A lot of people have never heard of infrared heating, because it’s such a revolutionary new technology. Although it has lots of advantages over other heating methods, many people still have a few questions concerning what it is and how it works.
What is Infrared?
Infrared waves are a member of the electromagnetic spectrum, along with gamma, x-ray, microwaves, radio waves, ultraviolet, and visible light. The main difference between each type of energy is their wavelength (the space between each peak in the wave).
Infrared waves cannot be seen by the naked eye, but we can feel their warmth. The best example to use is the sun’s heat, which is delivered via infrared waves. The key difference between our heater’s warmth and the sun’s is that the sun also provides harmful UV rays, whereas infrared heating does not.
How Does Infrared Heating Work?
The panels release infrared waves into your room, which bounce off all the different objects and surfaces. These are both absorbed and reflected, warming the objects, and moving on to warm more objects. This is in contrast to traditional heaters, as they don’t actually heat the air around the room – just the objects and surfaces.
What Does Infrared Heating Offer to Me?
As aforementioned, infrared heating has quite a few advantages over other types of heating. By heating the objects rather than the air, IR heating uses much less energy. This means you can save a fortune on your heating bills – up to 60%! Infrared heaters convert 98% of their energy into heat, so you’ll be wasting very little energy at all.
The maintenance bills on an infrared heater may shock you… they don’t exist! With a boiler, you have expensive maintenance and servicing bills, as lots of different things can go wrong with a central heating system. Infrared heating panels have no moving parts whatsoever, so there’s very little that can go wrong,
They’re brilliant for the modern home, too, as they can be installed out of the way. They can be installed on your wall or ceiling, meaning you don’t have to worry about a clunky radiator getting in the way of your interior design. It means you can position your furniture exactly how you wish. With an image panel or a custom panel, you can completely disguise your heater as a picture on the wall!
Infrared heating also has some brilliant health benefits that central heating does not offer. With no convectional currents caused, there’s no dust circulation, mould growth, or cold spots, so IR heating doesn’t cause any respiratory issues.
How Much Money Can They Save Me?
As previously mentioned, IR heating can save you approximately 60% on your heating bills, by wasting no heat on the air in the room. They can also save you money in other ways, too. IR heaters warm up much quicker than central heating does, meaning you won’t actually need them on as long to heat your room.
They can also be operated individually, in contrast to central heating, which warms the whole house.
How Do I Look After My Heater?
Of course, with no maintenance needed, there isn’t much you need to do with these heaters except turning them on. However, if you wish to give them a clean, it’s very straightforward. Just make sure they’re off, and give them a wipe with a soft, dry cloth. That’s it!
How Can I Install Heaters So Far Up?
With a standard radiator, they have to be at floor level, as the heat rises up towards the ceiling. With an infrared heater, you don’t have this issue, as it doesn’t heat the air. The infrared waves it emits can travel in all directions, so even if the panel is installed on the ceiling, the room will still be warmed.
What Are These Health Benefits You Mentioned?
Traditional heaters can make your room stuffy and humid, causing dust circulation, mould growth, and cold spots around your room. Germs travel around on the convectional currents, creating serious health issues – especially for those with respiratory problems. Infrared heating, however, is beneficial for your health.
The infrared waves can penetrate your skin by up to three inches. Although this sounds a little scary, it isn’t anything to be worried about – it should be appreciated. They soften the walls of your blood vessels, which improves blood flow throughout the body. This improved circulation helps with recovery from injuries and stress relief, which is why spas and saunas are now using infrared heating in therapy!
Is Infrared Heating Safe?
The short answer is yes. Infrared heat is all around us – it’s how the sun warms the earth. Whilst the sun also provides harmful UV rays, causing sunburn, infrared heating doesn’t radiate UV waves.
Infrared radiation has a number of different applications, likely without you noticing. Mobile phones used to use it to transmit data to each other; your TV remote control uses it to control different aspects of your viewing; laser quest games use it, and the military uses it for night-vision goggles. It’s completely risk-free and harmless.
Is IR Heating Environmentally Friendly?
They use much less energy than other heating methods, so they are of course very green. Your household’s carbon footprint can therefore be massively reduced. Not only will it not be gas being used, you could potentially use renewable energy.
The panels themselves are completely recyclable, too.
What Are The Panels Made From?
The panels are made from the fully recyclable material known as aluminium. On the back is a standard 240v junction box, with a 2m heavy-duty flex cable and a standard UK 3-pin plug. There are strong aluminium brackets on the rear so you can mount the panel onto the wall or ceiling.
How Easy Are They to Install?
All you really have to do is follow the template that we provide. Just drill the screws into the wall, and hang the panel onto them! After that, it’s as easy as switching it on! The whole installation process is very straightforward.
Do We Have A Manual?
Yes. Our all-encompassing Infrared Heating Panel manual is here.
Do The Panels Have To Be Mounted?
No. We also offer infrared heater stands that can turn your heater portable.
Can The Panels Be Used With A Thermostat?
Yes, infrared heaters actually work best with a thermostat. Our NXTGEN heaters are already supplied with an integrated thermostat, but the classic infrared heaters can be bought with a separate thermostat, too.
Choose from a couple of different options to give you the best control and functionality. You can even team them with other thermostats, such as Hive or Nest.
Will The NXTGEN Interfere With Any Wireless Systems?
The thermostats operate at 433 MHz, which, as an encoded frequency, will not interfere with any other wireless systems.
What is the Surface Temperature of the Panels?
The surface temperature can reach approximately 75-95˚C, which is slightly warmer than a standard radiator. They can, of course, be installed much higher up on the wall, negating the risk of burns from accidental touches.
How Do I Order Custom Panels?
It’s very easy to do, so you have no need to worry. Once you know what size and wattage you desire, you have to send your chosen image via email to images@suryaheating.co.uk. Make sure to quote your order number and name.
Make sure to ensure that the image is high-resolution, and is at least 300dpi. Once we have your image, we’ll create a proof of what your panel will look like. You need to confirm that you approve what it’ll look like, and then we’ll get started on creating your panel. This process takes around 7 days, and then we’ll send it on to you!
How Many Panels Do I Need For My Room?
It’s easy to do, so have no fear. You just need to work out the volume of your room in m3. This is done by multiplying the height, width and length.
Well-insulated rooms require 20W per m3, moderately insulated rooms need 25W per m3, and poorly insulated rooms require 30W per m3.
After that, it’s easy to work out. If your room has a volume of 50m2, and is well-insulated, you’d need 1000W worth of infrared heating – a 1200W would be perfect.
Can The Heaters Be Used in the Kitchen or Bathroom?
Yes, as long as you’re careful with your IP zoning. They come with IP54 ratings, which protect them against accidental splashes of water.
How Are The Heaters Delivered?
All of our panels are delivered via a ParcelForce 48 service, which can take around 3-5 working days. Delivery is completely free on all orders within the UK. If you’ve ordered an image panel or a custom printed panel, then they could take up to an extra seven days. Upon dispatch, you’ll receive a tracking number via email.
If you’re ordering outside of the UK, then get in touch with us and we can give you a quote depending on your location and the size of your order.
What Is Your Warranty Policy Like?
We have a fantastic 30 day home trial period in place on all of our heaters. This allows you to obtain a refund or exchange if you’ve changed your mind.
This applies to all of the Mirror, Glass, or White IR Panels. A 15% restocking fee will be applied to all Image IR Panels, and there are no returns on any Custom Printed IR Panels.
Our panels are all supplied with a five-year warranty, in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.
Are These Heaters Safety-Checked?
All of our Infrared Heaters (both IR Panels and the IR Bar Heaters) are both CE and ROHS certified. These comply with the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EC and the Electromagnetic Emissions Directive 2014/30/EC.
The NXTGen IR Heating Panels also fulfil the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC, as they have passed ErP testing by TUV Rheinland.
How Do I Contact You?
It’s simple! If you need any more information, or would like to place an order, get in touch with our brilliant customer services team. Call us on 0116 321 4124, email us at sales@suryaheating.co.uk, or take a look at our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
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