How Could Infrared Heating Benefit You and Your Home?
Are you tired of using an old-style heating system that doesn’t always work the way you want? Are you looking for a modern, cost-effective solution that even looks stylish? Do you want to heat not too large spaces more efficiently, in shorter times? Or just want to replace your outdated heating with a more sleek heating design that doesn’t even look like a heater? Then the modern electric alternative infrared heating might be the best solution for you. Here are a few reasons why.
How Infrared Heating Works
Infrared heating panels work a bit differently from traditional heating systems. The panels are designed to heat objects and surfaces rather than the air of the room, so if you are looking to place them in your study, bedroom, or a not too big living room, could be a good option. Even though it doesn’t aim to heat the air, the heated surfaces and spaces usually stay warm for a while even after you switch off the infra panels. Thus, it could be quite energy-efficient.
If you compare infrared heaters with oil-based central heating, convection, and storage heaters, you will find that they consume less energy than the more traditional types of heating, if you control them well. What’s more, the panels can reduce damp and mold, as well as prevent condensation. You don’t need to worry about maintenance, they don’t normally require servicing. They are skin-friendly, safe to use as the panels emit 100% natural heat.
Infrared panels are also free of harmful emissions since they don’t burn fuel and don’t come with embedded hydrocarbons such as heat pumps. You can purchase various sizes, colors, and finish/design panels that best fit your rooms and needs. They come in many modern and eye-catchy options, often they look just like a blank canvas on the wall. It is also worth considering installing them if you have troubles or your home has had previous issues with the chimney.
Points to Consider When Purchasing Infrared Panels:
Where Do You Want to Install them?
You should decide if you want to install infrared heating panels on your walls or your ceiling. You have to keep in mind to place your infrared panels higher up on your walls than regular heating. The reason for this is that various objects like furniture can easily block heating from regular heaters. However, the placement of things does not matter with convection heaters since they heat the air.
You should bear in mind that infrared heaters only warm objects within their reach. If your bed is in front of your panel, only your bed will be heated up. Therefore, you should aim to place the panels in a way that nothing blocks them, and they are directed to where you usually sit, work, or sleep, and so on… This is one reason why infrared panel users often opt for ceiling installation. If you place the panels on your ceiling, nothing blocks their way from working.
Keep in Mind That Infrared Heaters don’t Work in the Traditional Way
You shouldn’t be thinking that they won’t work if you place them on your ceiling due to the physical fact that heat rises. As long as this stands for conventional heating, since warm air rises, infrared doesn’t warm up the air. Why should you be pointing your panels to warm-up objects, where you spend the majority of your time? Because these objects absorb the warmth, heat is not lost by heating with infrared panels as opposed to convection heaters.
You should decide which installment type to opt for, depending on what objects you want to heat up and their purpose. Both wall and ceiling installments can work well, it is more of your personal preference.
Which Additional Spaces Shall You Consider to Install Them
When you look at the heating issue from the space perspective, infrared heating can be especially of value in your rooms where you don’t spend much time or for long. A good example is a bathroom, where you generally spend no more than an hour, and only a few times a day. But you need your bathroom to feel comfortable in those periods. So you would probably turn on the heating. Since the air needs to warm up first, it takes much longer to warm up the room, than the time you are spending there.
This is a big domestic issue for most of us, and an incredible environmental and economic waste! For such problems, infrared heating is one of the best if not the best solution. As the panels give off heat directly, they can only be on when you are there and you will immediately feel the warmth they project. You can easily manage this through a timer adjusted to the wall, or an app on your smartphone. This means you can save a lot of costs and energy. If you want to know more about controlling the heat panels through your phone, look for related apps online.
Controlling the Infrared Heating Through Your Phone App
One of the great apps could be the Eurom Smart App to consider. But how about the additional rooms in which the entire space is heated unnecessarily? What are these spaces? They could be your office, study room, hobby room, or garage. The infra panels could even keep you warm while you are working on your motors and vehicles. You should consider that even though you are spending more time in these rooms than in the bathroom, you often remain in one spot. Using the infrared heaters allows you to only heat the spaces where you are, without needing to heat the entire room. This, too, saves costs and energy, without having to give up your comfort.
Would you Use Infrared Heating as Primary Heating or Additional Heating?
Here are two ways in which you could incorporate infrared heating into your home. You can choose to replace all your radiators with infrared panels, and have infrared heating as the primary heating system in your home. But you could also use the panels as additional heating next to your heating system, in case you need more heating. At times, we need more heating in our homes, because work, children, animals, or the spaces can require more heating.
It is a great option to install extra infrared panels besides your regular heating in your home. They can be used to warm your objects in your direct vicinity, but also the people in the room. If you use infrared panels, you could also set the room temperature, which is managed by the central heating system, to at least three degrees Celsius lower. Thanks to the direct heat coming from the panels you can still experience a comfortable warmth.
By doing so, you can save on a lot of gas, and because the infrared panels only need to be on when you are close by, the usage of electricity can be much lower. You only need to attach the panels in places where you spend most of your time, such as the vicinity of the dining table in your kitchen. You should think of this way of heating as an area heating. So you wouldn’t warm all the places in your home with infrared heating, just the areas which you frequently use.
Using Infrared Panels as Primary Heating System
On the other hand, if you want to use infrared panels as your primary heating system it can be a bit more complicated, depending on the size of your home and the size of its rooms or spaces. You would need to do a careful calculation of how much power and panels you would need. Moreover, you would need to think about in which places you could place the panels, and adding insulation to your home, to save you losing heat.
A poorly isolated house could mean that you lose a lot of heat through your windows, walls, floors, and so on. This can result in much higher expenses to keep the temperature comfortable and inside your home. Bit if there is good isolation, and if you apply your renewable energy by using for instance some solar panels, infrared panels could greatly accompany your primary heating system. In this way, you can replace using gas fully, and sustainably replace it with infrared panels.
Endnote
Before choosing your infrared panels you should first consider the goal of heating with infrared. Do you want to use it as an area heater, next to the heaters you already have? Or do you want to completely replace your old heating system with the new and modern infrared panels? If it is a full replacement, remember to make a thorough calculation of how many panels you would need. Then you could choose from all the fancy colors and finishes, like black, milky, or even a mirror-like panel, and from the various sizes according to your needs. In my experience, they work very well in smaller apartments and rooms. I wish you good luck installing and using them!
