Designer Radiant Heating Panels for Homes

Infrared heaters offer a vast number of benefits in terms of efficiency, comfort and practicality. Infrared heating is a low energy, efficient electric heating solution that can be combined with renewables to give you a sustainable heating solution. It is simple to install and is maintenance free, minimising the disruption caused by underfloor heating and avoiding the annual maintenance costs required by heat pumps. Available in a number of stylish finishes, infrared heaters provide a modern and space-saving option whatever the environment and free up valuable floor space. Infrared heating is also widely recognised for delivering improved comfort levels, with a natural and fresh feeling of heat rather than the stuffy heat that alternative heating solutions can often create. Infrared heating is also great for buildings as it maintains a higher temperature in the material of the building, reducing the causes of moisture and minimises condensation, damp and mould.

There have been a number of low voltage, very thin, carbon based heating products in the form of “Wallpaper”, in-wall, ceiling or underfloor mats that have recently appeared on the market promoting themselves as “Infrared”, “far infrared” and / or “Radiant” heating technologies. Typically these systems are low voltage (via transformers) heat mats which can be installed to cover a large area within walls, ceilings and floors.

These heating systems reach a maximum of 40°C surface temperature and are usually much cooler once covered with plaster, carpet, paint etc. For the reasons explained below, these systems usually demonstrate a relatively low percentage of radiant (infrared) heat, with most of the heat energy being in the form of convection and conduction.  It is therefore misleading to make claims of these systems as being “Infrared” or “Radiant” heating solutions and they cannot be classified as radiant (infrared) heating systems under UK and international electrical standards.

To have radiant (infrared) heat, you must have a distinct temperature difference between the heater and the things it is trying to heat.   The following diagram shows the difference in radiated energy between 3 objects: one at 25°C (roughly surface temperature of human skin); 50°C (i.e. central heating radiator) and one at 100°C (i.e. Infrared Heating panel).

You can see from the diagram that the radiant heat transfer between something at 50°C and another at 25°C is very small:  around 0.2 watts per meter. This is barely discernible on the skin as radiant heat and you can easily test this yourself by moving your bare arm closer and closer to a central heating radiator until you can sense the heat. (You almost have to touch it).

Contrast this with an Infrared panel at 100°C and an object at 25°C where the heat transfer is about 1 watt per meter and easily discernible on the skin up to a couple of meters away from the panel.

At 40C and only 0.004 watts per cm2, the emissive IR properties of “Infrared Wallpaper” will be negligible. All the wallpaper is doing is slowing down the rate of heat loss by conduction from the walls and ceilings (indeed suppliers urge you not to place it on outside walls at all). Otherwise it is just warming the air in the room.  We don’t dismiss that this might be effective in some way if you cover enough of your walls and ceilings with it. However, at 40°C and 0.004w/cm2 Electric Infrared Wallpaper cannot claim to be radiant (or Infrared) and claim the benefits that infrared heating has over convection.

The international (IEC) standard for performance of household radiators actually considers heated wallpapers (or any heater at or below 40°C) as out of scope for radiant performance assessment. This is for the reasons described above and shown very clearly by the diagram: there is too little transmissiveness of radiant heat as a proportion of the total power consumption to allow the heaters to claim they are radiant (as opposed to convective or conductive).

IG Infrared https://www.ig-infrared.com/en/home.html  is the EU Infrared manufacturers trade association and defines infrared heaters as requiring a minimum surface temperature of 75°C and a minimum watts coverage over the panel surface of 0.09w/cm2 to qualify as “Infrared Heaters” (wallpaper watts coverage is 0.004w/cm2).

We have had a number of customers who have installed this type of heating say it has not lived up to expectations and have switched to our infrared heating panels.

Herschel Infrared panels are easy to install and come with a very comprehensive set of instructions. As Infrared panels are an electric installation, they should only be carried out by a suitably qualified electrician. Herschel has a network of Accredited Installers who would be happy to help you.

Things to consider when planning to install an infrared panel are:

• Provision of a suitably-sized electrical source. If you are unsure, seek your electrician’s advice;
• Locate the panel according to operating heights and minimum separation distances specified in the instruction manual;
• Ensure enough strength exists in the wall / ceiling where you are going to hang the heater;
• Follow any other precautions listed in the instructions.

Installation hardware and guides for measuring and installing the mounting brackets are included in the box with the heaters. Instructions are also always available for download from the website.

This makes Infrared significantly easier to install than oil or gas boilers, heat pumps, underfloor heating etc and implies only minor disruption to your house.

Click here for a video on how to install a Select panel.

Unlike convection heating, infrared heating does not waste energy heating the air. By warming the fabric of the building, infrared heaters are efficiently using the heat generated by turning the room into a 360 degree radiator. The thermal mass (walls, floor and ceiling) radiates warmth back into the room, and the thermostats ensure the infrared heaters only come on when required to top up, delivering an efficient and incredibly comfortable feeling of heat. Infrared heaters are also highly controllable allowing the flexibility to only heat the rooms you need heated, when you need them heated. This saves energy by ensuring no energy is wasted by heating rooms that are unoccupied.