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Is infrared radiation harmful?
Secrets of infrared heating. Infrared heating is an alternative to conventional heaters. How do infrared heaters work? What are the advantages of infrared heating? Is infrared harmful? You will find the answers to the questions later in the article. We invite you!
Invite the sun home!
Infrared heating is the conversion of electrical energy into wave heat energy. Complicated?
Light reaches the Earth from the sun in the form of visible and invisible waves. Thanks to the visible ranges, we are able to distinguish colors, and the invisible rays, remaining below our optical capabilities, in the red areas, are heat waves that are the source of life on our planet. Infrared radiation (from Latin infra - below, from English red - red) is also emitted by all living organisms, including humans.
Heating based on infrared radiation works on a similar principle as the sun's rays falling on the skin. It warms people and objects within the operating range, not the air in the room. Why is it so important?
Infrared heating and convection heaters - differences
At the beginning, a short description of the operation of standard heating, which we all know well from childhood. Convection heating works by burning natural resources such as coal, natural gas or wood. The water in the tank heats up and through the installation reaches radiators in apartments and houses.
The air around the radiators heats up from the warm radiators. Then, according to the laws of physics, the heat wave travels upwards to move under the ceiling and cool down down the opposite wall. And again the process repeats itself. The air in the room is warm near the radiator, and the farther away from it, the temperature drops. The ceiling collects the most heat, and the floor is the coldest.
The phenomenon of uneven heat distribution in a room heated by a radiator is so well known to us that we have stopped paying attention to the losses resulting from this method of heating.
The first point of potential loss of thermal energy, and thus loss of money, is the installation itself that conducts the heated water.
All it takes is a leak, outdated material, and improper installation for the heat to escape into the walls and not reach the radiator located in the living room.
Forced air circulation in the room does not ensure optimal heating of the room and the people in it. The heat collects under the ceiling, where it cannot be used, and the cool floor and walls away from the radiator cause an unpleasant feeling of cold.
Could it be otherwise?
Yes! Let's take a closer look at how the sun's rays falling on the body work. On a frosty but sunny day, we expose our face to the sun and enjoy the wave of soothing warmth. But it is enough to hide in the shadow for a moment, even a meter away, for the feeling of coldness to return again, pinching the nose with frost.
How is this possible? After all, the air temperature cannot vary significantly over the space of a few meters.
The secret lies in the way infrared rays affect our body. Infrared waves do not heat the air, as we think, but penetrate the skin and reach the water molecules that we are made of. Water makes up almost 70% of the composition of the human body.
Infrared radiation heats the water in our body, providing a pleasant feeling of warmth. Then our heated body gives off some of the heat energy to the air.
The heat radiators reach objects within their range directly, without unnecessary loss in heating the air.
Is infrared radiation harmful?
The first association with the word radiation brings to mind Chernobyl, radioactivity and the diseases caused by it. This comparison is as unfair as it is common. And extremely untrue.
Infrared radiation is nothing more than the heat of a light bulb, tiled stove, refrigerator, living organisms, and above all sunlight.
Division of infrared rays
Infrared rays are divided into three types, depending on the wavelength:
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Near infrared rays - NIR near infrared
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Medium infrared rays - MIR medium infrared
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far infrared radiation FIR far infrared
The infrared heating technology uses only FIR far infrared radiation, which is completely safe for humans and does not differ in its characteristics from the background that surrounds us every day.
How do infrared heating panels work?
Each of us knows that pleasant feeling when we expose our face to the rays of the sun on a cold winter day, right? Despite the icy air, the face is pleasantly warm. If we move into the shade, the feeling of frost immediately returns. And yet the temperature in the sun and in the shade is practically the same. This is how the infrared wave emitted by the sun works and infrared heating panels work on the same principle.
Infrared heating panels emit electromagnetic waves in the range below the red color of the visible light. Hence the name of the rays - infrared (infra - from Latin below).
Infrared panels generate energy that heats, like the sun's rays on a winter's day, people and objects in the room, not the air. The air is heated in the second turn when both people and objects (walls, furniture, etc.) give off the heat they emit. This means that there are no losses caused by unnecessary heating of the air, the walls dry out, thus better insulating the building and de facto less power is needed to heat the room.
The air in the room can successfully stay cooler than the temperature needed to be heated by conventional means, as people and objects sense a higher range of heat.
What does this mean for residents?
People staying in rooms heated with infrared rays feel comfortable warmth, while maintaining cooler air. Lower air temperature also means higher humidity, which keeps the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes dry. Conventional heating dries the air, and therefore causes problems with the upper respiratory tract. For this reason, containers with water are often hung on radiators in apartments to restore the hygroscopic balance of the air.
Another difference in heating will immediately be noticed by allergy sufferers. Traditional heating is based on constant circulation and exchange of cool and warm air, which causes a cloud of harmful and allergenic dust.
Here, too, we will use the comparison with the sun. Heating with infrared panels does not move the air in the room, so it does not threaten allergy sufferers. The air remains comfortably cool and moist, but the walls receive heat and insulate against the cold from the outside.