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Infra-Red Heating--Be Warned !!!

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Comments

  • Posts: 21,542 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    nielandrew wrote: »
    I am not sure if I am of much help to your question, but what I did was moved the panel I got in trial to different rooms and tested the same in all places and found that the panels did make the room very warm. I did find that one panel was not heating my living room which is quite big compared to my other rooms. I checked the same with the company who provided me the panels for testing and they told me that the far infrared heating panels emits a ray which will heat up the objects in a specific vicinity and it will require an additional panel to get comfortable warmth in my living room. It made sense to me as the panels were making the other room very warm. In case if you are looking for a trial, ask them to bring a good thermostat. The thermostat they brought was costing €30 but the display of the same is not excellent. I had order for the better thermostat costing €45.

    TBH, My heating requirements would be about 500-700 a year in oil so there would possibly be a lengthy pay back period.

    If I had a wind turbine or solar I would consider it but not now.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,118 ✭✭✭freddyuk


    The panels heat the objects in the room and then eventually the air in the room is heated by the objects by diffusion. Consequently if you wait long enough then you will have the same comfy warm air filled room that is achieved with traditional convection heating. If you turn the panel off you go cold immediately if the air in the room has not yet heated up or if you move out of the direct range of the panel you will feel cold. So I cannot see how this system is cost effective to heat a whole house as it is simply burning KW of electricity as in using an electric fire. For short term use if you are sitting still in a large cold warehouse for example it would work well to keep you feeling warm. If you want to keep the fabric of your house warmed then you need constant background low level heat controlled in each area of the house from a cheap fuel source. Good insulation and no draughts keeps the warm air in. The last time I used one of these was getting out the bath before we had central heating! And that is exactly what it did well. Electric heating is expensive and I am not convinced that we have moved this technology past the cold bathroom heater. I am always looking for better ways to use energy so I remain optimistic? Some of the garbage appearing on the "specialists" websites is not helpful. And I see you were given a poorly performing thermometer/thermostat to run the trial - so how does that work? I would think they would give you the best kit to trial. Seems to be on a par with the quality of their website.
    Still if you are convinced it works for you then all is good. I would keep a check on your electric meter and let us know how it is performing so we have some data. How many KW you are installing?


  • Posts: 21,542 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    What worries me is someone installing this on day rate electricity.

    Oil and gas is much lower priced !

    But definitely the money is far, far better spent on insulation and better windows.

    It makes no sense to spend a lot of money on heating for to loose the same amount of heat and then to pay a high rate for electricity.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10 nielandrew


    I would have done the insulation of my house if the quote I got for the same was even €2000.

    For €2000 I can get a small part of my house insulated, and I don't think that the room heating will be improved with a small portion of the house insulated. I got a warm room with less than 50 % on electricity that i was spending on my bed room.

    Wood is a cheaper option, but are they really worth using it? Oil and gas are lower priced per unit. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PRICE IS PER UNIT. Not for the amount of heat generated. I had stopped using my Oil heating system 2 years back when I shifted to ceramic heating systems. The amount of oil bills that I used to spend every month crossed almost €300 in winter. The switch to ceramic heating increased my electric bills but still I saved around €100 every month. And with the test I had conducted on the trial, this would be reducing my bills further and possibly I can save a further €120 to €140 per month. I know this amount is skeptical but I hope that it would reach that savings.


  • Posts: 21,542 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I wouldn't have thought my heating requirements to be excessive, afaik oil and gas per kwh is half or almost half that of electricity on day rate.

    Between 500-700 Euro's isn't that huge, since I got the insulation in the attic and the walls pumped and new windows the heat retention is very noticeable. This was money far better spent than on any heating system different to what I have. I haven't spend 700 since before the insulation and windows, so this year is the first year to see if I notice a difference and it's been mild enough so far.

    If the sun is out the house is kept pretty warm, if I need heat then i turn on the fan heater and the room is warm in minutes.

    The oil heats the house and the stat in the sitting room says 23 degrees by 10 am the sitting room will be at 19-20 degrees and 10 mins on 2kw fan heater will heat the room abck to 23 degrees and it won't go below 20 for over an hour, I think this is as efficient as you'll get.

    It's far cheaper to heat one room for a few mins than a whole house.

    Granted in much colder weather this may not work so well. And the temp by 10 am could be lower and not hold as long with the fan heater.

    Chimneys looses a fortune in heat, if you got any other form of heating than solid fuel these are a huge waste of money. I've mine partially clocked and would do well to block it completely.

    If you go onto the roof on a cold day and put your hands over the chimney you'll be astonished how much heat comes out ( with no fire on of course )


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 67 ✭✭Frank Rizzo


    any update nielandrew? How did the heaters work out for you...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    There's a lot of 'voodoo' about heating systems really.

    Unless you're using some kind of strange new nuclear-fired radiator heating, there's no question of energy being created or destroyed :D

    No system can get past bad insulation and thermal management of the building itself or bad plumbing.

    Older inefficient boilers may result in big heat loses in flu gasses, but the majority of relatively new boilers are very efficient and the cost per kWh of oil / gas is way less than electricity.

    Badly installed plumbing is the other major loss in Ireland i.e. unlagged pipework sitting under floors heating the space under the house, or the foundations or even worse where the boiler is located across the garden and the pipes aren't lagged adequately and the system's just heating the grass or pavement before it even gets into the house.

    The kWh you put into your boiler in terms of fuel are coming out somewhere - an efficient system just makes sure they mostly go into your house.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,329 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Ok, maybe it does work and the only real way is to try it out, but I still don't know how a kw of heat becomes more than a kw ? see you can't put out more than you put in !

    All I know is that the panels my partners parents had, I was not impressed, granted to stand close to was nice but the room was not warm.

    They had to remove the infrared panel from the sitting room and replace it with a storage heater, they were not impressed, neither was I.

    Isn't the basis of them that 1kwh of heat is heating specific targets.
    so a conventional space heater is heat the entire room say 1m3, which equates to 1w/mm3

    where as an infra red heater only heats the targets so per mm3 its better.
    N.B i could be completely wrong as i havn't read up on them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10 nielandrew


    Hello Frank.. Yes the panels worked well for me. I had some issues with the Wifi Thermostat as my 2 year old son broke the unit. The company from where I had purchased the panels replaced them without charging me. They informed me that they would be launching a internet thermostat which can operate my home heating from any place through Internet and they would give the same as complimentary once they launch it. If you are looking for far infrared heating panels, then take a trial from any of the companies selling these products and see the quality before you decide. My personal suggestion would be to buy from iheat limited, but check the prices and quality of all possible suppliers before you make a decision.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10 nielandrew


    Also, I forgot to mention that, I had bleeding nose issues with the hot air heating system that I had been using earlier as the air in room used to get dry. Far Infrared heating panels are extremely useful as it does not heat the air but heats the objects. I am not loosing my sleep over my bleeding nose and getting sound sleep. I would recommend going for Far Infrared heating Panels for healthy heating system.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 559 ✭✭✭Joe Doe


    i-red's are handy and serve specific purposes.

    A wee 150w bulb will slightly heat your muscles/bones not just the skin, some claim they have certain health benefits for aches n pains.

    It's a type of radiating/radiation heat, but not the harmful type.
    Therefore not convection nor conductive heating, so won't heat a house.

    i-red hot tub saunas are all the rage in some parts...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 103 ✭✭SteeveeDee


    Apologies for resurrecting a dead thread but just thought I would add my own real world experience here with some basic calculations.
    I currently have one 800w infrared heating panel on a wall in my bathroom which is roughly 10m2. Bathroom has 1 external wall with 1 window which I open while showering. Prior to installing the infrared panel I had a dimplex fan heater 1000w.

    Case study of sorts...showering.
    1000w Dimplex fan
    Pro: Cheap to buy €50 or thereabouts

    Cons: Had to turn on 10 mins prior to showering to heat room to a relatively comfortable level.
    Noisy
    Ugly
    Had to keep window closed to keep heat in
    Floor tiles still cold after shower

    Cost of running for 2 people taking 15 minute showers in the year roughly €53.58


    800w Infrared Heater Panel
    Pros : Instant heat satisfaction,no need to turn on panel prior to feel comfortable.
    Silent
    Looks great (Mine is black coated textured around 1m in height)
    Can open window whilst on,makes no difference to the heat you feel.
    Warm floor tiles after shower

    Cons: Expensive, mine cost €193.50 delivered.

    Cost of running for 2 people taking 15 minute showers in the year roughly €23.44

    I have to say I much prefer the infrared panel in the bathroom for many reasons but one of the big unexpected changes I noticed was no more mould in my bathroom,most likely due to my being able to keep the window open whilst showering and perhaps also as the panel directly faces the external wall where I hang towels. The room feels drier quicker. Warm floor tiles were also an unexpected plus!

    I also have one 500w panel on the ceiling of my home office where I tend to spend between 6-7 hours a week. It is fitted directly over my desk and works a treat for this purpose as I never get to bloody move from it once I sit down! Running costs roughly €53.58 a year.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10 Nayane Morais


    Hi guys, have a small interest in this topic, I posted a few years back with my opinion, I use infrared Heating for more than 4 year now, we restored an old cottage and didn't have much floor space. I looked on line and seen more than 5 different companies in Ireland selling these radiant panels. I call a few of them for quotes from memory I called, swissun,sunjoy,helvetic ,pure heat there was one more but can remember, some took a while to return my call but got to speak with them all. I ended up going for Helvetic Heating who had a Dublin based but seem to be covering the country, they were very knowledgeable and on the ball. They arrived down to the cottage and demonstrated the panel. They even left it with my for a week. I will admit there price was more expensive than the others but I liked the quality and health benefits.. Any how's I am going on here. I am delighted with the Sunjoy panels and there working away,


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,586 ✭✭✭4068ac1elhodqr


    A very cheap way to heat a single room is using a bog standard 150w 'heat lamp'
    This Infra-red bulb uses directional radiation to heat what ever it points at.
    It's a safe form of 'radiation' and is the same as you'd get from a coal fire.

    e.g. InfraPhil 230V 150W E27 (other fittings available) €15notes or less.

    https://www.herschel-infrared.com/heater-fundamentals/how-it-works/

    Meant to great for heating bones, muscles and folks with arthritis etc.


  • Posts: 21,542 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Personally I prefer a warm room than a warm spot, these infra red panels might be fine if you sit in one spot but I do not believe they save any energy, you'd be much, much better off spending money on more insulation and a normal cheap oil filled heater.

    I would love to invest in heat pumps, they are much better today and air to water pumps are also far more efficient. Run them off a wind turbine or solar pv, this would be possible if we had a grant for installation and a Feed In tariff. Hopefully soon.

    The only place I found the infra red panels to be any way comfortable last winter when I was in Germany was getting out of the shower, this was really nice and we're moving house soon and I may perhaps install one in the bathroom, along with a normal radiator of course. I don't want to be using peak electricity when oil is far cheaper.

    The other thing about the heat pump is you can use it at night on the cheaper night rate electricity and keep the house warm through much of the day.

    A lot of people have electric showers that heat the water and this uses a lot of energy when they already have hot water in the tank heated by gas, oil or solid fuel. Change it to pumped only and this will save money.

    Also a lot of homes have poor heating controls and this wastes a lot of energy, ideally you have a separate thermostat for each room, most homes in Ireland are still plumbed the way they were 20 years ago and maybe only a radiator stat and that's it.

    IN Ireland most homes have a timer and this is the sole means of control and whether the room is warm enough or not the only thing that controls the heating is the timer and boiler thermostat. Such a waste.


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