Infrared Heat Quality
The electric heater: A big toaster
Take apart an average electric space heater, and you will find that it bears a lot of resemblance to a large, single-side toaster with a fan. This is because almost all electric appliances that produce heat, from hair dryers to coffeemakers, employ basically the same principle: running electricity through a shorted-out piece of wire to produce heat. In fact, this is the same design principle you'll find in the now-much-despised incandescent light bulb, which actually spends 90% of the energy it consumes on heat, rather than light.
The quality of heat that you get from an electric heater, therefore, is going to be very similar to what you might feel standing in front of an open oven. "So what's wrong with that?" you might ask, and the answer is, nothing at all - until you've tried the alternative.
The infrared heater: An electric comforter
Anyone who has ever used an infrared heater knows that the quality of the heat it produces is noticeably different from what they've experienced with standard electric heaters. Owners of infrared heaters often report that the children's favorite play spot is centered around the heater - an area for which they compete with the family pets. Indeed, cats seem to the think that the top of the heater is a ready made bed for their frequent naps. Reviewers have described the heat produced by an infrared heater as soft, moist, even, and comfortable.
Just why this is true is a surprisingly tricky question. In advertisements, you'll often see the statement that an infrared heater will not reduce relative humidity, whereas a standard electric heater will. The latter half of this claim has caused much controversy, and, in the absence of any scientific studies to prove it right or wrong, we don't feel it necessary to take a side.
When describing the benefits of an infrared heater, we prefer to simply tell customers what others have told us, and what we've experienced ourselves: That the comfort of infrared-produced heat is unmatched by any other type of electric heater. We'll leave it to others to one day answer the "why" - in the mean time, we invite you to try out the "what" for yourself: the energy-friendly warmth of a SolarFlare infrared heater.
