and 5-7 days by air. Every shipment leaves the Huangdao plant after 100% electrical testing, with CE, RoHS, LVD and EMC documentation for EU-bound orders and the appropriate voltage configuration for the destination market (per SunAura factory records). The U.S. Department of Energy provides the policy context for the North American and wider export demand as heating electrification moves up national agendas.
What We Look for in a New Distribution Partner
We are selective on purpose, because a weak partner damages the brand faster than a slow month. The ideal partner already sells into the heating, plumbing or electrical trade channel, can store a modest stock, and can offer basic technical support in the local language. In return we offer exclusive regional terms where volume justifies them, factory-direct pricing, protected SKUs and co-investment in marketing. Whether you are a two-person heating boutique or a national distributor, the first step is the same: send us your market, your product interest and your expected volume, and we will come back with a partner proposal within a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which countries do you currently export to? Over 50 countries across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. We can share the current distributor list and confirm whether your market is already covered, so we avoid conflict when you enquire.
Do you support both retail branding and private label? Yes. We supply the SunAura Thermal brand and run OEM/ODM programmes for heating brands, distributors and retail chains. Customisation covers wattage, dimensions, voltage, packaging and documentation, with minimum order quantities set per project.
What is the lead time for an export order? Catalogue stock ships in 15-20 days by sea to major ports, or 5-7 days by air for urgent needs. Custom private-label orders typically run 30-45 days including documentation. Every proforma invoice states the exact lead time for your order.
Can you supply non-230 V markets? Yes. We configure products for 120 V and 240 V North American systems and 220 V Asian systems, and we specify the correct RCD/GFCI protection per circuit so the installation matches local code from day one.
What after-sales support is available in my time zone? The export desk answers English and Chinese enquiries within 24 hours by email, with same-day support over WhatsApp and WeChat. Large projects include on-site commissioning support, and every product ships with multilingual installation and commissioning documentation.
Can I buy a sample order before committing to distribution? Yes. We supply trial sample packs at small quantities so you can test product quality, thermostat app behaviour and packaging in your market before signing a distribution agreement. Sample lead time is short, and the same engineering team supports the pilot as the eventual volume order.
Freight, Customs and Documentation: What Export Actually Involves
Beyond the distributor agreement, an export programme runs on logistics discipline. Sea freight to major ports takes 15-20 days; air freight to most international airports takes 5-7. Cartons are palletised, shrink-wrapped and labelled per destination, and the commercial invoice, packing list and CE/RoHS documentation travel with the shipment so customs clearance is a formality rather than a delay. For project-critical orders we can stage partial shipments so the installer never waits on a single container.
We also plan the paperwork around the buyer’s market from the start. EU-bound orders carry the DoC and test reports in the parcel; North American orders ship at the correct voltage with GFCI-compatible wiring notes; Middle East orders are packed for long transit in warm, humid conditions. That market-specific packing and documentation is why repeat customers rarely deal with clearance surprises — the export desk has already priced and planned the slowest part of the journey before the container leaves Qingdao.
What New Markets Are on the Map Next
The 50+ country number keeps moving. North American certification work continues, which will widen the product range we can ship duty-smoothly into the US and Canadian retail and contractor channels. We are also adding partner coverage in secondary European markets where distributors previously sourced through a third party, and evaluating Gulf-region product configurations for villa and hospitality demand. Partners who join early in a market’s curve get preferred regional terms — the export desk writes those proposals on request after a short market conversation.
How We Price Export Orders for Fair Long-Term Partnerships
Pricing across 50+ countries is not a matter of one global list number. A fair export price reflects the product configuration for the destination voltage, the certification documentation bundled in, the shipping terms chosen, and the volume the partner will actually move. We quote in tiers: trial sample, stocking order and volume order, each with its own lead time and margin structure, so a new distributor can grow into the next tier without renegotiating the relationship from scratch.
What we do not do is hide costs. Freight, palleting, documentation and bank charges are itemised on the proforma, and the lead time is stated as a range we have actually delivered against for years. That transparency is why our longest-running distributor relationships stretch back nearly a decade — both sides know what the next container will cost and when it will land, which is the entire point of an export partnership built on repeat orders rather than one-off deals.
Geography on its own means nothing without service behind it. What makes the 50+ countries durable is that in each one there is a person, a warehouse or a documentation pack standing behind the product when it lands — which is the difference between exporting a container and building a market.
Our export desk reads the world map one distributor at a time. Every country on it represents a real relationship, a stocked warehouse, and a support line in the local timezone — not a pin dropped on a slide. If your market is on the list already, we will introduce you to your local partner; if it is not, that is usually an opportunity rather than a gap.
Conclusion
Related Products & OEM Inquiries
Looking for an export partner shipping to 50+ countries or a factory-direct OEM/ODM partner? Explore our our OEM/ODM manufacturing program, then request a quote for your project — we supply distributors, installers and brands in 50+ countries.