Infrared Heating

I brought up the topic a while ago on Boards, it's not something I've seen discussed here at all and no one seems to know much about them.

I was sitting outside the Queens pub in Dalkey yesterday and was very surprised by their outdoor heating. I saw no glow so assume it was infrared ?

It felt really good and like the sun shining on me. It even felt good on my legs.

I forgot the manufacturer website on the heaters.

So that led me to rethink about Infrared heating as an alternative to oil/gas etc.

One of the main reasons I'm interested is because it's supposed to be a lot more efficient.

I use the fan heater in the sitting room when I'm on my own because it's far cheaper to heat one room even with day rate leccy than use the oil to heat the whole house, or even heat one room by the time it heats up ?

Anyway I don't like the heat of a fan heater and would like to try out one of these panels, preferably a portable one. But Wall mounting is possible.

I'l like to try one out for the bathroom too because this time of year is not really that cold to have the oil on.

But I was really impressed with the heat from the heaters outside the pub and even if it won't save me a lot it sure felt good.

I had one of those cheap halogen heaters and even on the 300 watt setting, pointed at me it was good enough to heat me, but the damn thing was blinding the eyes out of me and I didn't like it.

Outkast_IRE

The problem with infrared heating etc, is that it wont warm the air in the room, and it essentially only heats the surfaces directly in its path. This is fine when your outside, as you dont want to heat the air.

However in a home you generally want to heat the entire room, if you dont heat the entire room you are leaving the room open ot problems with mould/condensation etc.

You can correctly claim that the infra-red heater will heat surfaces which will in turn warm the air in a room, but it wont do this anywhere near as good as a rad will, as a rad have convector fins etc to aid this process.

For example in the bathroom where after a shower there is high humidity, having a heat source which heats the air (radiator or electric fan) works well because hot air can hold more moisture and will encourage the moisutre into the air rather than condensing on the surfaces, this combined with opening a window or a wall fan will ensure the bathroom dries out quickly. With only an infra-red heater this effect would be reduced.

I see the advantages you state, and yes in fringe of spring/autumn seasons they would work well if you could direct them onto where your sitting etc. But i cant see people wall mounting these appliances in homes when there are plenty of disadvantages in the home situation.

Thanks for the reply Outkast .

I think the bathroom one would be great to heat up the room quickly for a shower, just for this time of year when we don't need the heating on much. Even for times in winter when I wouldn't turn on the heat.

The same for the sitting room just if I'm there on my own and I don't need to heat the whole house.

I think a lot of savings could be made that way.

I don't even think turning on the oil heating and only the sitting room rad would even be as cheap as a small electric heater by the time the water heats up.

Outkast_IRE

Best of luck sourcing one, just remember that for a bathroom the appliance may have to meet a certain standard before an electrician will be happy installing one in there for you . Maybe an electrician can clarify i think there is a standard IPxx before it will be allowed be installed in a area like a bathroom

heres a link to the codes im talking about http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ip-ingress-protection-d_452.html

Thanks for the link, after more searching all I can seem to find are infrared panels that you wall mount and they are 300 Euro's + .

Na think the fan heater is the best option, I'd never get a pay back at that price.

I might even start using the halogen heater on 400 watts again which I found gave a very nice heat pointed directly at me, if it wasn't so damn bright !

I say infrared light fittings with normal bulbs that you can get for bathrooms, that could be a viable alternative ?

Outkast_IRE

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks for the link, after more searching all I can seem to find are infrared panels that you wall mount and they are 300 Euro's + .

Na think the fan heater is the best option, I'd never get a pay back at that price.

I might even start using the halogen heater on 400 watts again which I found gave a very nice heat pointed directly at me, if it wasn't so damn bright !

I say infrared light fittings with normal bulbs that you can get for bathrooms, that could be a viable alternative ?

Cant comment to be honest, i would have to imagine there to be potential issues with an infrared bulb, desgined to give off heat, mounted on to a standard light bulb socket.

Also an infrared bulb probably doesnt give off as much white light as a standard bulb, alot of them give off a dull orangey light so it might be weird showering and using the bathroom mirrors etc

Outkast_IRE

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Also an infrared bulb probably doesnt give off as much white light as a standard bulb, alot of them give off a dull orangey light so it might be weird showering and using the bathroom mirrors etc

Ah no, you see the fittings have infrared bulbs and also a fitting for a normal bulb.