• Infrared radiation is light radiation of a certain frequency, similar to solar radiation. It is emitted by a heating element as heat directly into the room without heating the air.
• It travels through the room at the speed of light and is partially absorbed by people, objects, walls and ceilings and reflected until the energy is completely used up.
• It often hits each area several times, so that the room warms up evenly. If a person is hit several times, they are warmed each time by the same, already paid-for energy - unique and only possible with radiant energy!
• Compared to convection heating, the room temperature of an infrared heater can be set 2° C lower than usual because convection heat has a cooling effect due to the movement. This also saves energy.

• An infrared heater is a direct heater that does not require a burner, compressor, pumps, valves or meter-long hot water pipes.
• This makes infrared heating durable, maintenance-free and cost-effective, with the simplest possible installation.
• There is no need to transfer temperatures from the earth or air to another medium through heat exchange.
• The room temperature from the previous day is simply raised to the comfortable temperature. This means that no heat needs to be extracted from the outside air or from 60-120 meters deep in the earth and transferred to the heating water through heat exchange, which involves losses.
• During the day and at night, when no one is in the room, everything is off. - Consumption is ZERO.

• The energy source electricity is converted directly into pure useful energy without any intermediate stages.
• Apart from the existing power supply to the residential unit, no special infrastructure is required.
• The heating system can be modified, downsized, extended, replaced or dismantled with minimal effort.
• The infrared system can be used according to presence and time. It allows very flexible room and zone control by the user.
• Preheating is not necessary because the heating time is extremely short.

• The energy consumption of an infrared heating element depends on the wattage specified by the manufacturer. A radiator with 1000 watts of power consumes 1 kilowatt hour of electricity per hour. If you pay 32 cents for this, that is the cost of heating for one hour.
• However, the radiator is only switched on for a fraction of an hour, as it switches off when the set temperature is reached. The thermostat only switches it on again when the temperature has dropped by 0.2°C. This is the specified delay time (hysteresis). This is the specified delay time (hysteresis).
• As the room temperature increases with the heating time, the switch-off times gradually increase. - The energy consumption decreases.
• The output in watts therefore provides no information about the consumption costs of an infrared heater. These are largely dependent on the efficiency and the heating behavior of the occupants.

• The basis for a statement about the consumption costs of infrared heating elements is always the efficiency tested in accordance with DIN. The scientific consensus is that only heating elements with an efficiency of at least 40% should be referred to as infrared heating elements. If it is below this, the radiant power is so low that mainly inefficient convection heat is generated.
• The specified output in watts does not provide any information about the consumption of an IR radiator, as the temperature is regulated by intermittent switching on and off. Whenever the set target temperature (also the user's comfort temperature) is reached, the radiator switches off and switches on again after the temperature has dropped by more than 0.2°C. If the electrical output of a heating element is high, this does not mean that more energy is consumed overall; because if the output is higher, it switches off earlier. The consumption costs remain the same.
• A large radiator therefore does no harm. It just warms up the room more quickly and you are always on the safe side when outside temperatures are low and the building is poorly insulated.
• The size of the heating elements can be determined by calculating the heat requirement or by measuring consumption before purchasing the heating system. The Service of ABEG can be used. If consumption is known from electricity bills, it is possible to determine how high the consumption costs will be. Then the  Additional costs with poor efficiency can be calculated.

• Quite clearly - the heating system with the highest efficiency.
• Die Unterschiede bei den Produkten sind immens und können bei einem 1-Familienhaus mehrere hundert Euro Mehrkosten im Jahr erzeugen.
• Remarkable - there are no efficiency measurements according to DIN for heat pump heating. The seasonal performance factor JAZ says nothing about the efficiency of the entire heating system.
• To the table of energy losses due to poor efficiency →

• Scientifically proven (statement by TU Dresden), the efficiency of infrared heating elements is a maximum of 70% (± 2.8%) due to the losses during the conversion of electrical energy into heat. AbegSun has 69.5% and is therefore one of the infrared heating elements with the lowest consumption costs.
• We have Dr. Kosack and his work as a professor at the University of Kaiserslautern to thank for the fact that there is a DIN standard for measuring the efficiency of an infrared heating element.
• DIN EN IEC 60675-3, valid from January 1, 2023, specifies which criteria must be applied with which measurement methods when testing the efficiency of infrared radiators. The Technical University of Dresden has set up a measuring room in accordance with these criteria and carries out efficiency tests in accordance with DIN.
  
  

The criteria include:

1. the surface temperature of the heating surface (AbegSun: on average 145°C)
2. the radiation angle of the heat rays (AbegSun: approx. 147°)
3. the heating time of the heating element (AbegSun: approx. 100°C in 120 seconds)
4. the heat losses to the rear (AbegSun: approx. 5°C above ambient temperature)
   
   

• In this case, the heat losses to the rear are not particularly measured, but affect the front surface temperature at full height as a loss. This reduces the efficiency.
• As losses always occur physically when converting electrical energy into heat, a maximum efficiency of approx. 70% (± 2.8%) can be achieved. Sometimes almost 100% is stated as the efficiency of infrared heaters. This is wrong. It is the Primärenergie mit der Nutzenergie mixed up.

• In scientific literature, a heater is referred to as an infrared heater from a radiation temperature of 60-70°C upwards. However, our experience, statements from customers and measurements with the infrared camera have shown that at these low temperatures, no heat can be felt even at a short distance. This is also logical, as the radiant temperature decreases with the square of the distance and the heat is already lost upwards as convection heat close to the heating element. With these heating elements, the proportion of convection heat is higher than the proportion of radiation heat. Consequently, one should only speak of infrared radiators at higher temperatures of at least 90°C.
• For high efficiency, the front surface temperature should be as high as possible, as the radiant power increases by a factor of 16 if the temperature is doubled (Stefan-Boltzmann law).
• AbegSun hat laut TU Dresden eine mittlere Strahlungstemperatur von 145°C. Dieses ist ein auschlaggebender Faktor für einen hohen Wirkungsgrad mit einem niedrigen Verbrauch.

• Infrared is light radiation.
• Starting from a horizontal surface, this has a radiation angle of 120°. If an infrared heater such as AbegSun has a larger radiation angle of 147°, this results in a faster, large-area distribution of heat radiation in the room.
• The room warms up faster and more evenly due to the greater reflection and absorption.
• The surface area heated by radiation at an angle of 147° is 33 m² when installed at a distance of 2.5 m.
• As the heat radiation decreases with the square of the distance, it is important for the efficiency of an infrared heating element that the front radiation temperature is high. It can then be noticeably distributed over the large area in the room. With AbegSun, the average temperature is 145°C. This has a particularly efficiency-enhancing effect. The efficiency increases.

• When an infrared radiator is switched on, the maximum current corresponding to the radiator's output is consumed immediately, but the heat only develops gradually.
• The longer this heating time is, the higher the energy loss during this time - the efficiency decreases. In addition, only convection heat is generated during the heating-up time until approx. 90°C is reached, which has an additional negative effect.
• With AbegSun, we reach a radiation temperature of 100°C after just 120 seconds. This also has a positive impact on the efficiency calculations.

• High-efficiency heating elements do not have a front cladding made of sheet metal, slate, marble, glass or similar, nor are they painted if the highest efficiency is to be achieved.
• Transferring heat from one material to another would increase power consumption and drastically reduce efficiency.
• A high, according to DIN measured and with Certificate proven efficiency is the only guarantee for the lowest heating costs.

• If you are only likely to be in the room for a short time, e.g. in the morning for breakfast, the table thermostat switches on direct and rapid heating within the radiation angle.
• AbegSun heating elements achieve a radiation temperature of 100° C in 120 seconds.
• It is then switched off again until the room is re-entered.
• The highest energy saving effect is achieved here, as all radiators are switched off at all other times, including at night, and ZERO electricity is consumed.

• With this heating concept, a basic temperature of e.g. 16-18°C is preset.
• The thermostat regulates it to the desired comfort temperature in the morning, e.g. 21.5°C.
• This can be set with the weekly program of the thermostat supplied or manually if you want to have a comfortable temperature.
• With this heating concept, the thermostat is located outside the radiation cone and thus monitors the entire room.
• With this concept, the radiator must be sufficiently large, as the entire room is to be heated. For larger rooms, several radiators must be distributed over the area. Consumption is not higher with several heating elements because they switch off earlier.

• Infrared heating elements have a low carbon footprint due to the low amount of material used and the small number of mechanical components in their manufacture.
• No mechanical parts such as pumps, regulators, valves, compressors or endlessly long water-bearing pipe systems are required.
• Infrared heaters can be operated effectively with green electricity and are easy to replace and recycle.
• The German electricity grid already contained 52% renewable electricity in the first quarter of 2024. The target of 62% from mid-2028 for new buildings will be easy to achieve if infrared heating systems are used.

At the TU Dresden, the effects of combining a heat pump heating system for base load supply with an infrared heating system for peak load coverage were investigated in a standardized model residential building.

• There are studies by the Technical University of Dresden, among others, which are based on the concept of so-called hybrid heating, i.e. a combination of infrared and heat pump.
• However, it should be noted that the relevant tests were not carried out with the most efficient heating elements. The calculations are based on heating elements with an efficiency of 50%.
• If infrared heating elements with the maximum possible efficiency are used, a hybrid solution as a combination of infrared and heat pump no longer makes sense, as the efficiency of infrared heating at 70% efficiency increases by 28.57% compared to the IR heating elements used in the TU Dresden study.
• Due to the higher efficiency, the heating cost savings per year amount to € 548.54 (32 ct/kWh - 6000 kWh annual consumption). The energy savings are conservatively calculated linearly to the increase in efficiency. 
• With the life cycle of 40 years assumed in the study, infrared heating would result in an additional Savings of € 21,941.60 result.
• This makes a hybrid solution in combination with a heat pump economically pointless.
• The TU Dresden study assumed a life cycle of 40 years for the two heating systems. As the heat pump has a maximum service life of 15-18 years, the investments were calculated twice.

The results showed that this can certainly be a concept for renovating old buildings. However, radiators with 50% efficiency were used here, which no longer correspond to the technical possibilities today. There are now infrared heating elements with almost the maximum physically possible efficiency of 70%. This high efficiency makes the use of an additional heating system, e.g. a heat pump, superfluous and uneconomical.

To the table of energy losses due to poor efficiency →