Infrared waves do not need a medium such as air or water to travel through. They travel as easily through air as through the depths of space, producing heat only when they strike an object such as the surface of the earth or a wall of a house. When radiation from infrared panels hit an object, the rays cause molecules they strike to oscillate. The energy continues to be absorbed by the molecules in that object until they oscillate at the frequency of the radiation, at which point the radiation is then reflected.

Infrared heater radiation has nothing to do with ultraviolet radiation which is beyond the shortest wavelength in the visible spectrum. Ultraviolet has nothing to do with the perception of heat in the human body. Our perception of warmth has nothing to do with the temperature of the air. We are primarily infrared absorbing, or emitting bodies.

There is an additional benefit to buildings. Central heating which relies on convection to carry the heat around in the air implies draughts and areas of unequal temperature, which also means cold spots and condensation. If a building is damp, it is a poor reflector of radiation.

When masonry is dry, it becomes an extremely efficient reflector and only approximately 1/6 of the energy becomes absorbed by the masonry itself. So by heating with infrared, you start to prevent issues associated with wet masonry as well as mould and mildew. Before the advent of central heating which is convection-dependent, when houses were warmed by stoves or electric fireplace heaters, maintenance intervals of buildings were much further apart.

Heating by infrared convector heater radiation is as old as the use of fire by man. Stone, clay and tiled stoves all make use of Infra red. What is new is the technology that allows us to produce infrared for very low input of energy.