Far Infrared heating panels – if only EPC rules were logical
With the new EPC regulations requiring properties to be rated E or above there is a need for the the formulas used by EPC assessors to change regarding the use of Far Infrared heating. At the moment these panels are regarded the same as ordinary electric panels even though they are much more effective and more importantly more efficient in comfort level heating.
I have used these easily installed panels in the bathrooms where they are particularly useful and also in living areas. The fact that they heat material things directly rather than, like ordinary electric heaters, the mass of air which then in turn warms material things makes then much more efficient.
Comfort levels can be achieved with an air temperature down to 18-19°. This of course makes for lower running costs and thus should be rated differently to ordinary electric panels which need to heat air to at least 21° for comfort.
Far infrared heats us in the same way as the sun. You stand in sunshine and you feel warm. You step into the shade and it feels immediately cooler yet the surrounding air temperature is the same. The future of heating is here if only EPC rating rules were logical.
Norman
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Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 4
3:47 PM, 8th May 2018, About 8 years ago
It’s all semantics. The bottom line is will far infra red panels save me money on my heating bills to feel comfortably warm as opposed to ordinary electric panels. If so then EPC which provides estimates of how much annual heating bills would be needs to reflect that. Problem being is that EPC can’t measure comfort levels and has to rely on fixed air temperature criteria and other algorithms dating back to the 1980s.
Even though those who have tried infra red heating and are happy with purceived cost savings it’s now up to the manufacturers to put their case and prove to the powers that be.
Member Since November 2022 - Comments: 1
1:08 PM, 4th November 2022, About 3 years ago
Agree fully with the article. We have been using these for some time now and it is very frustrating that the benefits, which are significant, are not taken into account with EPC rating. Radiant heating is more effective than heating the air for several reasons, our bodies react very well to radiant heat and so we need much less to feel good, the requirement for good thermal performance from the building is much less, it is not affected by draughts. Using air as a heat transfer medium is, on the face of it, rediculous, as air has a very low specific heat capacity, it is after all regarded as an insulator (one of the best), plus of course air heating does not work well with draughts, ventilation etc. This is why radiant heat can out perform it quite easily.