Best Infrared Heaters - Infrared Heater Review

This is where infrared heaters come in handy. Portable heaters are great if you want to instantly warm a room without cranking up your thermostat. For instance, if your family regularly spends the evening gathered in the living room, why heat the house to a toasty 70? You can turn down your thermostat and place a small heater in the room with you. It provides enough warmth for that room, while keeping your energy consumption way down. You can heat an average size room easily with a small unit. Infrared heaters are different from traditional ones in that they warm objects (including you!) that are being hit with the infrared rays - or radiation (don't worry, it's good radiation). Other heaters heat the air, which then circulates throughout the room. Infrared is, therefore, much more efficient because it is warming what you really want warmed. Would you rather the air be warm or you? Other advantages of infrared heaters:

• low maintenance - no moving parts, no motors, no filters
• safety - no combustion or gases, no open flames, not hot to the touch
• quiet - no fans, no moving parts
• fast - you get instant heat with infrared
• better winter humidity - doesn't dry out the air like convection heaters

Electric infrared heaters work by heating a filament or coil. This is protected by a quartz glass tube. As it warms, it becomes the primary source of heat. The heat is then transferred to nearby objects rather than the air. It uses electricity as its power source, surprise, surprise. When choosing an electric heater, you will want to look at the wattage and BTUs. The watts measure the rate of energy consumption, while the BTU rating indicates the heating capacity. The higher the BTUs, the more heat you can expect. Your choice will depend on the size of the room in which it will be used, the level of insulation you have in that room, the ceiling height, and the heat increase you want. For instance, if you want to heat a room that measures 10' x 16', with average insulation and an eight-foot ceiling by five to ten degrees, you will need a unit that has at least 2800 BTUs and uses about 800 watts. Smaller rooms will need less of each, while larger rooms will require more. Good choices include:

The Soleus HGW-308r. This is an ultra-thin panel heater that heats a room instantly and quietly. It has an energy-saving mode, overheat protection, low temperature surface, fall-down safety switch, and uses an eco-friendly 1000watts/1500watts. It is also wallet-friendly at less than $100. This customer tidily sums it up:
"Works fine...used in room w/north-east-west exposure and five windows. Now the room is comfortable and my electric bill is LESS than expected. I would recommend for those hard to heat areas in winter."