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We’re so used to wet heating systems in this part of the world that rely on gas to work, that collectively, our knowledge about alternate systems can be lacking.

We know this when we talk to people about infrared heating. Naturally, a lot of things are said about systems that are relatively unknown, and not all of them are good - in a nutshell there are plenty of myths about infrared.

Today though, we’re going to debunk some of those myths…strap in!

Myth #1: Infrared is Dangerous and Harmful

False! Infrared might sound dangerous because it’s a type of radiation (which sounds scary), but all this refers to is the type of energy it is.

Other things that are types of radiation include visible light (which allows us to see), radio waves (which allows us to communicate), X-rays (which are used for medical purposes), and of course Infrared (which we feel as heat).

For added assurance, infrared is the same type of energy that the sun emits (but of course on a much larger scale), only our IR heaters don’t emit any UV rays (which is the harmful part of the sun’s radiation).

Infrared is that safe, that it is now used in saunas, therapies and even baby incubators!

Myth #2: Infrared Only Heats Objects, Not The Air, So The Room Stays Cold

Kind of false…infrared does only heat objects, and doesn’t warm the air up…as that’s the whole point.

However, to say that they don’t heat your room is outright false. Here’s why.

When infrared warms objects, those objects (including you) radiate that heat back out. Essentially, the whole room becomes the radiator, making the whole room feel warm.

Incidentally, this is why rooms full of people feel warm - it’s simply everyone’s body heat radiating out into the rest of the space.

Back to the point, creating an environment where everything is heating the room, known as “thermal mass”, is a far more efficient way of heating a space than any convection heater can.

Myth #3: Infrared Heaters Are Expensive To Run

False! This myth mainly stems from the fact that infrared heaters are electric, which is usually more expensive than gas. However, this particular myth doesn’t take into account that infrared uses less energy than other gas and electric heaters.

The direct comparison here is convection heaters that warm the air up, and to do so, they consume lots of energy. After all, there’s always going to be more volume of air in any given space than there is surface area.

It’s for this reason that infrared heaters actually use about 60% less energy than convection radiators. I’ll caveat this by saying that this largely offsets the difference in cost between gas and electricity, so where does the actual reduced running cost come from?

The first is decentralised heating. When you switch your boiler on, it heats your whole home irrespective of whether you’re using all the rooms or not. Basically, it’s all or nothing.

With infrared however, the whole system doesn’t have to be centrally controlled. Each room can be its own zone, controlled independently of the other heaters around the house. This saves a bunch of money, and we haven’t even got onto the potential of free heating using solar panels!

Myth #4: Infrared Is Only For Industrial Or Outdoor Use

False! This may have been the case with older, traditional infrared heaters (that were also bulkier and noisier), but today’s offerings are far better suited for domestic use.

For a start they’re sleeker and thinner. Our IR Panels are just 22mm thin, and can be installed on the walls or ceilings, so they work around you.

They’re also silent, which is a massive departure from the background hum of gas central heating. And there’s also zero comparison between IR Heaters and fan heaters as far as noise is concerned.

Finally, with the introduction of Image IR Panels, your heating doesn’t need to stick out or look ugly in your home, instead it can be part of your decor, and go as far as improving it.

Myth #5: Infrared Is Hard To Install And Maintain

VERY false! Of all the myths here, this one is probably the furthest from the truth. Let’s start with the installation.

If you can use a drill, then you can install these panels yourself. And if you’re not confident using a drill, chances are you know someone who is. Either way, that’s about the toughest part of installing infrared panels.

After that it’s just a case of inserting the wall plugs and screws, and hanging up your panel on the wall!

Now…even if you found installation tricky, I guarantee that you won’t have any issues with maintenance. That’s because infrared heaters don’t require any maintenance. They have no moving parts, so they don’t need servicing or anything like that.

The only thing they might need, at a push, is an occasional wipe down with a mildly damp cloth. Nothing else needed.

But what if something goes wrong? Well seeing as infrared heating is modular, the rest of the heaters in your home will keep working even if one of them is faulty, letting you simply swap it out, without the others being affected.

Now That IR Fact & Fiction Have Been Separated…

Hopefully you now have a better understanding of what the real deal is with infrared heating, and that a lot of the chatter you might have read online is simply not true.

If you need to know more information, or are interested in purchasing some IR heaters for your home, all you need to do is give us a call on 0116 321 4124, or send an email to sales@suryaheating.co.uk.

You can also reach out to us on our Facebook or Instagram pages too. For all things infrared, be sure to check out our YouTube channel.