Infrared heating

Back in February I posted some thoughts about the house and heating, and came to almost precisely no conclusion. But I was quite intrigued by the infrared heating option, and as it happens, Herschel do an under desk heating panel. I’m in my home office at my desk all day, and I actually get pretty chilly unless I either run the heating for the entire house or run a 1KW heater. I should probably move more, but it doesn’t happen.

Rather than heat the whole house I’d been using the heater, but only when really desperate. Instead I’ve spent the winter wearing multiple layers of wool, and working under a quilt (when I’m not standing). The opportunity to test the infrared heating and be warm seemed too good to pass up on. I bought one at the end of February.

That’s my desk in standing mode so it’s easier to see the white heater under the desk. The heater itself is very small and slim and I’ve set it up to use the Smart Life app. I have it programmed to keep at 21 degrees for 2 hours in the morning and 2.5 hours in the afternoon – Monday to Friday. I’m not often in there at the weekend, and if I am I can always override it.

It’s made a huge difference. I know March and April aren’t the coldest, darkest months of the year, but I’ve been much more comfortable with it there. I can feel when the panel is on, just a gentle warmth against my legs. But what’s been really interesting is that it’s not just the under desk area that’s warmer, it’s the entire room. It’s not a big room, and this small, 0.22KW heater is managing to raise the temperature of the entire space by a couple of degrees.

The heater has honestly surprised and impressed me. It’s silent and doesn’t smell dusty, which a is lovely comparison to the fan heater I was using. 0.22KW is low enough that the solar panels are almost always producing enough for that. They won’t be in December at 4pm, but that’s just winter this far north. It does mean that I’ve been warm enough in March and April for effectively no extra money, and that is huge.

There are just a couple of niggles: it has a light for the on-off switch which stays on all of the time, and the app is a little clunky. I can live with both (although I hope the ceiling/wall panels don’t have the light).

So, that bathroom upgrade may just involve replacing the heated towel rails – they’ve rusted, and it’s actually really awkward that they are only warm when the house heating comes on. The en-suite in particular seems like a really good candidate for a little infrared!