Given how new infrared heating technology is, there aren’t many who are fully aware of how it actually works. As you’d imagine then, when it comes to buying IR panels for any room in your house, there might be some difficulty deciding which panels, and how many you need.
What we’re going to look at is how you would go about buying infrared heating panels for your home, and how to cater each panel for individual rooms.
How Much Power Do I Need?
This is arguably the most important aspect to consider when purchasing our panels. Too little power and you’ll stay cold, and too much power will mean you spend more on energy than what’s necessary.
Thankfully, there’s an easy method of working this out. The only things you’ll need are a tape measure, a calculator, and a bit of knowledge about your house.
Step 1: Measure the length, width and height of your room in metres.
Step 2: Multiply the length by the width, and then multiply the result by the height. This will give you the volume of your room in metres cubed (m3).
Step 3: Assess how well your home is insulated. The table below gives you a rough indication of insulation.
|
Level of Insulation |
Wattage per m3 Required |
|
Poor insulation (home built pre-1930) |
35W per m3 |
|
Moderate insulation (home built between 1930-1980) |
30W per m3 |
|
Good insulation (home built post-1980, or has been reinsulated recently) |
25W per m3 |
Step 4: Multiply the volume of your room by the suggested wattage per m3. This gives you the total number of watts you need for that particular area of your home.
Now that you have the power required to heat your room, you can start to make a decision about how many panels you need. We’ll work through an example to put this into practice.
Let’s say we have a room that measures 4m in length, 3m in width, and 2.5m in height. The volume of this room is 4 x 3 x 2.5, which equals 30m3.
Now let’s say the building in which this room is located is moderately insulated. This means we need to multiply the volume, 30m3, by the required wattage per m3, which in this case is 25W per m3.
This gives us a total of 750W for the room. Using this figure, we can look at the panels available and make a decision. For example, a set of two 350W panels would be sufficient, as would a single 700W panel.
An ‘L-shaped’ room might be better off with 2 separate panels to avoid ‘deadspots’, whereas a single heater might be sufficient for more conventional square or rectangular shaped rooms.
The main wattages available on our panels are 350W, 580W, 700W, 900W and 1200W. You can consult our infrared panel product guide for more information.
It is important to remember that this is for guidance only, and whether you need slightly more or slightly less heat is down to personal preference.
What Panel Size Do I Need?
This will largely depend on your own taste, as the power of the panel will be determined by the size and insulation of your room.
The main sizes that are available for purchase are 595 x 595mm, 595 x 995mm, 595 x 1195mm, 795 x 1195mm and 995 x 1195mm. It might also be worth knowing that all our panels are 22mm thick.
Whether you opt for a square or rectangular panel may well depend on where you want to use it – our 595 x 595mm and 595 x 1195mm can be used in suspended grid ceilings.
It may also depend on what image you would like, if any. This leads us nicely onto...
What Kind Of Design Should I Have On My Panel?
You can pick from 4 different styles of infrared panel. They are plain white, image, custom image, and mirrored. Each has its own merits and provides a different effect, depending on the room in which they’re used.
Plain white panels are great for commercial areas. This is doubly so for our 595 x 595mm and 595 x 1195mm sized panels, as they can be used in suspended grid ceilings like you find in offices or classrooms.
The plain colour helps them to maintain a clean and professional look, whilst simultaneously blending into their surroundings.
Our image panels allow you to choose from a range of pictures that you would like to have printed on your panel. This great if you’re planning on wall mounting your heater in a living room or dining area, as it effectively doubles up as a framed photo, hiding the fact that it’s a heater altogether.
This is a great option if you’re looking for an IR panel to go in a communal area of your home.
Custom image infrared panels go a step further, and let you have your own images printed onto you heater. You can choose anything from holiday snaps to photos of the kids from when they were babies – anything you want!
They serve the same function as our standard image panels, in that they appear as though they are framed images on a wall, rather than a unit designed to provide heat.
We’d recommend using these for areas of the house where a more personal touch is needed, such as the bedroom.
Finally, our mirrored IR panels do exactly what their name suggests – and doubles up as a mirror! We think these would be great to use for a bedroom or a hallway – now you can check how good you look whilst staying warm at the same time!
Where Should I Place My IR Panels?
You’ve got a few options open to you with regards to where you want to physically install your IR heaters.
For domestic use, we’d really recommend wall mounting your panels. Not only is this the most attractive option when buying our image or custom image panels, but it also serves a huge practical use too.
By wall mounting your panels, you instantly free up your entire floor space. You no longer have to worry about blocking any heat with a sofa for example. This is really advantageous in rooms that aren’t too spacious.
Sometimes though, certain types of wall aren’t suitable for mounting anything onto, and in these circumstances, you can stand the panel up on the floor using the separately sold panel stand. This is also a good option for those who want to keep their panel somewhat portable too.
This method of placing your panel is suitable for pretty much anywhere in the home.
As mentioned before, our 595 x 595mm and 595 x 1195mm sized panels are designed to be used in suspended grid ceilings, in addition to being mountable on a wall.
This works really well in a commercial environment. Let’s take an office for example. By using panels in a suspended grid ceiling, your entire wall space is free for whiteboards, storage solutions, notice boards, or anything else you need.
You aren’t just limited to those sizes though; all our panels are suitable for mounting to a ceiling, and come with everything you need – brackets, screws and a template for the holes too.
With so many options available when purchasing infrared heating panels, it can be difficult figuring out what’s right for you. Hopefully, this guide has not only given you the confidence and knowledge to make panel purchases yourself, but also highlighted the fact that there is an option for everyone.
If you need any more information about our IR heating panels, then please get in touch. You can give us a ring on 0116 321 4124, or you can email us at sales@suryaheating.co.uk. Don’t forget to give us a like on Facebook and a follow on Twitter too!