The contents
Among all of the utility costs, heating often occupies the top spot. If the water and electricity is somehow possible to save money, no heat in the house in the winter to live.
Understand this and manufacturers of heating systems, inventing new methods of heating, and one of the last achievements – infrared ceiling heaters.
By the way, the technology is not new, radiation in the infrared spectrum is used for a long time, but today these heating systems are becoming increasingly popular. And the secret of such popularity is contained in a single word – advantageous.
Feature infrared light is that it heats the air and objects. But we will not delve into the physics and just consider the example of natural «heater» – sun. In hot weather, you can often see how some items come heat waves, particularly clearly they manifest over hot asphalt. So, the sun heats the air, but directly to the asphalt, which in turn, performs the function of heating, i.e. absorbs more than cold air and gives more hot.
Same goes for standard radiators in the house – the heating medium, i.e. hot water, heats the battery, and she, in turn, warms the air. That is why the room often feels stuffy and supertasty.
In the case of infrared heaters, as the heat transfer medium IR range, it heats the inside of the objects in the room, and they act as convectors or radiators. Thanks to this method, not in the room creates a feeling of lack of air, the oxygen is just not consumed. To prove it can be done in several complex scientific formulas, but there is a simpler explanation – if the sun burned the oxygen on our planet would not be life.
Before proceeding to a more detailed consideration of the ceiling infrared heater of new generation, to summarize all of the above and list their characteristic advantages and disadvantages, which, unfortunately, are also available.
Advantages of infrared heaters ↑
- Mounting on the ceiling allows you to save treasured inches of usable area.
- Infrared heater with thermostat, can significantly reduce the power consumption of the device.
- Do not dry the air, and eliminates the need for frequent airing of the room, which again affects the economy.
- The ease of installation. Infrared heaters do not have a complex wiring diagrams and installation can be done by yourself.
- A variety of models and forms allows you to integrate infrared heater in any interior.
- Absolutely harmless to human health, and therefore, they can be installed in any room even a child’s bedroom.
- Fireproof. All current models are equipped with sensors overheating, and in case of any risk, they just switch off.
Of course, infrared heaters are not perfect, and they have their own set of drawbacks, but in comparison with the positive qualities, the negative is much lower.
Disadvantages of infrared heaters ↑
- Relatively high cost, which, depending on capacity and manufacturer can reach 30 thousand rubles for the device. But if you choose domestic models Ecoline or bilyuks, infrared ceiling heaters will cost much cheaper, and the quality is not inferior to European brands.
- Ceiling IR heaters cannot be used in rooms with low ceilings. In this situation you will have to sacrifice precious square centimeters and install floor or wall-mounted device.
- When using a large number of devices powered by electricity, it creates heavy load on the network. The possibility of wiring you need to evaluate before buying the heater.
One of the Central Russian TV channels conducted a comparison of several types of heaters, and what conclusion came the experts can be seen on this video
The types of infrared heaters ↑
Before you purchase infrared heaters for villas, houses or commercial spaces, it is necessary to study in detail all the models and types. Many heaters cannot be used in certain premises. Therefore, we focus on the question of classification more.
IR heaters can vary in power, and the radiation source:
- Film infrared heaters are thin film heating elements. The main advantage of this device is that it can be installed even on low ceilings, and it will not deliver inconveniences. This is the best type of heater for cottages with minimum electricity cost.
- Gas heaters can operate on reduced propane from cylinders and natural gas from the public network. The heaters of this type the high heat, but they burn oxygen in the room, which cannot be used in residential and unattended.
- Electrical-appliances. As the heating element in such devices are used in tubular heating elements. It is their most often installed in living rooms, as there is no danger to leave the appliance at night or when no one is home.
How to choose the optimal model ↑
Not seeing individual premises, it is difficult to give any advice, but still there are several recommendations that will be relevant in any case and help you make the right choice.
- The capacity of the device. If you plan to use IR as the primary heating device, the power is calculated based on the area of the room in which you want to create heat. The optimal ratio is considered to be 100 W at 1 mTwo .
- The heater may be made of steel or aluminum. The first option is stronger and cheaper but has a lot of weight. The second is more lightweight and expensive, but weight and strength are considerably lower. In terms of heating, it does not play a significant role, much more important question – what made the ceiling, and will mount to withstand the weight of the steel body.
- Wavelength – the value is directly linked to the capacity of the device. Issued by the higher temperature of infrared ceiling heater, the shorter the wavelength and therefore a smaller surface will be heated. For example, ceiling heaters bilyuks can be both long-wave and short-wave, the power is also determined depending on the characteristic features of the room. The higher the ceiling, the longer should be the wave, and the power is maintained at the rate of 100 watts per meter.
- Protection against condensation and moisture. The setting is very important if you plan to use infrared ceiling heater in the cottage. In areas where no continuous heating, when you turn on the heater, will inevitably begin to accumulate condensation. For a person it can be invisible, but its appliances are very afraid, in this case, the packaging need to look for the IP24 marking. This class of water-resistance of the device, and the digit 24 means that he was scary even large accumulations of moisture on the surface.
- One more important indicator is the color and shape of the device.
- If the preference is given to film ceiling heater, then there is more to pay attention to the material of the heater. It can be chrome or titanium. Does this affect the longevity and power output, but as a consequence is reflected in the price. Fundamental difference there, so it all depends on personal preferences and budget.
Select the thermostat ↑
Customer reviews about ceiling infrared heaters are 98% positive, but you can often find mention of the fact that the thermostat sometimes is as well as the device itself. Partly, it’s true, and the price depends on the complexity of the thermostat and its manufacturer, but if your budget is limited, you can pick up a cheaper model.
Thermostats for infrared heaters are of the following types:
- Mechanical self-timer. The cheapest option, working on the principle of switching on and off devices after a specified period of time. A similar device can be found in microwave ovens.
- Electronic manual temperature setting. These devices produce off heaters when a room a certain temperature. By the way, experts in the installation of infrared heaters suggest to use such thermostats. They are easy to use and have several degrees of protection against unforeseen situations.
- «Smart» the rheostat is the most expensive device available on the market. It is possible to specify multiple parameters and control them using a smartphone or tablet.
Now, when infrared ceiling heater is selected, you can proceed to installing it.
Mounting the IR heater on the ceiling ↑
This process is simple and will take few hours at most. All fasteners for installation are already complete with heaters, so no need to buy something extra.
From the tool you will need a drill, hammer, fasteners and, of course, a ladder.
- First we need to fix the brackets-holders. They are metal corners with holes, through which is drilled a ceiling. Each bracket has two fastener, and not worth saving. IR heaters have a low weight, but safety is paramount.
- In drilled in the ceiling holes are hammered into the anchors and tighten until it squeaks. If we’re talking about slabs of concrete, in the case of a wooden ceiling, just screw in the screws without drilling.
- To fixed brackets, if necessary, and the room is very high ceiling, attached hanging chain. Their use is very convenient to install, because you can adjust the height of the ceiling heater independently.
- To chains hung himself infrared heater, and electrical wiring. From the device the wires run to the thermostat and connect according to the diagram that comes with the device. Typically, one controller can connect three heater, but there are models with five connectors.
- The wires from the thermostat connect to the wiring, and the installation process can be considered complete.
Film ceiling heaters, the situation is even simpler – the device is fixed to the ceiling in any way, a screw or even glue, the main thing is not to damage the heating element, but as places for fastening the film at the heater enough to make it quite difficult.
When the installation is complete, you can include ceiling heaters and enjoy the warmth in the house, which will appear after 10-30 minutes depending on the size of the room.
