Infrared Heaters when working from home

Reed_Richards

I do not believe infra-red heaters are as magical as some people make them out to  be.  It's not physically possible to "just heat the person", any form of radiation diminishes in intensity as the square of the distance from the source; the radiation that hits the person heats the person but most will probably miss and heat the walls, floor furniture and the air.  The old fashioned electric fires had a parabolic reflector behind the elements so that might give you a beam of infra-red radiation but that is all down to the reflector; new designs of infra-red heater tend to be planar with a flat reflector so would be less effective.  

gefnew

They Are called air curtains and reduce the amount of air transfer from outside to inside of the building.
Part of the certification of the buildings air tightness they have to pass.

PaulineSH

I am considering having a ceiling mounted infra-red panel installed above where my mother sits most of the day (watching tv!). Her one bedroomed flat has one storage heater in the lounge/diner and is at the opposite end of the room to where she sits. During the cold winter days she needs to use a small electric blow heater to keep warm as the heat from the storage heater is not enough. With the ever increasing cost of electricity, I’m wondering if a ceiling mounted IR panel would be a better option - also safer as no trailing cables. Does anyone have first hand experience of their efficiency? Thankyou.

Alnat1

Are heated throws any good?

I'm always colder than my hubby and wondered about using one in the winter evenings. Could also work for someone working from home. The wattages seem quite low and would be cheaper than any electric heater.

victor2

When I used to "Work From Home", before the pandemic made it more widespread, I would spend most of the day in a small box room sitting at a desk, in a 4-bed house. Rather than run the central heating, and mess about with TRVs etc., I would use a small fan heater, with thermostatic control, blowing at floor level. Only used it on really cold days, as the central heating would come on for an hour or two early morning to take the chill off. It did cost less than running the central heating, but I still only used it as little as possible, and dressed for warmth!

Reed_Richards

A fan heater can be positioned to blow hot air at the person.  An infra-red heater radiates heat in all (forward) directions and cannot be positioned as close to a seated person if ceiling mounted.  Both are 100% efficient in converting electricity to heat but I believe that the fan heater will be more effective in supplying that heat to a seated person.  However I agree that the trailing cable could be a problem with the fan heater.

Farway

Alnat1 said:

Are heated throws any good?

I'm always colder than my hubby and wondered about using one in the winter evenings. Could also work for someone working from home. The wattages seem quite low and would be cheaper than any electric heater.

They are super, cosy and warm, just spend the extra and make sure it's large enough to cover you as from reviews some are a bit skimpy

Mine has various levels of heat, and auto off timer, ideal because I fall asleep it's so cosy

Mstty

A heated throw will be the cheapest option to heat the seated person.