HOW MUCH HEAT IS ENOUGH?

WHAT’S AN INFRA-RED WATT WORTH? HERE’S HOW TO WORK IT OUT!

If you’re new to the concept of Infra-Red probably the first thing you’ll want to know is how to work out how much heat you need to keep what you want to keep warm, warm.

Actually it’s quite easy to work out – you can do it in two steps and all you need is a floor plan and the calculator on your phone.

THE STANDARD EQUATION IS SQUARE METRES OF FLOOR SPACE X 60

Let’s assume you have a fairly standard room with a ceiling height of 2.5m. Then simply work out the floor area in square metres and multiply it by a standard number of 60 watts as a benchmark. That will give you a figure that should keep the ambient temperature between 19° and 22° centigrade – ideal for a living room or an office you’re in most of the day. Bedrooms are normally kept cooler, bathrooms a little warmer. But 60watts per square metre is a good approximation bearing in mind that Infra-Red gives you instant ‘person-focussed’ heat.

So, for a ‘living room’ of typical size, say 4m by 5m the equation is 4x5x60 = 1,200 watts

Bear in mind that this figure can be finessed based on factors such as ceiling height, age of the building, insulation, how much window space the room has, the amount of use a room gets and a range of other things. See below for information on bigger rooms and spaces.

DOES SIZE MATTER?

Depending on the size of your room and the space available to mount your Infra-Red panels, you may be better off having two or more smaller panels rather than one big panel. By their slim nature Infra-Red panels are a very space-saving way to heat your home. If you want to go for one bigger panel the best place to mount it is on the ceiling. If you need to mount them on the walls perhaps think about two or three smaller ones rather than one big one.

TACTICAL AND TASK-FOCUSSED PORTABLE HEAT

Don’t forget that if you want heat you can move around the building with you, then most Kiasa heating panels can be supplied with feet so they can be free standing and placed as close as you like to what needs to be kept warm. The feet have wheels too, so they are easily moveable – just wheel them round to the nearest socket then ‘plug-and-play’. This makes them ideal for homes that have a new baby and just as good if you want to heat workstations in say a workshop. Anywhere in fact you want manageable and cheap ‘plug-and-play’ instant heat.

DIALLING-UP THE HEAT WITH IR HEATER BARS

If you need a higher wattage, as well as saving space, it’s worth checking out at IR heater bars. Elegantly designed in black they add a certain chic but unobtrusive appeal whilst keeping the space toasty and comfortable.

NEED TO HEAT BIGGER OR NON-STANDARD SPACE – OR WANT A PLAN FOR A COMPLETELY NEW DEVELOPMENT?

If you need to heat a bigger or ‘non-standard/quirky’ space, like an old listed building or say something like a yoga studio, a workshop, a church hall or scout hut, two things are important. The first is to make sure you specify enough heat to provide the warmth you need. The second is to make sure you don’t over-specify and waste money.

The same is true if you’re designing a new development, possibly supported by solar panels. Working on those sorts of calculations is our ‘day job’! The easiest thing to do is to send us a floor plan of the project, along with the ceiling heights, and we’ll make recommendations for you free of charge based on the cubic metres of space.