Infrared Heaters when working from home

k_man

I think I need the ones that give out light too
Otherwise gonna be dark visits to the bathroom.

coffeehound

Gerry1 said:

I was thinking of a traditional electric fire !

Hadn't realised that they're almost obsolete, most searches only bring up electric stoves or fireplaces.  Presumably they were scuppered by Health & Safety concerns about fires caused if they were knocked over or came too close to clothing, curtains etc.

It was LOT 20 what did for them.  Brussels now requires heaters to be fitted with gimmicks like occupancy sensors or open-window detection in order to score enough points (inexplicably expressed as some arbitrary percentage) to pass 

Gerry1

coffeehound said:

Gerry1 said:

I was thinking of a traditional electric fire !

Hadn't realised that they're almost obsolete, most searches only bring up electric stoves or fireplaces.  Presumably they were scuppered by Health & Safety concerns about fires caused if they were knocked over or came too close to clothing, curtains etc.

It was LOT 20 what did for them.  Brussels now requires heaters to be fitted with gimmicks like occupancy sensors or open-window detection in order to score enough points (inexplicably expressed as some arbitrary percentage) to pass 

Interesting.  But AFAIK fan heaters are still on sale without occupancy sensors or open-window detection?  Admittedly, they seem a bit safer and will shut off if the airflow is obstructed.

coffeehound

Gerry1 said:

coffeehound said:

Gerry1 said:

I was thinking of a traditional electric fire !

Hadn't realised that they're almost obsolete, most searches only bring up electric stoves or fireplaces.  Presumably they were scuppered by Health & Safety concerns about fires caused if they were knocked over or came too close to clothing, curtains etc.

It was LOT 20 what did for them.  Brussels now requires heaters to be fitted with gimmicks like occupancy sensors or open-window detection in order to score enough points (inexplicably expressed as some arbitrary percentage) to pass 

Interesting.  But AFAIK fan heaters are still on sale without occupancy sensors or open-window detection?  Admittedly, they seem a bit safer and will shut off if the airflow is obstructed.

Hmm don't know why fan heaters would be exempt, though apparently Brussels likes fans, hence all NSHs now beeing blown heat.  There might have been a particular clause for IR heaters that they must have an occupancy sensor(?)  Not going to check it again though as it was a dull read

doodling

Hi,

Leaving aside the thread diversion, IR heating does have its uses.  It is ideal where you are trying to heat people in a big space, where attempting to heat the air would be futile.  Sensible applications include big warehouses (including lots of DIY stores), less sensible applications include patio heaters (where any attempt to heat the air really is futile!).

They do have some downsides, in particular it is quite difficult to get the heat directed appropriately if you are moving around at all.  You do also tend to suffer from only being warm on average, where the parts of you facing the heater feel like they are getting sunburned and those facing away remain freezing.

If for example you wanted to save money in a shop then you might use IR heating at the tills and not bother heating the rest of it on the basis that people will have come in from outside wearing coats.  Whether the people operating the till would be happy with that, or whether they would be happier with a similarly rated fan heater blowing warm air directly at them would I suspect be a matter of personal taste.

Unless your house is so poorly insulated or draughty that keeping the air warm would be really challenging then for domestic use they generally aren't ideal.

coffeehound

doodling said:

Leaving aside the thread diversion,

Well we talking about legislation that has directly affected what products are available to consumers, so seems relevant to the topic.

The key problem with shortwave IR heaters is the quality of the heat is strangely harsh and unpleasant; better than nothing, but probably not what most people would choose.  However when used to heat up other objects which re-emit the heat as longwave, things get more comfortable.  

So IMO the shortwave heaters might be a good way to pre-heat the floor, furniture, etc in a room from cold.  Then supplement the heating with longwave emitters or blown warm air etc once the room is occupied.  But with the EU mandating all IR heaters be fitted with occupancy sensors (if that is indeed the case), that has blocked that use case.  

One approach that I think BUFF mentioned before is to use the central heating to provide background heating to say 16 C and then supplement with targetted local heating.  Seems like a good compromise

QrizB

coffeehound said:

Gerry1 said:

coffeehound said:

Gerry1 said:

I was thinking of a traditional electric fire !

Hadn't realised that they're almost obsolete, most searches only bring up electric stoves or fireplaces.  Presumably they were scuppered by Health & Safety concerns about fires caused if they were knocked over or came too close to clothing, curtains etc.

It was LOT 20 what did for them.  Brussels now requires heaters to be fitted with gimmicks like occupancy sensors or open-window detection in order to score enough points (inexplicably expressed as some arbitrary percentage) to pass 

Interesting.  But AFAIK fan heaters are still on sale without occupancy sensors or open-window detection?  Admittedly, they seem a bit safer and will shut off if the airflow is obstructed.

Hmm don't know why fan heaters would be exempt, though apparently Brussels likes fans, hence all NSHs now beeing blown heat.  There might have been a particular clause for IR heaters that they must have an occupancy sensor(?)  Not going to check it again though as it was a dull read

I think LOT 20 might be a scarlet kipper.

Going by the explanation on this linked site, portable heaters are held to different standads than fixed ones.

The full text of the Regs is here if you want to trawl through it; I don't!

BUFF

coffeehound said:

One approach that I think BUFF mentioned before is to use the central heating to provide background heating to say 16 C and then supplement with targetted local heating.  Seems like a good compromise

Indeed 'twas me, although I was just parroting Historic Environment Scotland's suggestions for older housing.

elsien

Whiterosegaz said:

Thanks for the response mate - my thinking was it would be better as you’d only be “heating” one room - but I couldn’t find anything anywhere explaining about there usage.

I only heat the room I’m working in by turning down the TRVs in the other rooms during the day and just having that radiator on. Plus lots of layers so the thermostat is generally only on 16 or 17 anyway. 

username

doodling said:

If for example you wanted to save money in a shop then you might use IR heating at the tills and not bother heating the rest of it on the basis that people will have come in from outside wearing coats.  Whether the people operating the till would be happy with that, or whether they would be happier with a similarly rated fan heater blowing warm air directly at them would I suspect be a matter of personal taste.

A diversion, but kind of tediously linked (heating at work!), I have never understood stores that have fan heaters above the door, which is often left wide open anyway. Complete waste of energy.