Herschel Infrared Heater // Feels Like Sun Rays // Electric Heating

[@jimadams6159]

Really found your video extremely helpful. Your description was detailed and clearly presented. This made my decision to choose the infrared panels for my home so much easier. Thank you for a great video.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Thanks for watching and commenting Jim, glad it was helpful.

[@anniecochrane3359]

Very helpful and well organised presentation. Thank you!!

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AllElectricLiving]

I’ve been using IR heating for two years now, and got to be honest I wouldn’t go back to a wet heating system unless it was a emergency 🚨

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Interesting Chris. Do you have it installed as a total replacement fro a wet system?

[@Gazmaz]

I’m also interred in getting away from wet rads, not sure that Air Source technology is quite there yet, still feels early days with lots to go wrong, whereas these I assume have much less to go wrong and if one fails you still have other rooms not affected. The Hershel integration with the app seems a little poor though. Combine it with a solar array or a an investment in the likes of Ripple these seem quite interesting. I assume power needed near by so fixing on a ceiling would mean new wiring?

[@danieltpope2518]

Great! Hope you do another video when you install more!

[@SpectrumGeeks]

For sure, but will be a while yet. Many more projects in the home renovation.

[@nigelledeux6869]

Hi Dale, another informative video. Must admit I don't know that much about infrared so was interesting to watch. Will follow your findings with interest, Nigel

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks as always for watching

[@jamesbailey2601]

I have also invested in the Heschel Infrared Heater and I am pleased with it .

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Thanks for sharing James. Just 1 or 2 rooms or your whole house?

[@jamesbailey2601]

@@SpectrumGeeks I have installed just one in the lounge. I was redecorating and the wet radiator had gone rusty so I decided to put an infrared heater in its place. I want to move away from burning gas but it is cheaper at the moment.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

@@jamesbailey2601 Cool, thanks for sharing.

[@gordonfraser7760]

Very interesting to see your initial trials of this. I've been testing the same kit, for similar reasons, over December 22. The highest energy usage I've seen is 590kw and it normally sits around 555kw. Possibly unit to unit variance? Currently researching having IR heaters but hidden in the ceiling, which would be aesthetically more pleasing and free up wall space.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Interesting in the hidden ceiling option, I assume you need a more transparent material in front of them vs plasterboard for them to be effective. Interesting to see your seeing a more expected power consumption, I have another energy meter somewhere, I will have to test it with that also.

[@gordonfraser7760]

@@SpectrumGeeks, more research has come up with electric wall paper. There's a three part review by a UK builder and even an article on the BBC website. With regard to cost and practical usage I've found the panel to be an excellent portable heater, which is much cheaper to heat me in a single room. However, putting it a distance to simulate locating on a roof I do find the drop off in effective heating to be quite dramatic. It would seem to take a long time to heat up anything in a large area or over a distance. In short, it would seem to be a good way - if you have solar - to be able to heat individual smaller rooms or for larger rooms if kept on for a significant period of time. If heating a whole house, I suspect the efficiency of a heat pump might pay benefits. Interestingly Herschel quote a study comparing gas, infrared and heating pump which was favourable for the infrared. Currently researching different types of construction as reviews of "yoga infrared heating" highlighted the impact of this on heaters. The joys and trials of early adoption..! I look forward to seeing how you find its usage.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

@@gordonfraser7760 Thanks for sharing the extra info Gordon, very interesting. I agree the heatpump is probably more efficient, but also something i need to factor in to my calcs is the costs, etc.

[@Moletrouser]

590kW at 240V implies 2,458A - most domestic consumers can draw no more than 100A. Have you dropped a decimal point, do you think?

[@SpectrumGeeks]

@@Moletrouser I assume its a typo and meant watts vs kilo watt

[@neilmorgan7737]

Just got my first Herschel IR XLS Panel to try them out but it doesn’t feel like I expected given all the comments on here and other site. The panel gets very hot and just seems to heat via convective heat rather than IR. I am wondering if there is a fault with this particular panel. For the price I could get several convector heaters for the price of just this one small panel.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I deffo experience the feeling of sun coming through the window with mine, and have actually ordered another free standing version for under my desk.

[@markmccoy8832]

i enjoyed the vid and got some great information from it.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Awesome, thank you!

[@colinmcconnell827]

I was a bit confused by the comments on efficiency. Is the point that the amount of energy that needs to be consumed to make the occupants of a room feel comfortable is less? This would presumably be because the great volume of air in the room is not being heated, just the objects and the people.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Spot on. The energy saving is due to not having to heat the volume of air in the room.

[@colinmcconnell827]

@@SpectrumGeeks Thanks for the reply. I think 'more efficient' may not be the best terminology to use for this, as it can get confused with the stuff you hear quoted for heat pumps, with their greater than 100% efficiency (which I think is also confusing terminology!) I guess a thorough comparison of running costs would have to factor in both the subjective aspect of what any given person needs to feel comfortable, plus how well a property is insulated, since heating the air is less wasteful if it is not constantly escaping!

[@SpectrumGeeks]

@@colinmcconnell827 Totally appreciate the confusion with the phraseology. Regarding the running costs, you are correct, different peoples houses and requirements change what heating solution may be best for them. I am still evaluating what I am going to do for my home renovation for heating, so will do a video on that at some time in the future.

[@tashluvsbrian]

Great review of the product. How large an area would a 600w heater cover do you know?

[@SpectrumGeeks]

11 - 13 M2 can be covered by a 600w Infrared heater.

[@13021J]

Do you have to be directly in front / below the panels to feel the heat? Is it possible to just heat a room to a set temperature and how long would it take (depends on m3 / wattage of panels)?

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Initially you feel the heat if you are opposite it, but like the rays of the sun its heating up the objects in the room, this then reflects the heat into the room, as well as retaining the heat in those objects. How long it takes is a variable, power of the heater, items in the room, distance from heat source, starting temperature, desired temp, etc.

[@robertp.wainman4094]

I've seen comments to other infrared videos from people who've fitted them to the ceiling - that they suffer from cool feet! What do you think?

[@Ian-if2lf]

@@robertp.wainman4094 yeah the stuff furthest away takes much longer to heat up, We have had them in every room for 2 years and cold carpets are a thing, they don't heat the air, just the objects that they hit, so it feels a bit odd if they are behind you and the back of your head is heating up while you have a cold nose beathing cold air. they might work better in conjunction with some sort of underfloor system.

[@affiliatemarketingsoldier6885]

Liked and Subscribed. Great Video. 😃

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Thanks for the sub!

[@aidancunningham2052]

Do you need the thermostat, or will it work by simply turning the panel on and off itself? Great video!

[@SpectrumGeeks]

You need some form of controller for it to work yes, you cant just turn it on and off at the wall. Here is the blurb from the website "There are three options (sold separately) for operating your XLS panels. Choose from a battery operated controller (T-BT), a mains / USB powered controller (T-MT) or plug-in controller (T-PL). Both T-MT and T-PL have in built Wifi allowing APP and voice control via Alexa and Google Assistant. Select "

[@aidancunningham2052]

Thanks so much for your help@@SpectrumGeeks

[@martin.mitchell]

You can switch them to a manual mode, where they are controlled by turning the power off and on, and don't use the herschel controller.

[@yips_way]

This was the killer for me. Having to buy a controller for each one is a bit too much extra expense & very inefficient. From the previous comment I'm glad there is a manual control. However, I'd like to see a controller that can be paired with several at once where you can configure each panel if you so wish. The window open detection & pir sensor are also things that aren't necessary to me. Having to pay such high amounts for feet is also a deal breaker for me. What next, extra for a plug?

[@cutenut]

​@@SpectrumGeeks It may be late to your party regarding controllers. I too found the cost of the controllers staggering and ended up buying through Aliexpress for about £15 each. They work with Tuya /smartlife have been working since last year so far without issue. I converted from wet heating before renovation of bungalow began when boiler packed up. And went full herschel. There is a controller sold by ekosen which costs about £180 that uses power modulation to adjust the panels output once target temp is reached. This is a much smarter approach as a panel that might kick out 850W to begin with then plods along at something more like 300W. I would hazard that this is then keeeping pace with the expected heat loss for the level of insulation you have and maintains the room at target temp. All the other controllers using a relay to turn the panel on and off all tend to over and undershoot by at least half a degree depending on the hysteresis set. I find the panels when in use are on for maybe 30% of the time once the room has "aquired" the radient heat. Its a different experience to CH which always left me feeling stuffy nosed and lethargic. We hope to offset the running cost with a solar and battery system in the new year. With luck the reduction in electricity costs will come about as more people leave gas which currently inflates the real cost of electric.

[@Group51]

Why is infrared affected by an open window?

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Infrared is not impacted by an open window, I don't recall saying that but it was a while ago.

[@Group51]

@@SpectrumGeeks you didn’t. You said it had open window detection, which seemed pointless if IR is like the feel of the sun.

[@OSSIECFC]

You will still feel a draught. Also heat always goes from hot to cold.

[@dizzyikea]

Perfect time to jump in with Home Assistant Dale since Herschel are smartlife and they are covered by Hassio for proper control? In fact the whole new home what a time to start with Hassio :)

[@SpectrumGeeks]

I have been tempted, need to get some of the core jobs done first before I start with "fun" things :)

[@johntisbury]

We have had 4 infrared panels and have had them for about 6 months. We have 2 in the garage and 2 in the photo studio, all ceiling mounted. We went with Kiasa brand panels and we have them connected to smart plugs. We control them via Home Assistant as we have Sonoff Thermostat and Humidity sensors in every room so can trigger them to come on or off. They are great panels and have found them a good way of heating objects in a room.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Thanks for sharing John. Based on your experience is it something you would consider using in the house vs the garage and studio in the future?

[@johntisbury]

@@SpectrumGeeks the biggest drawback is they can only ever achieve 1:1 efficiency; 1 unit of electricity in = 1 unit of heat out. We are looking at a A2W heat pump for heating the house and ditch our gas boiler which as you know if designed and commissioned properly can return more efficiency. So that's most likely our approach for the house this year.

[@stuarthepburn6508]

Doesn't heat the room though, so ....why?

[@SpectrumGeeks]

It does heat the room, the items and surfaces in it, but not the air. It feels more like the sun has been heating up the room, vs a heater.

[@YouTellemFrosk]

We are about to outfit the house with these panels, however this company are very expensive and so are most I’ve come across. Our modest 3 bedroom semi had an estimate of over £5K pre tax, not installed. Crazy price I can easily halve or better.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

What brand are you going with in the end to hopefully reduce your install costs?

[@YouTellemFrosk]

@@SpectrumGeeks klarstein

[@SpectrumGeeks]

@@YouTellemFrosk Thanks, I will check them out also.

[@YouTellemFrosk]

@@SpectrumGeeks yeah why not. They appear to be a German construction, not Chinese, and panels are going from around 120£ upwards.

[@Ian-if2lf]

they don't heat the air, just the objects that they hit, so it feels a bit odd if they are behind you and the back of your head is heating up while you have a cold nose beathing cold air.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Cheers for sharing your thoughts / experience.

[@cmpopi13]

I moved into a newbuild in 2018, kitted out with Hershel panels. Myself and all my neighbours have found these extortionate to run. Whilst advertised as cost efficient, they are not. Even with some switched off, the bills are ridiculously high. I've never had this before neither has my neighbours. The development was marketed with these as a bonus. Definately not. Also the one in the bedroom, as soon as it kicks in and your in bed, you get boiling hot. There is no inbetween. Thermostat is set to kick in at say when it drops below 18.5. Gets too hot. Everyone feels the same. Only advantage is that you have more space for furniture

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Cheers for sharing your experiences, deffo food for thought. So far happy with how the IR Panels I have are performing, actually just about another 220w one for in the office.

[@emil.honganmaki5461]

in reality, in a small room, a 2kwh heater consumes 100-300W, it is not on all the time

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Like you say, fully depends on the size of room. The 2kW heater I was using was typically on the majority of its timed schedule.

[@helimax]

These are not infrared emitters.... it's disingenuous marketing. An infrared emitter requires a source temperature of many 100s of degrees. This is from Planck’s Law which tells us that as the temperature of any emitting surface increases, more and more energy will be released as infrared energy. The higher the object temperature, the greater the amount of infrared energy will be produced. These things are MOSTLY convective heating with very very minimal IR.

[@SpectrumGeeks]

Thanks for the info.