Thread: Infrared heat
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Old 10-11-2022, 01:20 PM   #56
SailinAway
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After reading more about heaters, it seems to me that the question is, How much heat will I get with a certain type of heater? I think that should be measured not just in the obvious "1500 watts is 1500 watts," but in the perception of comfort.

I just spent a couple of days sitting next to a small ceramic heater in a 144 sq ft office. It took hours for the room to warm up to just barely tolerable rather than freezing. Touching my clothing and objects near the heater, they are cool to the touch. If I get up and move to the other side of the room or leave the room, I am immediately cold. If I open the room door, all of the accumulated heat is lost within 30 seconds. This indicates that the heat is not being stored in objects.

On the other hand, when I get up from a warm bed in the morning, I notice that I carry the stored heat in my body and clothing for quite some time, even when it's 52 degrees in the house. If I exercise outdoors on a cold day, I will warm up and stay warm for at least 30 minutes after I get back to my cold house.

So it seems that there is quite a bit of value in this stored heat, making me lean toward getting an infrared heater.

Also, reviews indicate that the perceived amount of heat emanating from different types of heaters varies a lot, even when they are all 1500 watts. There is quite a bit of agreement that the Dr-968 can warm a larger room than my small Lasko heater. I conclude that this is due to the value of the heat stored in objects, the body, and clothing from infrared heat, which lasts for awhile after the heater is turned of or as you move around the house.

Unfortunately manufacturers don't usually justify their claims about heat ouput. DR Heater says, "Wattage indicates the amount of electricity needed to power the heater--not the amount of heat it can deliver. Dr. Infrared Heater’s advanced heating system enables greater heat production without using any more power with a high-efficiency blower that delivers an average of 250°F at 3.5m/s to your room versus competing heaters that can do only 155°F at 2.2m/s." That makes me wonder if some of the wattage is going to the blower rather than producing heat.
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