It’s a question we get asked a lot. Could you heat a home with nothing but IR panels instead of a traditional central heating system?
Yes.
OK, we should probably qualify that a bit.
There are a few considerations to take into account, but there’s no reason not to consider heating your home entirely with IR.
Choosing The Right Panels
To get the most out of your IR panels, you’ll need to make sure they’re powerful enough to actually get you warm, while not being so powerful as to be needlessly wasting energy.
If that all sounds a bit complicated, you can get in touch with our team.
They can take your entire home layout and advise you on how many panels you’ll need to keep a space warm, as well as where exactly in your space is best to get the best possible heat coverage.
Keeping Things Under Control
One crucial thing to understand about IR heating is that it’s not as effective when you’re not in the room with it, because it focuses on heating objects and people.
As a result, it’s important that you have some robust controls. Luckily, we have that covered too.
Our NXTGen and Nexus panels feature onboard thermostats right out of the box, and they also come with remotes included. The Nexus panels can connect to your Wi-Fi, while the NXTGen models are more analogue.
NXTGen panels also have some extra features already onboard to make managing them a lot simpler.
For example, their open window detection system means that they can easily switch themselves off if the temperature dips.
They also have an adaptive start feature that means they’ll switch on at the perfect time to reach your goal temperature at your desired time.
Our Nexus panels can be controlled through your mobile phone from anywhere in the world, which immediately gets rid of that horrified feeling that you’ve left your heating running.
You can also pair them to your Google Home or Amazon Alexa voice assistant, letting you easily switch on each heater with your voice alone.
Alternatively, if you want to use a central smart thermostat, you can make use of our classic panels.
On their own, these are simple on/off devices without onboard controls, but they can be easily combined with another control system to make managing things much simpler.
Designs To Suit Every Room
While our base panel designs are fairly discrete, sometimes you want a change. And of course, these panels are electric. Surely that means they can’t be used in bathrooms?
All of our panels are at least IP54 rated, which means they’re protected from splashes of water and are safe to install in bathrooms and kitchens.
For extra protection, our mirror panels (the most popular choice for bathrooms) are IP65 rated, meaning there’s extra protection.
We do suggest wiring bathroom panels into the mains directly to avoid any risks with the plug socket.
That’s before we get into the options with custom image panels, or the sleek elegance of our glass panels, or the robust power of our bar heaters (which are designed for patios).
There are options for every room, letting you pick a design that suits your style goals as much as your practical heating goals.
Reducing Bills With Self-Sufficiency
Electric power is expensive, there’s no getting around that fact. But there are ways to mitigate this, in a way that frees you and your home from the whims of all-powerful gas and oil companies.
That key is solar power.
With other forms of electric heating such as air source heat pumps being costly to install, domestic solar panel arrays can seem out of reach.
But outfitting your home in IR panels is pretty inexpensive, potentially leaving you with enough spare change for your very own solar farm (and even some extra insulation on top).
This will keep your heating a lot more self-sufficient, massively bringing the cost of heating your home down for years to come. That’s something you can never get with a gas boiler.
One Exception
IR Panels obviously can’t produce hot water like a central heating system can, so you’ll need to consider an alternative source. Luckily there are loads of methods to choose from, including tankless systems.
If you want to truly embrace IR heating for your home then get in touch today. Just give us a call on 0116 436 2250 or send us an email at sales@mirrorstone.co.uk.
Better yet, you can have a FREE Mirrorstone Heating catalogue sent direct to your door by hitting the button below, letting you read all about how infrared heating can change your home for the better.