Infrared heaters - anyone used them? Opinions?

[D O G]

Hello.

The missus has a small studio in the middle of nowhere where she does her arty business stuff. Problem is that the heating (or rather the insulation of the building) is dire, when she turned up this morning it was 4degrees inside, and after the heating being on full bore all day it was a balmy 8 degrees.

This is not ideal, especially when doing detailed work, and we can't use one of those propane space heater things as there is insufficient ventilation. It's only her, or her and one other bod, who is there at any one time, and so I thought an infrared heater would be a good idea - it is just her we need to keep warm.

I've never used one, neither has she, just wondering whether anyone on here has, what their thoughts are on them, and if you have any other ideas.

Do they cost a lot to run, relative to others?

Thanks in advance!

[Frost]

They cost less to run than fan heaters. The head out of them is very directional though and also fairly localised. So finding that sweet spot between being warm all over and having your leg on fire is a constant battle.
The best solution is one of those oil filled electric heaters. They have a termostat so you can set the room temp you want and forget about it. Most also have a timer built in so it can be set to pre warm the room. Get a 2.5kw one, it might be overkill but that just means it heats the room up faster. Once it's at the right temp it'll use the same power as a smaller one holding it there.

[herulach]

Bit obvious, but why not just insulate it better? I worked out that our conservatory needs something like 4kw (2.4m of double radiators) to maintain 18deg at a 0degree ambient temp, not counting what it takes to heat it up in the first place.

Maintaining a decent temp (assuming its a shed/portakabin type effort) will be pretty expensive.
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[fatpies]

I had one or rather the waiting rooms I had to wait in had them.

They are extremely directional. So that while the bit it is pointing at can be burning off. The rest of you can be frozen solid. Unless you get a big enough one to point at you from most directions.


Alternatively make a little space out of plastic sheeting and canvas and heat that instead rather than letting it escape.
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[angryjonny]

[DrDonnyBrago]

All heaters cost the same to run for the amount of heat that they produce.

I.e. 1 unit of electricity will produce the same amount of heat be it a fan heater, oil filled radiator, infrared heater, toaster, stereo, television, fridge etc etc. They will all produce the same amount of heat for a given unit of energy.


Infrared heaters are good at warming up people as you can point it at them, they are good in big rooms where you don't want to waste energy heating the whole room, just warming the occupants. Oil filled radiators, convection heaters etc warm up the air which then warms the room and warms the people. Fan heaters kind of blur the divide in that they heat the room but can be pointed at the occupants.

It is more pleasant to be in a hot room than in a cold room with a source of heat aimed at you, but also more expensive.

If it is a big room then I'd go for a fan heater and point it at her chair, small room I'd go for a oil filled radiator.

[G]

As above - they warm what they hit, not the air.
So if it's a big space but the work is done in one place, it can make good sense. If it's a smaller space and you're moving around, some (more) oil filled radiators, convection heaters etc are probably the best bet.


Look for rating in watts and go as high as you can
Fan heaters will be less efficient because power is used for the van.
Some heaters produce visible light, though not sure if there's really much 'waste' there.
Infrared heaters may heat items that aren't very good at radiating heat.
Convection heaters may make the air dry, where a radiator style one presumably doesn't 'burn' it as much.

[D O G]

[angryjonny]

If there's no ceiling insulation at all, you might find you get big results just by sticking a load of this to the ceiling:
https://www.wickes.co.uk/polystyrene-insulation-board/invt/210823/

For a 6x10m room, you're looking at about £130 to cover the whole ceiling. It's only an inch thick but it's better than nothing, and will probably pay for itself in energy savings over a year or two.

(edit: of course this stuff is designed to go "inside" a wall or ceiling - no idea if you'd be breaching any fire regulations or anything, but you get polystyrene tiles, right?)

[doggone]

If the existing heating can only raise it to 8C an oil filled electric radiator won't make much difference unless on for hours beforehand.
If the place has cheap rate overnight it could be set to come on at 4am or something.
A fan heater can economically keep a small area warm, or at least make you feel warm directed under a desk for example!
The glare from infra-red is a bit much on nearly all day and as someone mentioned they tend to overheat your head while your feet are cold.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[fatpies]

[DrDonnyBrago]

[G]

[colin1]

a fan heater would heat more efficiently, as it moves the air around more. However for a given power output, a heater without a fan will be cheaper. A radiator actually does most of it's heating by convection not radiation. A fan improves the efficiency by forcing air movement rather than it just being due to hot air rising.

You may be able to get a 2.5kw oil filled radiator, but I doubt you could get a 2.5kw fan heater for the same price.

However, you could team up a oil filled radiator, with the type of fan used to keep people cool in summer. That might be a good combo, as it forces hot air from around the radiator, into the room.
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[DrDonnyBrago]

[G]

[colin1]

that surprises me, in that case I think fan heaters are the one to go for if the person doesnt mind a bit of noise as it will bring a room up to temperature faster
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[Ayrton]

[.....]

Make a wood burning stove out of an old gas canister.

[colin1]

[DrDonnyBrago]

One thing to bare in mind with fan heaters is that some can have a really annoying thermal cut out switch as a temperature controller.

I have this Delonghi, it is shit:

https://www.swiftelectrical.net/store/image/cache/data/hve134-500x500.jpg

It is actually very hot when it runs but every 5 minutes or so it will stop for a few minutes because the built in thermometer has got hot and told it to stop. The idea is that you turn it on, set he temperature and walk away, in reality the temp controller gets heated by the heater body when the room is still freezing and wont come back on until the sensor has cooled down. It is an utterly useless piece of shit.

My advice would be to get a cheaper one without a thermostat, just heat settings. At the very least avoid that one like the plague.

[D O G]

[Hex]

I had one of them for the shop. Will definitely heat your room

My only issue is when it hits the temperature, it turns off the element butnot the fan. So you end up with a constant breeze, but if the elements on all the time its no issue and a great heater for a good sized area.
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[G]

I like the ET05 for use with electric heaters - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=et05 .

You can set the temperature and it'll turn your heater on/off as required. Will only work with heaters that can turn on when power is turn on at the plug of course (fancier ones may go in to a 'stand by' when power is first applied.)

It works much better than the on-device thermometers in my experience as you can position it away from the heater.