electric radiant heater felt distance

[Brandon_oma#692]

Looking to figure out how far away you can feel the heat from an electric radiant heater. I thought some standard would exist for this depending on heater btu.

Looking to turn on overnight for the rabbits when it stays below freezing for a few days. Want it close enough to feel the warmth but far enough away to walk between it and the cages. Plus the further away the wider area it covers. Thinking at the 5 or 6 feet it is away now is too much. When I turned it on the other night they seemed all to move where they were in the orange glow of it. Not trying to keep it above freezing or anything. Just trying to avoid moving them to the shop when it gets bitter cold and stays that way for a few days.

Closed in part of an old cattle barn that is open to the south for a larger chicken coop and have the heartier rabbits in with them. Not air tight but draft free. With the heater off it feels way better in it than the rest of the building even if the wind is a direction it is not blowing in the open side.

Realized we could have put them in the old milkhouse and kept it above freezing most of the winter. If we get a mid winter warm up I will probably move them.


heater at menards

I have used these in the office area of the shop when I am in it and seem to work well.




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[rlitman]

Looking to figure out how far away you can feel the heat from an electric radiant heater. I thought some standard would exist for this depending on heater btu...

Sorry, but no. With radiant heaters, there is little correlation between power usage and beam range.

During the pandemic, I purchased five different 120V 1500W radiant heaters to use for family activities outdoors (I was able to easily reach my back yard with five separate circuits). With the shortest range was the super cheap metal box with a glowing wire.

It's technically radiant, but it convects a lot (the wire heats the air right around the heater). It's fine as a cheap (and probably dangerous) space heater (better as a generator load bank), but the sensible range was not much longer than your arm.

Next up were a pair of automotive paint curing lamps:

These use a glowing wire coil inside of a translucent quartz tube. The tube does a decent job of keeping the coil from heating the air, and their parabolic reflectors focus the infrared beam into no more than a 60 degree range that limits it's effective range to short enough that it will only warm people on one side of the table.

Then I had two different proper infrared heaters with a carbon fiber coiled element, and clear quartz tubes, one of which even had some gold plating on the tube. These look VERY similar to what you're showing.

The winner of the two for range was the one with the better reflector, but both were pretty similar, with sensible warmth as much as about 15' away. The catch is that the narrow infrared beam angle means that the warmth may reach further, but covers no more area. 1500 watts is still 1500 watts, no matter how you slice it.

I suspect that the most bang for your buck would be with a heated floor mat, rather than an infrared heater.

 

[Brandon_oma#692]

Good idea with the floor mat. I like that idea.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

Sorry, but no. With radiant heaters, there is little correlation between power usage and beam range.

During the pandemic, I purchased five different 120V 1500W radiant heaters to use for family activities outdoors (I was able to easily reach my back yard with five separate circuits). With the shortest range was the super cheap metal box with a glowing wire.

It's technically radiant, but it convects a lot (the wire heats the air right around the heater). It's fine as a cheap (and probably dangerous) space heater (better as a generator load bank), but the sensible range was not much longer than your arm.

Next up were a pair of automotive paint curing lamps:

These use a glowing wire coil inside of a translucent quartz tube. The tube does a decent job of keeping the coil from heating the air, and their parabolic reflectors focus the infrared beam into no more than a 60 degree range that limits it's effective range to short enough that it will only warm people on one side of the table.

Then I had two different proper infrared heaters with a carbon fiber coiled element, and clear quartz tubes, one of which even had some gold plating on the tube. These look VERY similar to what you're showing.

The winner of the two for range was the one with the better reflector, but both were pretty similar, with sensible warmth as much as about 15' away. The catch is that the narrow infrared beam angle means that the warmth may reach further, but covers no more area. 1500 watts is still 1500 watts, no matter how you slice it.

I suspect that the most bang for your buck would be with a heated floor mat, rather than an infrared heater.

Hey rlitman,

"These use a glowing wire coil inside of a translucent quartz tube. The tube does a decent job of keeping the coil from heating the air.."

Why is that a problem? Wouldn't that convection be a 'bonus' heat source?

 

[dscheidt]

Hey rlitman,

"These use a glowing wire coil inside of a translucent quartz tube. The tube does a decent job of keeping the coil from heating the air.."

Why is that a problem? Wouldn't that convection be a 'bonus' heat source?

In some applications. In others (like outside) heating the air is wasted energy. In general radiant heat (real radiant, not hydronic floor radiant ) is used where you want to heat people and not the space, usually because heating the space is impossible. You see it in draft shops, bus shelters, cashier stations by doors, and as patio heaters for that reason.

 

[930dreamer]

An electrical motor shop I worked at had some commercial ones. One was above a toolbox I worked out of, my metal coffee tumbler stayed very warm under it.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

Good idea with the floor mat. I like that idea.

I had the electric floor mats in two large plastic storage boxes for our outdoor barn cats…….. They loved sleeping on them during the cold winter months.
Here is where I purchased mine……. I am sure there are other places on the web to purchase.

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