Infrared Heating for Home

2_4

Not sure the best place for this and a quick search showed only posts from over 10 years ago for IR heating.

I live in a flat in a converted church. Solar, heat pump and gas are all out of the question. We have old electric panel heaters (dunno if I'm using the right name really) but they are Consort, 2000KW I think and provide limited heat at quite a cost. The building is well insulated - i think. But the lounge/kitchen is open plan and the lounge area has about a 20ft ceiling at its peak. That's directly above the radiator so I suspect a lot of heat just goes up. We only need the heating at all when it's very cold but not sure what the best option is. Current heaters are old and thermostat/timer is broken so was going to go for a modern electric radiator as they look good and would be programmable. Still expensive but could maybe get even bigger so at least when we want it warm it would be.

Then I heard about IR and thought it could be an option, while someone else suggested an HVLS fan that might help in both winter and summer. Has anyone had a positive experience with IR and/or a fan? Or got any other suggestions or tips? Cheers!

Reed_Richards

An electric radiator, like your current heater, heats the air. An IR heater transfers more heat to nearby solid objects and these then transfer heat to the air. If you can position yourself close to an IR heater it should make you feel quite warm but this only works if you are near the heater; if you are on the other side of the room you may well feel cold until the air in the room warms up. Both an electric radiator and an IR heater will be expensive to run compared to gas or a heat pump.

GrahamLM52

There are different types of Infra Red heating. This site explains a bit about the differences.

https://infraredheatingsupplies.com/pages/difference-between-near-and-far-infrared-heat?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22684526327&gclid=CjwKCAjwn4vQBhBsEiwAq3hhN67ovRr6DO5zvKBEk3CeqDdUjuw5LUjvssS8jKL3UzWP9ReHHPrYdhoCdiIQAvD_BwE

We used FAR infra red panels to heat a high-bay workshop. They were expensive to buy but reasonable to run (much less that the enormous noisy fan heaters we had previously) and they looked very modern. The staff were happy as the heat from far-infra red heaters is a gentle warming of the body but the air itself and the chairs, desks etc around you didn't get hot.

The panels do not glow like mid-infra red heaters. The only way of knowing they were on was when you felt the heat hitting you.

squirrelpie

Why do you say a heat pump is impossible? Infrared will still be more expensive to run I think, although perhaps cheaper to buy initially.

The building is well insulated - i think.

Can you describe why you think it's well-insulated, and why you only think it is, rather than know it is?

We only need the heating at all when it's very cold

That's suggestive that it is well-insulated, but people differ a lot in how sensitive they are. How is the church divided up?

It sounds like far infrared panels would be useful as others have suggested. The principle of an HVLS fan is also good although all the ones I found in a quick search were for industrial properties. You may have better luck searching for ceiling fans, search for large, slow ones.

tfhnota

eBay is your friend if you want wall-mounted IR heaters, circa £40 with decent metal body construction, these are ones that glow and do need to position them so that you get hit by the heat, a single bar is 660W and sufficient - you will probably need to turn it on and off or it will get too warm. I would just go for a low powered heated under-blanket for the bed rather than trying to heat that room, costs almost nothing to run and a great feeling getting into a warm bed in an otherwise cold room. You can also get high wall mounted but slimline halogen/IR heaters for the bathroom and just turn on when you are in there rather than using all the time.

squirrelpie

If you consider buying a wall-mounted bar heater it's worth making sure that they have easily replaceable heating bars and that the parts themselves are easily available and will continue to be for years. Because if you use them for hours at a time you will find that the bars frequently stop working, especially if the name on the unit is not one you recognize.

Newbie_John

More or less all electric heaters will cost the same - so it doesn't matter.

You haven't specified why heat pump is out of question, but have you considered air condition unit? It's a much cheaper than typical heat pump, doesn't require any plumbing etc. and is 4x cheaper to heat your house compared to all electric heaters.

Other options are storage heaters - they work like flask, absorb a lot of heat when it's cheaper over night then release it through the day.

Or just various combination of using ToU tarriffs and timers..

Emmia

Personally i avoid IR heating systems which are often used by gyms and yoga studios as they make me feel very unwell - I think they're not suitable for people with certain health conditions and pregnant women - so definitely investigate to see if they are really suitable for what you want and who will be living there.

2_4

I don't think I can have a heat pump because it is a leasehold converted church. It is not listed, but protected I think and we're high up in the building as well. I'm not sure there is space for a unit outside, if it would even be allowed but I suppose I could look into it. I think there would be a similar issue with AC.

I think it's well insulated as it stays warm, doesn't get cold near the windows (which seem very thick) and I have seen in the walls that there is insulation. Plus there are the thick walls of the original building as well. I'm not sure because this really isn't my area of expertise.

In terms of what we replace with I'm looking for something that looks good so I'd rule out anything that glows!

squirrelpie

It's worth finding out for sure whether you could get a heat pump, because it will be cheaper to run.

How recently was it converted? Do you know who did the work? And is there any information about the conversion online?

What looks good is a very personal opinion, so I suspect you'll have to make that judgment yourself and forgive whatever ugly suggestions people make. :)

2_4

This is the building - https://adeptcsce.com/project/trinity-view-residential-development-leeds/

Dunno if that's any good. As for appearance, something modern and bright that doesn't look like heating bars in the 1970s! But point taken.