Is infrared heating efficient?
Of course it all depends on what you are comparing it with as to whether it is more efficient, and of course the variables that can be added to any equation will of course skew the results.
Infrared heating is efficient – it transfers energy directly from the panel to the objects (floor, ceiling, furniture, bodies etc…) without the need to heat the air first, and it is there where the efficiency comes. Traditional forms of heating use the convection system. That is, the air is heated up, warm air rises, coll are falls, is heated up and rises, the warm air that has risen cools and falls to be reheated and so the cycle goes on. The warm air that surrounds you makes you feel warm.
The efficiency of the air to heat up the surrounding objects is quite poor and therefore as soon as the warm air stops being warm you feel very cold again. Compare this to infrared heating, the objects in the room are warm, including you, and when the infrared stops radiating the room remains warm for a longer period of time!
Of course the air does heat up, but as a consequence of everything around it being warm, rather than it being the main reason you are warm.
Some examples – a nice warm room full of hot air and someone opens a window or door – the hot air disappears as quickly as you like and brr it is cold again – a cold day outside and the sun is shining, can you feel the warmth of the sun, that’s the natural infrared of the sun!
Another point to make – in a traditional convection heated room it can be as much as six degrees warmer at ceiling height than at floor height – to get the temperature right at the middle of the room you have to have the ceiling temperature higher as you wait for it to cool to the right temperature for you to feel warm. In a room heated with infrared, the difference can be as low as 1 degree.
That’s efficient!
