BELOW 1.5
HEATING SYSTEMS
Electricity and heat production accounts for 49.0% of Co2 production, in this page we will cover different more efficient types of heating, we are looking for a quick fix replacement, there is underfloor heating using the hot water pipes, and solar water heaters ect, but we just want to focus on heating systems that can easily be replaced, and should be at the forefront of all domestic and commercial sales, maybe its time to replace the radiators with Infra Red heaters, they use up to 60% less electricity, another benefit is they don't heat up the air in the room, conventional heating gives of a different kind of heat called convection heating, it does this by heating up the ambient space, this is similar to radiated heat from conventional radiators, they heat up the air in the room, this causes dry air itchy eyes and uses a lot of energy to heat up the space, it also escapes very easily.
Convection heaters heat the air and then transfer the heat throughout that space to warm up people and physical objects. For example, your gas boiler central heating system is a perfect example of a convection based system. When you turn on your heating, the radiators warm up as the water that circulates in the system gets hotter.
Infra Red heating is advantageous in many ways, it uses on average 60% less electricity than conventional heating does, it does this by heating up the objects instead of the air.
INFRARED HEATING
Infrared heat is a form of light sitting on the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and visible light, Infrared is the same type of heat emitted by the sun but doesn't contain the harmful UV light. There are 3 different types of infrared light (near, mid and far infrared), with 2 of them making frequent appearances in our everyday life:
Near infrared: Used in TV remotes or sending data between devices (mobile phones or computers) we don't feel the heat off this type of infrared.
Far infrared: We feel the heat from far infrared and is used in hospital incubators for new born babies, saunas and modern hairdryers.
A certain level of infrared radiation is emitted from any object with a temperature, even our own bodies, it is perfectly safe, they work by emitting radiant heat, infrared heating panels directly warm objects and people rather than the air, if you sit near an infrared heating panel in a cold room you would feel warm despite the air being cold, one of the major benefits of heating this way is that solid walls and other objects have thermal mass, meaning that they retain heat, keeping your home warmer for longer as there's no chance of it escaping through doors, windows or cracks.
There are many advantages to using infrared heating panels, they heat objects and people rather than the air in the room, efficiently heats the space to help reduce energy bills and energy usage, they reach heating temperature within 30 seconds of being switched on., heating objects and people is a much more efficient process that heating the air.
Used for its reported physical benefits to treat detoxification, acne, insomnia, blood circulation, pain relief as well as ear, nose and throat conditions, they help to reduce mould, damp and dust circulation thanks to lower operating temperatures and minimal air circulation.
Very little maintenance required you won't have to bleed or balance radiators ever again, also there is no need for any pipework which makes the installation much simpler, saves on copper and copper production.
Infrared is more efficient, uses less copper, no need for a boiler, less production so less Co2 offset in production of boilers and copper pipes, added to the fact that they use 60% less electricity than any other electrical heating, as we start to run out of gas and find other ways to heat our homes, the infrared heaters show a promising entry, up to 20% of Co2 is produced from heating systems, if you factor in the boilers and materials to make them and the copper pipes ect. infrared heaters are less damaging, the only down side is they are electric and not gas but we need to ween off gas, as we get more green electricity these will be the first choice for heating, along with cavity wall insulations and rubber felt roof linings and insulation that should be in building regulations we could probably reduce the 20% down to near 10% for heating.