There are several types of heating systems such as ceramic heating, convection heating, fan heaters, radiators, infrared heating, and much more. This article focuses on infrared heaters and explains how it differs from traditional heating.

Introduction to an Infrared Heater

Infrared heating is an electric-powered heating method. But it varies from other electric heaters. Infrared heaters turn electricity into infrared radiation. This means infrared is radiating heat, for example: the warmth of the sun on your face, the heat of a coal fire, or the heat from a toaster. It's even the same type of heat your body produces. 

How does Infrared Heating Work?

Infrared heating has been used for millennia by cavemen to heat themselves with fires, by Romans in their hypocausts, by log burners, and by tile stoves. Infrared heats objects, which then radiate back and keep the environment warm around you, much like the heat of the sun on your surroundings - even during winter. Radiant heat does not heat the air, which contains little heat and disperses quickly.

Infrared waves move through the air and release heat energy when they come into contact with a surface, independent of the temperature of the surrounding air. That heat energy stimulates the molecules in the thing it touches, causing them to vibrate and accumulate energy. Water absorbs far infrared very effectively, and because our skin is 80% water, we are ideally acclimated to it. Far infrared is the same infrared band emitted by the human body.

All items (including people) absorb and emit infrared, and whether one absorbs or emits is determined by the temperature differential between objects in a given environment. If the items in your environment are warmer than you, you will warm up as a result. And, if you are warmer than the items in your environment, you will radiate heat and make them feel chilly. However, it also explains why humans might feel chilly in centrally heated rooms, which just heat the air and not the items within them.

If you are in a centrally heated room at 70°F with your back to an outside wall at 62°F, you will radiate heat to that outside wall and hence feel cold, regardless of the room's comfortable air temperature. This explains the underlying distinction between infrared and "convection" heating.

Why do you say "far" infrared? What does this mean?

Because infrared heat encompasses the entire spectrum of radiated heat (ranging from the very intense heat of a light bulb at 4700°F to the heat you'd feel from a glowing coal at 1100°F to a rock warmed to 68°F by the sun), three correspondingly very different categories of infrared have been defined, precisely matching the examples above. 

There are three types of infrared heaters: "near" (also known as shortwave or IR-A), "medium" (commonly known as middlewave or IR-B), and "far" (also known as "longwave" or IR-C).

In addition to the categories listed above, the major permissible waveband for indoor comfort heating is far infrared (humans achieve optimal "comfort" at roughly 70°F).

Shortwave is frequently too harsh for residential interior environments, but it is ideal for commercial and industrial uses. Shortwave infrared emits a concentrated heat output, allowing it to project further and function effectively in environments with low ambient temperatures. The targeted Shortwave infrared heat allows you to zone heat particular regions where the output is most needed while not wasting energy on big air volumes.

Middlewave is the ideal balance of performance and comfort. Herschel's Middlewave heaters are most typically used for both household and commercial outdoor heating. They feature our super long-life woven carbon fiber heating elements, which are particularly engineered to be low-glare and produce minimum light. 

Longwave, known as far infrared, is the waveband in which water begins to absorb heat with the least amount of input energy of the three wavelengths listed above. Far infrared heat is best absorbed by the skin's surface, where it is quickly absorbed by conduction into tissue and circulation and distributed throughout the body. This is why Far Infrared is used in heating cabins and infant incubators. 

Are you searching for infrared heating solutions, end your search at Shiva Heaters. We offer high-quality industrial heating solutions such as Infrared Heaters that are customized as per your needs. You can contact us to discuss your requirements for infrared heating.