We've used a set of (1) 600w, (1) 400w, and (1) 250w infrared heating panels for a whole heating season. This is a summary and explanation of our findings! #energy #renewableenergy #heating #electric
I have the same 500~600W panel as you. Putting reflective alufoil just a few mm from it's back increases the heat from the front. Also it's heated by just the same resistive heating wire as any other space heater.
"I HOPE that it doesn't cause that much cancer" 😅. Good vid though. These seem like a great idea to put near places you plan to be sitting for a long time as they can warm up your body directly like those heatlamps for reptiles lol. Heating all the air inside your room or house is just a huge waste unless you are gonna be constantly walking around. Plus heating the air by convection means it holds more moisture which increases evaporation from the mucous membranes in your nasopharynx, making your nose and throat feel dry. These infrared panels shouldn't have that problem I'm guessing, although I've never tried one
The problem with infrared heating is that you feel the heat on the parts of your body facing the infrared waves while you feel the cold air on other parts of you body. This is not confortable. However if you can install 2 or 3 panels around you then you will feel great.
Nice - because they're so simple.....no ugly pipes, boilers, tanks, controls....not to mention no regular servicing required. Been looking at air source heat pumps here in UK - but after realising quite how much upheaval it would cause to fit, I think I prefer to pay more in electricity charges - and have something nice and simple such as infrared.
Wouldn't the heat pump "switch" need to be mapped against that year's temperatures vs the previous? And are you amortizing battery cost to arbitrage costs?
Yeah exactly I went back to add all the temperature data to my spreadsheet, and it's usually a few degrees different but years don't vary too much. It's splitting hairs to some extent, but switching from gas to heat pump saved so much energy the temperature variations were inconsequential year-to-year. As for the heat pump only year, to the added IR panel year, then yeah the temp difference was more consequential. Not amortizing in any sense that I understand. We paid everything outright and since then have saved ~$2k a year, now our total "remaining cost" is around $26k for the solar and batteries (down from $32k) if that's what you mean.
I doubt it could do it on its own. It would really depend on what else you had going in your favor, like insulation or thermal mass. We use ours only for main heat when it's pretty mild out/nights. For instance, when it was early October and the nights were cold but the days were warm. The house would warm up by afternoon, but then before bed I'd turn the panel on instead of the central heat. That being said, it could make the difference between life/death in a survival situation...if you didn't have any other options.
Yes as long as you have the correct size panel(s) and positioned correctly, sufficient insulation. Poor insulation means you need the panels to be running more often but with -10 and say 10cm insulation they would need to run at least 4x a day, so like 4-5hrs in operation.
We're keeping it noticeably warmer, the cost went down even though the usage went up because of how we're using them tactically. Sorry for the confusion! They're still going and very nice about a year later.
a heatpump is'nt that efficient, when a gasboiler with radiators has a 95+ efficiency, a heatpump has only 55 of efficiency it is great for houses that are completely packed with insulation and floor heating, but otherwise insuficient for heating your home it's also very high in consuming energy, a heatpump is at least 5Kw, and almost stays on constantly where as infrared panels are modulating and directing heat at 300w-1Kw, you can place several around the house to equal the power needed to power 1 heatpump