Infrared Heating Principles

You may be asking what is Solamagic Infrared heating and how does it work? What are the benefits of Infrared heating lamps?

Solamagic heaters utilise Infrared heat lamps. Infrared heat lamps provide the following key benefits when used for area or space heating.

Key benefits of Solamagic heaters with Philips infrared lamps:

Features	Benefits
Instant heat	Full emitted power within milliseconds after switch on.
No emissions or pollution	Clean and environmentally friendly
Quartz envelope for infrared halogen lamps	Heat shock resistant and safe
90% of the energy is transmitted as infrared heat	Efficient and economical heat source
Dimmable	Output accurately controllable from 0 to 100% to match your needs
Infrared halogen technology	No blackening of the bulb and so no depreciation of infrared emission during lifetime
Long lifetime	Low maintenance
Same optical properties as light	Heat can be focused by reflectors
Compact design	Allows design of compact heat sources and systems

Heating Principles

To understand how Solamagic Infrared heating works one needs to consider the three main heating methods or principles; conduction, convection and radiation

Conduction

Heat transfer is by direct contact between the source and the object. On your stove top the metal pot or pan is in contact with the hot plate element, heat transfers from the element to the pot and to your dinner. This method requires good surface contact and some time for the heat to transfer from the energy source to the receiver.

Convection

Heat transfer is by a flow of liquid or gas which is itself heated by a heat source. A gas powered patio heater application is a good example. The heat from combustion of the gas warms the adjacent air, this air then needs to physically move to you, the receiver, so that you feel the temperature difference and start to feel warmer. This method requires good air circulation and enclosure of the heated air to be effective as the heated air is likely to rise and be blown away by draughts in open space areas.

Radiation

Heat transfer is by the emission of radiation from a hotter object such as the sun, an open fire or an infrared lamp to its cooler surrounding environment. Objects which receive this radiation from the heat source absorb it and become hotter.

Solamagic heaters using Philips infrared lamps use this radiation principle. They directly heat an object or person at which they are directed without heating the surrounding air. This is what makes them highly efficient heat sources.

Infrared within the optical spectrum

The infrared part of the optical spectrum is split into three parts:

• Short wave: IR-A
• Medium wave: IR-B
• Long wave: IR-C

Solamagic heaters with Philips infrared lamps have a broad spectrum (see graph below), but most of the radiation they produce is in the IR-A part. For most domestic and commercial heating applications this is the region that gives the highest heating efficiency.

The radiation in the three wavelength ranges has a number of differences which are shown in the table below.

INFRARED WAVE	SHORT WAVE	MEDIUM WAVE	LONG WAVE
Emitter	Infrared halogen & incandescent lamp	Quartz emitter	Resistance
Material	Tungsten coil in sealed quartz tube	Fe-Cr-Al alloy in quartz tube	Fe-Cr-Al alloy in closed steel tube
Radiant efficiency	92%	60%	40%
Switch ON/OFF time (90% output)	1 sec	30 sec	5 min
Emission peak	1.2 µm	2.2 µm	4.0 µm
Visible	6%	0.5%	0.05%
IR-A	34%	3.5%	1%
IR-B	50%	50%	14%
IR-C	10%	46%	85%
Colour temperature	2500 K	1300 K	800K
Heating principle	Radiation	Radiation & convection	Convection
Air draught sensitivity	No	High	Very high
Focusing with reflectors	Good focusing & recommended	Possible	Not relevant
Colour sensitivity	High	Medium	Low

This table shows that infrared emitters (heat sources) radiate their energy over a range of wavelengths. The main range Solamagic heaters with infrared lamps mainly emit radiation is in the shorter wavelengths. This means that medium and long wave emitters (e.g. steel tube and ceramic radiators) have a higher thermal inertia (are slower to heat up) and lower temperature (less heat to transfer) than our short wave infrared lamps.