Infrared heaters are a recent technology that uses electromagnetic waves to heat industrial plants and houses instead of heating the air like convection heaters. In an electric heater, the heating element is powered up to create energy in the infrared spectrum. It was first discovered in 1800 by William Herschel and named infrared because it is below red in the spectrum and infra beans low/below in Latin.
The air around an infrared heater does not absorb the infrared heat so most of the heat is absorbed by the objects that help in heating them faster and also for retaining the heat for longer times. In traditional times, the heating element inside the heater would be covered with ceramic. It was done to separate the element and the ceramic had to withstand the high temperature of the element without any crack. However, ceramic is known to absorb a major portion of the heat energy so fewer amounts are used to reach the objects. Thus scientists started researching with quartz to use as a replacement for the ceramic cover.
What Is Quartz?
Quartz is a type of igneous rock that is made of oxygen and silicon atoms and they form a hard rock that is much more strong than ceramic. Generally, quartz is found in abundance in the Earth’s crust and it is of two types, alpha quartz, and beta quartz. The beta quartz is formed when the alpha quartz undergoes high pressure and temperature of around 575 degrees Celsius. EUROLINIA uses this high-quality beta quartz in making infrared heaters to cover the heating element.
How Do Quartz Heaters Work?
In quartz heaters, the heating element creates heat at certain wavelengths to produce the exact amount of heat needed by the products or materials. The quartz tube is used to keep the heating element safe and also to prevent the heat from escaping through convection.
When the heating element reaches a high temperature, the quartz tube heats up and after it reaches a certain temperature, it emits the heat outside. This infrared heat is directly absorbed by both humans and non-animate objects.
What Are the Benefits of Using Quartz in Infrared Heaters?
Quartz is a very strong igneous rock that can withstand high amounts of temperature and pressure. Moreover, it does not absorb much heat energy and this makes it perfect for use in infrared heaters. Some of the benefits of using quartz in infrared heaters are as follows:
Uniform Heat Distribution
Since quartz infrared heaters heat the objects directly and not by heating the air, they provide continuous and uniform amounts of heat that rarely fluctuates. Thus if you need to have the right amount of temperature for hours, quartz infrared heaters will be perfect for you.
Reduces Energy Consumption
Quartz is not only hard and heat resistant but it does not react or absorb any infrared energy. So it means that it will not absorb any infrared energy and more heat will reach the objects. Thus you will save a lot on the energy consumption
Durable
Quartz infrared heaters are much more durable than ceramic ones. Quartz never cracks or breaks under high temperature or pressure so you will not have to worry about malfunctioning of your quartz infrared heater.
Relatively Cheaper
If you buy ceramic infrared heaters or other types of heaters, they may cost less when buying but over the years, they will need a lot of maintenance cost. However, if you get quartz infrared heaters, you will never have to spend any money on maintenance costs and they will run perfectly for several years.