How does infrared heating work?....P2

Part 2 of "How does infrared heating work?"

We have found the best way to heat a room is to use infrared heating mainly because of the short heat-up time, and the low energy use.  The reason the infrared heaters use less energy is because the energy is absorbed by the walls and the surfaces, causing them to feel warm and to radiate heat into the room rather than rely on reheating the air that can often be lost through the walls, windows, flooring and ceiling.  Once the walls and surfaces are warm they will retain the heat.  If a door is opened suddenly, the heat that is stored in the hard surfaces will not rush out of the room like hot air would.  Naturally some heat will be lost if the door is opened, however, the amount is minimal, and therefore it will take a small amount of energy from the heaters to heat the room back up to the required temperature.

The heaters manufactured by FRICO have been designed so that they are pleasant to look at when in a domestic or office environment.  The principle is that you should not notice that they are in the room, and FRICO have produced a ceiling tile that is heated that will fit snugly in to a modular ceiling, giving off up to 75 Watts of heat per tile to an office space without even know it was there.

The infrared rays themselves are totally harmless.  The structure of the heater will contain either a heating element such as a solid metal bar, or an aluminium foil that is encased in a heat resistant plastic casing, and both are then covered with the appropriate shell that is usually made from a reflective material such as aluminium so that the energy is transferred quickly from the heating foil or bar straight in to the room on to the objects.

FRICO Thermocassette Infrared Heater

When an electrical current is passed through the heating foil or the metal bar, it will emit a specific amount of ratdiation in the form of infrared waves.  These infrared waves, which are as previously stated, totally harmless and will not affect the person standing under the heater.  The infrared energy moves from the heater to all of the surfaces of the room or the space it is trying to heat, and the surfaces will both absorb and reflect the infrared waves, creating a warm environment.  The way this works is that when the infrared energy is absorbed in to the structures, let's say the walls and the floor,  the walls and the flooor will become warm and give off thermal or heat energy and start to warm the air up in the room. Second to this, they waill also relect the infrared waves of energy and begin bouncing around the room heating the rest of the surfaces, the machinery, computers and of course the people.

When standing in the room with radiant heating, you will notice that it feels warmer than convection heating, because of the direct heating affect coming from the infrared heating.  What this means (and this is where another energy saving comes in) is that you can set the room temperature lower than you would with a normal convection heating system and it will feel just as warm.

 There will be an all round comfortable feeling when occupying a room with infrared heating.  The feedback received regarding the infrared heating system is that clients love the type of heat being supplied by the heaters - the reason for this is that it is the closest you will get to standing under the sun, it feels the same as the heat coming from the sun.

Also, in industrial, commercial and retails applications, when an air curtain is strategically placed over the entrance doors, even more energy is saved from keeping the warm air in, and an even temperature is maintained throughout the space being heated.  Couple this with an advanced control system such as the SIRe controller from FRICO, and the TFP12 thermostatic controller, you can run a very sophisticated heating system that will self regulate and maintain comfortable heating within the room you are trying to heat.

The recent installation in to the hot yoga studio in London is a great example of how the aesthetics and control played a big part in the HP Thermocassettes being selected for the project.  Sleek looking, white finished infrared heaters were placed alongside the skylights, in uniform manner giving the room a modern look and feel.  Once the programmable controller (TFP12) had been set up and programmed according to the class timetable, the owners and instructors could leave the system running without having to tamper with the controls each day.  This frees up time for the owners to concentrate on their business, on bringing in more clients and on focussing on their business without having to worru about the inside temperatures.

The heaters provide a spread of heat over the whole of the studio, warming the floor, the walls and the people inside the room to create the perfect atmosphere for those wishing to practice hot yoga.