Everything You Need to Know About Radiant Heaters

Radiant heaters are heaters that heat using the same principle as the sun. They heat using light waves instead of heating the air. They are said to be more environmentally friendly because they only heat what is necessary and not all of the existing air around. Radiant heaters also have the added benefit of providing fairy quick heat. Heat can be felt shortly after the heater is turned on instead of after the air is warmed. The fact that radiant heaters accomplish all of this without an open heat source is pretty amazing and makes them a very safe alternative to space heaters.

Many heating systems function by first heating up a large volume of air, which leads to the heating up of the structure, the objects in the structure, and finally the people in the structure. This can take a long time when a house is very cold. It can take the air a long time to gain enough warmth to convect heat to solid objects. Air is not a very conductive material. Depending of the building this can take many hours and any lack of insulation can slow the process down even further. If you will be heating a space and leaving the air conditioned for a long period of time this may be the way to go but if you will be turning the heat on and off on a regular basis radiant heat can be the answer.

If the goal is instant heat, or if there are only a few people utilizing the heating source, radiant heaters may be the best solution. Radiant heaters send out infrared radiation – which is nothing more than light waves of a specific spectrum. These light waves are not absorbed by the air, thus the air is not heated, but when they strike an object the absorption of the radiation leads to heating. This is why you can feel the heat as soon as a radiant heater is turned on.

Radiant heated have a number of other benefits because of the fact that they do not require the movement of air or combustion.

Radiant heaters do not have an open flame source making them much safer than many other models of space heater. This also means that there is no odor associated with the use of radiant heaters.

They do not require the movement of air which can be bothersome to some people and actually be counter productive by causing a slight wind chill because of the air movement. Moving air also has the potential to disturb allergens.

The heat produced by radiant heaters tends to be very uniform in nature because it causes warming on contact as opposed to relying on heating surrounding surfaces which can cause drafts or dead spots.

Because radiant heaters reach their full heat quickly and are not required to heat the surrounding air they are more energy efficient. They use significantly less electricity than other alternatives.

There are a wide variety of radiant heaters on the market. There are portable models as well as full radiant heat home systems. There are models that are made for recreational vehicles and models that are made to heat floors or ceilings.

Full home systems can be wall, floor, or ceiling mounted. They often allow for very precise controls of different areas of the home and because they reach their full output very quickly they can be adjusted to an optimal temperature within minutes.

Radiant heat systems are easy to install, cheap to run, highly effective, much safer than other alternative, and require little maintenance. Is it any wonder that many builders are starting to use radiant heaters in their new construction?