Radiant Heating

Infrared directly heats people, floor walls and other surfaces without heating the air first. When the infrared energy hits the floor or other objects it is converted to heat. The floor slab or other area becomes a thermal mass, or low temperature radiant emitter, giving off heat for longer periods.

Put your floor to work

Machinery and equipment at the floor level are warmed by direct radiation as well as conduction through contact with the floor as conduction through contact with the floor slab. The temperature differential is the driving force and determines the rate of radiant energy transfer. In many installations, the floor slab temperature will be five to ten degrees higher than the ambient air temperature. Convection heat transfer from the warm floor slab and machinery to the cool air lying at the floor level also plays an important role in the heating process. The cool air sweeping across the floor picks up the convected warm air and rises within the building structure. Warm air is displaced by cooler air in a continious cycle, gradually raising air temperature in the building to a comfortable level.

How do Infrared heating units heat you?

The infrared radiation which is emitted from the heating units reach an object in the room (walls, ceilings, floors, interior objects) and is either absorbed by them or reflected. In turn, the infrared waves which are reflected by an object touch other objects until the waves are completely absorbed. You can imagine the distribution of the infrared radiation in a room as being similar to throwing a handfull of rubber balls into a room - they jump around uncontrollably in all directions. Each place that they touch makes them lose a part of their energy. The rubber balls (the infrared waves) jump around until their energy is used up or is absorbed throughout the room. The infrared waves first heat the upper most layer of the masonry; most of this heating energy is returned to the room (the path of least resistance). Only approximately 1/6 of the energy is lost through the masonry in the outward direction.