Life on earth began and is sustained because the rays of the sun travel through space to give light and warmth to our planet.  The infrared rays that reach us pass through the atmosphere and warm the surface of the earth which becomes a heat reservoir and releases warmth back to the atmosphere by convection, raising the ambient temperature of our environment.  Infrared heaters function with the same principles of physics.  An emitter is heated to a temperature at which it radiates infrared rays.  The floor, objects, machinery and people in the room absorb the infrared waves and become secondary radiators raising the general air temperature.
		Heat energy can be transmitted from one body to another by convection through air or conduction through a solid but only heat transfer by infrared wave transmission suffers no losses to the medium (the air) through which it passes. The heat that is lost across the walls and ceiling of a building is directly proportional to the temperature differential between inside and outside; the greater the differential the greater is the rate of heat loss.
		Warm air rises.  The result is that in a large building, while there is comfort at the people level, near the ceiling, temperatures are undesirably hot.  This increased temperature differential at the ceiling increases heat losses at the building roof and therefore fuel consumption. Large buildings with large door openings present unique challenges for traditional warm air heating methods.  When doors are opened, most of the warm air reservoir is lost to the outside.  To reestablish people comfort, the interior air volume has to be reheated and driven down from high ceilings with high velocity air streams.
	Infrared heat is quiet and draft free.  In "clean room" applications no dust is blown about.  In showroom and auditoriums, no noisy fans or air noise disturbs conversation. The radiant "sun-like" warmth keeps people comfortable at lower air temperatures with resulting fuel cost savings.
	As infrared heats "from the floor up", heat stratification to the ceiling is greatly reduced. There is no need to employ downdraft fans to recover lost heat at the ceiling. Since air temperatures are lower, particularily at the ceiling, with infrared heat, transmission losses to the outside are far lower, thereby reducing fuel costs while maintaining people comfort.
	In large buildings such as warehouses, where large doors are frequently used, infrared heat results in rapid heat recovery and therefore less fuel wastage. The large heat reservoir of the building floor and building contents quickly reestablishes worker comfort even while air temperatures remain unchanged. To learn more about Superior Radiant Products, please feel free to review our website or contact us at  1 800 527-HEAT (4328).