How Does an Infrared Heater Work?
Before we explain how an infrared heater works, we need to clarify what which type of infrared heater we're talking about. The open type, where you can see all the orange-glowing elements, is usually used outdoors, and heats objects and people directly with infrared waves. This type of heater is quite efficient, but it can be dangerous to use indoors, or in close proximity to combustibles.
The type of heater we're discussing here is a fully-enclosed, cabinet-style indoor infrared heater, such as the SolarFlare. This type of heater could be called an infrared/convection heater, because it uses a two-stage process to heat the air in a room. Since infrared waves are limited to line-of-sight (being in the same spectrum as visible light), those produced by an enclosed infrared heater are confined to the cabinet, and can't directly heat anything in a room. So how does this kind of infrared heater work? Click on the diagram for a close-up view of the process.
Air is drawn into the back of the heater and filtered
Most space heaters have no filter. They simply recirculate through the room whatever dust doesn't stick and clog the motor. The SolarFlare infrared heater has a washable filter over the air intake, which is held on with Velcro and can easily be removed for cleaning. In addition, the thermostat sensor is here, over the cool air intake. On most standard electric heaters, it's located on the front, where the hot air coming out the heater grille gives it a false reading, leading to excessive power cycling and premature failure.
Cool air is preheated outside the heat chamber
The heat chamber concept is a big part of what makes the SolarFlare infrared heater special. An ordinary space heater heats air only once, when it passes between the red-hot coils. A SolarFlare infrared heater heats the air twice, using a patented baffled heat chamber design. Before actually entering the inside of the heat chamber, the air blows across its hot outside, picking up heat that might otherwise damage sensitive electronic components inside the heater, and recycling it into the room.
Six quartz elements finish heating the air
Inside the heat chamber are six quartz infrared elements. Unlike the coils in a standard electric heater, their primary function is not to heat the air directly, but rather to raise the temperature of the metal heat chamber, which readily absorbs infrared waves, turning it into a miniature oven. Cool air, having passed over the outside of chamber, is pulled inside, and ends up about 115 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than it started out at the intake.
Warm air is gently introduced to the room
An ordinary electric space heater blasts hot air out the front at high speed and turbulence, exaggerating the natural tendency of hot air to rise, and putting most of it on the ceiling. By contrast, an infrared heater pushes the warm air slowly and gently into the room, heating it evenly, floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Fundamentally, this is what makes an infrared heater more efficient than other electric heaters that use the same amount of electricity and produce the same amount of heat. The way the heat is distributed means that the occupants of the room will feel more comfortable, and thus have to run the expensive central heat less.
