DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone could help me with Infrared heating panels.

I've been looking at some panels like the ones in this website:https://www.infraredplus.co.uk/ and I'm unsure whether it's worth paying for a fitter or if I'd be better off installing myself?

I have limited experience in plastering/putting in lightbulbs, so i guess im just wondering how dangerous it is, and how likely i am to get it wrong.

Any help appreciated.

The problem with inferred heating is control. In a church used for one hour, or a workshop with doors opening all the time, it works great, however you can't use mark/space to control it, you need loads of heaters and you deploy more or less heaters as it makes you warm as soon as switched on, but also leaves you cold as soon as switch off, and of course line of sight.

Also inferred will pass through windows, so location is rather important.

As part of an integrated heating system it can work well, you keep the room at 16°C instead of 19°C then use inferred to make it feel like 19°C the secret is to maintain air temperature at 16°C and the panels are on sensors so only work when room in use.

The problem is since inferred does not heat the air, it will not operate a standard wall thermostat, so some one has to work out how much inferred is required so in a room with air at 16°C it feels like 19°C.

I had inferred heating in my home for years, it was called tungsten bulbs, and the room was heated to 18°C and in the evening the bulbs would make it feel like 19°C. It was important to close curtains or heat and light when outside.

Of course the old coal fire gave off inferred heat as well as convected, don't know if you can remember the coal fire? We all sat in high backed chairs with wings on them, to keep you back warm, as inferred does not go around corners, OK there was also the draft caused by the coal fire, but we never got the air warm.

So I would say needs fitting by a heating engineer, not an electrician as he is unlikely to know where to place them, and to heat a room you need a lot of small heaters so when it -5°C outside maybe 10 running and when it's 16°C outside maybe one running.

I would say the bathroom mirror example likely very good as bathroom not used for long, and as you see also has a towel rail so not the only heating, it is a good supplement, but I would not want it as only form of heating, as it so hard to control and without control can work out very expensive.

If you do not know what you are doing then it is best to get some one who is qualified to do the job for you.

I can’t comment on the panels but we recently have started fitting infrared underfloor heating in some of our projects.
It comes in mat form like what you would fit in a bathroom,but instead of just heating the surface it heats the whole room at the same time,we’ve taken all the radiators out of some rooms and just fitted this and all the feed back as been good.
Obviously it’s not what your after but if it works in the same way ,I’ve only heard positive things and it’s supposed to be cheap to run

I can not see how it can be "Cheap to run" since it is electric.
Gas has always been cheaper to heat a space than electricity is.

I would be interested in seeing how the thermostatic control works, I have tried in the past, and failed.

Of course if the panel is not simply inferred but combined inferred and convection then yes it would work, however the idea behind inferred is only heat when required, so as soon as you combine with another mode, then your loosing the advantage.

Since where I live we can use gas, and where I am going to live we can use oil, I would not consider electric heating.

However the site does not seem to ring true to me, I suspect snake oil. If the panel was rated 300 ~ 1000 watt that would seem right as it switches on more or less segments to adjust output, but it doesn't.

And range of 1 meter or 5 meters OK that seems OK, but 3 - 5 meters squared remember inferred is line of sight just does not seem right. Maybe I am completely wrong?