How Are Infrared Heaters Beneficial to
Your Health
Not all forms of heating are created equally. Some contribute to the
home in a healthy way when others don't. Keeping your house warm
is important, but protecting the health of your family has to be the
priority. Fireplaces are basically just pollutant machines. Gas fueled
forms of heating can contribute to carbon monoxide poisoning.
There are many different types of heating, but not all of these will
provide the same benefits as infrared heaters. Adding a heater that
uses infrared tech to heat the home provides many healthful benefits
that other secondary heat sources simply don't. But just how healthy
are they? And how exactly do they work?
The Basics
An infrared heater uses infrared radiation to supply heat. The heater
transfers the heat to bodies of lower temperature. No contact is
necessary for this, as the heat is transferred through invisible
wavelengths.
That might seem a little confusing. It basically means that a portable
infrared heater might not heat the air around you, but it will transfer its
heat onto you. This is useful for heating busy spaces - like the kitchen
or living room - without pumping precious hot air into an empty area.
A heater using infrared technology will save you time and energy
costs.
The Benefits
Now that you have more understanding on how something like an
infrared room heater might work, it starts to become clear why these
heaters are known for healthy heating. Here are just a few of the
most important points you should know about infrared heating.
Zero Emissions
Say you installed a wood burning stove to add a secondary heat
source to your home. There is no doubt that it would contribute to
keeping the house warm. Along with that warmth, however, it would
also contribute to the invading carbon monoxide and toxic pollutants.
Electing to purchase an infrared heater means there will be no carbon
monoxide added to the home. Infrared technology does not require
any chemicals to operate and the unit emits absolutely zero pollutants
into your home.
Clean Air
Remember that wood burning stove? Along with carbon monoxide
and other poisonous emissions, it will also bring infinite amounts of
fine particles and volatile organic compounds into the finite area of
the house. This is just one example of what conventional forms of
heating can do to a house's delicate ecosystem. Luckily, an infrared
heater has no particulates, so you're home is safe!
Not to mention, an infrared room heater won't agitate the air like a
normal fan forced heater would. With convection, air is circulated
around the area and many harmful particles are constantly pushed
around the room. This promotes humid, dirty air being circulated
around the home forever. A heater that only uses infrared
wavelengths doesn't require circulating possibly allergen laden air to
generate warmth.
And one last way infrared heaters can save your home's air: They do
not affect oxygen levels. Some heaters, such as an oil-filled heater,
will actually deplete the oxygen in a room.
Stop Mold In Its Tracks
Another way infrared heating is better than conventional heating is
the clean, dry air that infrared heating can provide. Using an infrared
room heater can help prevent condensation within a home's
infrastructure. That means less mold and mildew will be able to grow,
which is always a good deal.
Boost The Immune System
Simply put, human skin is made for infrared heat. An electric infrared
heater provides heated wavelengths that your skin absorbs naturally.
It aids in detoxifying and can help bolster the immune system of those
who use it. Infrared heat is even used to help cancer patients become
more healthy!
You probably find it hard to imagine that something as simple as a
portable infrared heater can actually help boost immune systems. In
reality, however, that heater can help soothe people who suffer from
ailments such as gout or sciatica. Isn't it funny how far a little heater
can go in providing a healthy home ecosystem.
So What Are The Downsides?
The fact is, not everything can be perfect. Even clean heat sources
such as infrared heaters are subject some sort of downfall. In this
case, it is physical safety.
For an infrared room heater to work, the core must be hotter than the
air around it. This means that those who are careless of their
surroundings might find themselves on the wrong end of a bad burn.
Small children must also be watched whenever they are around
exposed infrared heating.
On the other hand, this mostly has to do with negligence. If you take
the right steps to implement infrared heating safely, you will not have
to deal with these dangers. Just adding a safety grid or mounting a
ceramic infrared heater on the wall will keep your family as safe as
possible.
What Kind of Infrared Heaters Does This
Apply To?
Anyone who works with heaters can tell you that there are thousands
of different types. When it comes to infrared alone, it can be a metal
sheath, quartz tube, quartz lamp or a ceramic infrared heater.
Providing that the heater in question is an electric infrared heater, all
of the benefits mentioned above apply. You will often find heaters that
produce infrared heat even though they run on natural gas. These
natural gas heaters still pose carbon monoxide issues, however, and
can have adverse effects on the environment.
The best choice when it comes to infrared heating, however, is the
ceramic infrared heater. This type of heater uses the infrared waves
to heat up a ceramic plate, which in turn heats the surrounding area.
While the health benefits are the same, the ceramic heater is the
most energy efficient heater that uses infrared.
Bottom Line
An infrared heater can provide numerous health benefits to the home.
While it can pose some physical dangers, these can easily be
remedied with extra precautions. Now that you know a little bit about
the technology, infrared heating is the obvious choice to keep your
family and home as healthy as possible.
Burns
• One of the most common problems associated with infrared
heat is simple burning. Burning is caused when the top
layers of the skin are heated too much by the infrared
radiation. This does not destroy the cell the same way
ultraviolet radiation does, but it will still cause surface
burns on the skin that can worsen with prolonged exposure.
It is unusual for someone to stay in an infrared sauna long
enough for this to happen unless they are unconscious.
Blood Pressure
• Because infrared heat affects the skin, it causes increased blood
flow to skin areas, which can in turn lower blood pressure
in other areas throughout the body. This can cause
faintness and headaches, but may be more dangerous in
those with preexisting blood conditions or the elderly.
Eye Damage
• The eyes are especially vulnerable to infrared heat, and
prolonged exposure can damage the eyes and lead to
decreased vision. Far-infrared rays cause corneal burns,
and even normal exposure times can cause some types of
irritation.
Skin Problems
• While people may not stay in infrared heat waves long enough
to burn themselves, repeated use of the infrared system can
cause some less extensive skin problems. The constant
heating of the skin cells causes them to crack open and
release pigments, leading to blotchiness. This condition was
previously associated with the legs when people spent large
amounts of time in front of a natural fireplace.
Water Loss
• When the skin heats up, it begins to sweat to relieve the heat.
This is effective and one of the reasons people use saunas,
but it also causes the body to lose water. This presents a
danger of dehydration in those who already have a low
water content. If you use an infrared sauna, always
remember to replace the water you are losing through
sweat.
Overheating
• Overheating is a broad term used to describe problems
associated with exposure to too much heat at one time.
Some people might suffer from heat exhaustion, a
condition related to dehydration, while others may even
experience heat stroke, a very serious condition that can be
fatal.
• Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6970802_infrared-heater-
dangers.html#ixzz2YXjYzMgO
G Ital Med Lav. 1995 Jan-Nov;17(1-6):41-9.
[Health risks from infrared emissions from radiant tube
heaters in the workplace].
[Article in Italian]
Bergamaschi A, Grandi C, D'Addato M, Di Carlo V, Russo A.
Source
Cattedra di Medicina del lavoro, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata.
Abstract
With the exception of domestic rooms, Overhead Radiant Tube Heaters
(ORTH) are an effective system for indoor heating (e.g. warehouses,
factories, garage workshops, shipyards, greenhouses, schools hall etc.).
The growing number of units installed is due to several advantages, such
as uniform heating, absence of air movements, energy saving, versatility
and safety. Indoor heating is obtained by an infrared emission, which is
produced by the circulation of combustion exhaust gases within tubes and
is collected by a set of reflecting surfaces located around the tubes. In the
present communication, the attention is driven on the characteristics of
ORTH infrared emissions, with reference to potential health risks for the
exposed people (especially people working within areas heated by this
system). A reason for this is represented by the existence of a specific
italian regulation (Circolare N. 1322/4134-28.01.1992, Direzione Generale
della Protezione Civile-Ministero dell'Interno). Following the last one,
ORTH surface temperatures resulting in a spectral emission which
includes wavelengths less than 3 microns have to be considered, in the
case of ORTHs with thermal power greater than 34.89 kW, as hazardous
for exposed people. Although the ORTHs emission spectrum partially
covers the near infrared region (0.8-1.4 microns) at 400 degrees Celsius
and may adversely affect the retained tissue a gross evaluation of the near
infrared energetic flux, weightened on the surface unit, allows to exclude
this risk. On the opposite, the results of the same evaluation carried out in
the medium and far infrared spectral region at 200 degrees-400 degrees
Celsius (the normal temperature range for ORTHs) do not allow to
preliminary exclude a thermal risk for eye structures such as lens, near the
tube surface at least. In every case, a burn hazard for both corneal tissue
and skin is excluded. With the aim to carry out a detailed set of radiometric
estimates, some preliminary considerations are furnished concerning the
risk assessment for the eye, with reference to the following parameters:
emission spectrum, energetic flux, workstation, presence of reflecting
surfaces, potential interferences, exposure duration, angle between the
incident radiation on eye surface and the optic axis. ACGIH 1992/93 for
infrared radiation TLVs are followed as reference standard.