When we think about building heat, our first thought may be of forced air, the big unit suspended from the ceiling blowing hot air with the force of a jet engine. While that might work for some, independent reports reveal that gas-fired infrared heating can save 20-50% in fuel consumption over forced air heating.

Low-intensity gas-fired convector heater heating systems emulate the true efficiency of the sun by generating radiant heat energy. They consist of three main components – a burner control box, black-coated radiant emitter tubes, and a highly polished reflector assembly. The heaters are typically suspended from the ceiling by chains and controlled by a thermostat. They can be installed either vented or unvented, may use outside air for combustion if necessary, and may be installed in different configurations depending on heating requirements.

A few important things need to be considered when using radiant heat. While such systems are easy to live with, care needs to be taken when laying out the system to maintain clearances to combustibles. Infrared heaters require higher clearances than forced air units. Therefore, a mounting height of 10 ft or higher is recommended, depending on the application and the model.

The main difference between a vacuum style heater and a positive pressure tube heater is that now the burner box is under a negative instead of a positive pressure. A pump located at the end of the system pulls the gases down the tube.

This type of electric fireplace heater heating system offers some application benefits not found with other types of infrared equipment. Vacuum-style infrared heaters may have up to six burners, common vented by a single vacuum pump, resulting in fewer roof or sidewall penetrations. And the vacuum style may be installed as a condensing or non-condensing system. A condensing system allows for longer system lengths and higher system thermal efficiency; a non-condensing system more efficiently utilizes the highly emissive black coating on the radiant tubes at a more reasonable equipment cost over the condensing system.