Infrared Heaters---Worth the $$$$$

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Gary Max

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I would like to find out if the new Infrared Heaters are they worth the $400.00 plus they are selling for. I have done the reading and the big sales pitch is they will pay for themselves in saved heating cost.
I even found one company that offers a lifetime Warranty on the elements.
Any one own one or know about them??????????
 
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Gary, I have not had any personal experience with them for many years. I know back then they did not work for squat but technology is always improving. I will say this. heat is energy and has to be converted from some other form of energy. Heat is one of the unwanted energy types you get from most equipment so making one type of energy into heat is about like falling off a log. For Me I don't care what way you go about it it will take X amount of energy to heat a space and most any heater is nearly 100% efficient. if they glow in any way you are getting energy loss to the form of light. but for the most part heat is easy to get and I don't buy the energy savings stuff on them. if they do save you money it is because they are also not producing as much heat. I know the hype that they only warm you not the air around you. I also know that when I am warm and the air feels cold I actually feel colder. Plus everything in my shop still feels like ice. not my idea of warm and cozy.
 
Infra red heaters work really well and not well at all. They heat objects, not air. So your objects, ie your lathe, will be warmer than the shop. The lathe becomes the heater for the air as it disipates the heat from the heater. So, an infra red heater often takes longer to heat the shop. But..warm tool/objects make working nice and comfortable. You sit in a warm chair and the air is cooler, that's a nice feeling too. There is less sweat factor in this situation. If you are making products that require very little strenous activity, ie turning a pen, then it's not so great. If you are making something like Margie..hand sanding an intarsia, then infrared is the greatest heat you could ask for because your wood and tools are warm but your body is not so much and you like to be cool as you perform actual sweat labor. Infrared is usually a bit better on the pocket book for energy use ..I think, but don't know that as a fact.
 
I am not a big fan of those types that just sit there and heat up the space close by. I have an All-Pro 50,000 BTU heater that runs on kerosene and heats my 3 car garage to the point of having to turn it off (this morning it was 19 degrees when I went out there). Plug it in and off it goes. The key is it has a built in fan that blows the heat around (refer back to Daniels post about still needing other energy) and works great. Beats the crap out of my big natural gas shop heater. Cheaper to run. I found it on CL for $50.
 
I am wanting one for the house------if the shop is cold I will just toss another log on the fire.
We live in a double wide and you can't run a wood burner in a mobile home---I should of said that in the beginning.
 
Don't like them. Had one. Gary it's simply like standing in a freezing cold shop with some light sunshine heating you through a window. So the front of your face and Hands seem warm but the rest of you gets freezing cold. The best thing I bought was a 55000-85000 btu propane heater.
 
Does infrared heat non-water based items?

Just a quick question on my part.
I always assumed that since microwaves are a form of infrared.
Based on this assumption, then would not an infrared of any form heat by agitating water molecules, which is the main way that microwaves work.
I think that the newer infrared are what is called near infrared and will only slightly heat metals, but do a wonderful job on plasma or water-based materials.

I am probably wrong, so please let me know
Jerry

After reading the above, let me make my assumption clearer:
I think infrared will only heat organic items and will not significantly heat metalic (non-organic) items
 
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I know that we have one out in the north shop where I work. And I know that the mechanics bitch about it all the time. but then again. They bitch about a lot most of the time.....
 
Gary, if you asking about the propane infrared heaters, we heat our double wide with a 5 plaque (30,000BTU ) in the living room and a smaller 3 plaque (20,000BTU) near the two back bedrooms, it's thermostatically controlled, we have fans on both of them, and they keep nearly 1500 square feet, and I was heating my shop with a 3 plaque, it was a metal shed with poor insulation, metal shed we probably don't get as much snow as you but this ain't exactly the tropics. Our propane runs around 20 to 40 gallons a month with an average during the winter of 25 gallons coldest month we had last year we used about 20% on a 300 gallon tank, but it was down below zero for 6 or 7 days and didn't get above freezing the whole month.
 
I haven't done much research on the new tech IR heaters, but I do know this, you are only going to get a certain number of watts of energy out of any wall outlet. IE if it's on a 20 amp circut, you are only going to get 240 watts minus every thing else on that circut before the breaker blows. That's why almost all space heaters are 1200 watts or less. How that 1200 watts is distributed can vary from heater to heater but that's all the heat you are going to get. I use a tiny little ceramic element heater about the size of a lunchbox to heat my office, and it has to be turned of or down after about 9 am. It does have a fan that forces air through the element. And best of all, it was about $20 at wallyworld. Would have to save a lot of energy to cover that cost difference over time. I definately recomend the ceramic element and internal fan, but past that, the only other real factor is cost and size that I can see.
 
I personally would go with a wood fired hydronic baseboard/radiator system if it was me.

http://www.centralboiler.com/raidBase.php

They are EPA certified which means you could get the $1500 tax credit. Probably more than you wanted to spend at about $5500 to start, but it's a quality system that could heat your water for showers and such at the same time and get rid of a water heater and gas. Plus it's virtually emissions free, and you can use free wood to head with if you have time to find it and cut it.
 
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