Electric radiant heaters are simple devices; they use the principle of radiant energy using electricity as the power source. Everyone is familiar with the way the sun heats the air, in the case of electric radiant heating, a heating element takes the place of the sun and heats the space in the room in which it is located. This is one of the numerous methods available to heat a space and it does have certain advantages.
There are electric heaters which, although they use electricity to heat the medium, they push the air through the building using forced air and ducting. Electric radiant heaters use the same power source, but the heat is not moved by forced air from a fan or blower, the heat simply radiates into the room, heating the space and the objects it comes into contact with.
Electric radiant heating is being used in floors, along baseboards and in wall hung flat panel heaters. Other than for in floor radiant heat which is installed at the time of house construction, other types can be added later and either wired into the homes electrical system or simply plugged into an outlet. Radiant heating offers a number of advantages, a big one being the fact that radiant systems are not prone to a great deal of heat loss. Heat loss is that which is lost through any method of escape in the building and it is a major factor when designing the heating system. A forced air system can put positive pressure in a room; this in turn forces the air and the heat along with it; out.
Electric radiant heaters keep the heat close as there is no fan involved, the heat is dispersed in the room simply but radiation; the heat is distributed evenly.
Radiant heat, because it eliminates the fan, does not raise dust, dirt and pollutants which can be difficult if a person suffers from an allergy. Indoor air quality is always of concern; electric radiant heaters are a great solution to what at one time was a major problem.
Modern electric radiant heaters use a medium of oil or silicone to capture the heat and then distribute it although the basic electric models using an element are still popular. When an element is the source of heat, when it shuts off the room quickly cools, when the heat is radiated from a hot medium, the cooling is much slower hence the system is more efficient and less costly to operate.
