>> Looks like I've been suckered (yet again LOL) doesn't it...
Sorry, not trying to be a Nobby know-all. I have tried to figure out what's new. Certainly the presentation is if this is the sort of thing you meant
www.infraredheatersdirect.co.uk/
The do say this
Infrared heaters are a new and innovative form of electric heating. Radiant heat, combined with digital control from timers and thermostats...
Central heating radiators, for instance... most of their heat comes from the circulation of hot air behind the radiator, which fills the room with warm air, raising the ambient temperature**...
...Convection heating is simple and effective, but it is also wasteful. Transferring heat to the air, which must then transfer it to the people in the room, is inherently inefficient. Radiation effectively cuts out the middle man, by transferring heat straight from the heater to the people in the room.
**which seems to be a way of saying they don't heat the air.
I'd say IR heating has a place, maybe where heat is required quickly for short periods and in vast or high spaces where aiming some heat at yourself is more realistic than getting the ambient temp up. One of those high up single bar jobs in a small bathroom is far better than no heat at all and pretty low cost too as if it's only used for a couple of hours a day. You really don't want portable electric heaters in a bathroom.
What seems to be "new" in relation to IR is the mention of timers and thermostats. Like all heating systems, decent controls can presumably make them more cost effective.
They seem pretty loose with the difference between efficiency and effectiveness.
Generally I think I prefer convection with a radiant component you can feel. When the radiators go off here I notice almost immediately, even before the temperature drops materially.
I'm slightly concerned that our new gaff with underfloor heating throughout won't 'feel' warm. I'm putting a stove in the sitting room as a back up!
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