| Versus infrared heaters | | | | for people to see. People and objects at room |
| Most heaters work by heating the air directly. The | | | | temperature, infrared light, infrared heating, but |
| central air ovens, steam radiators and many | | | | much more. When the infrared light strikes an |
| portable heaters or blow hot air into the room or | | | | object, the object absorbs some of its energy. |
| to warm the air around them and let the | | | | Like visible light, infrared will pass right through the |
| convection currents circulate air around. Infrared | | | | air, but the warmth of the people, chairs and |
| heaters are different. Instead of heating the air, | | | | most other things with which they come into |
| they warm objects in the room directly. | | | | contact. |
| The heating element | | | | The purpose of infrared heaters |
| Infrared Quartz Heaters are driven by an electric | | | | Because infrared heats objects directly from the |
| element - usually a tungsten wire - inside a tube | | | | heat, they are useful for drafts and poorly |
| made of clear quartz crystal. A powerful electric | | | | insulated areas. Infrared heaters are often a |
| current in the wire, heating it up. The pitfalls of | | | | mirror coating on the back that allows them to |
| crystal quartz, the heat inside, change the | | | | concentrate in a particular direction. They can be |
| element even hotter. As the wire becomes | | | | used in environments where a normal heat would |
| hotter, it begins to emit a large amount of | | | | be useless. For example, heaters infrared are |
| infrared light. | | | | sometimes used on outdoor patios to keep |
| Infrared light | | | | people warm in cold weather. |
| Infrared light is light with too long a wavelength | | | | |