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Understanding heating to make the best choice
In order to choose the best heater and brand that will fit your needs, it is very useful to understand the two kinds of residential heating systems: radiant and convection. Understanding how they work will allow you to select the system that will offer you the most advantages and the best value for money.
         

1/ Heating with radiant heat

      

Radiant heat principle

Radiant heat is a form of infrared light, invisible to the naked eye, that spreads from the warmest surfaces to the colder ones. The radiant flux raises the temperature of the various bodies it encounters. Heating systems that produce radiant heat warm surfaces (walls, objects and people) unlike convectors which directly heat the ambient air.

    

Radiant heat effects

Radiant heat is the most natural and most comfortable heating source because itdirectly warms the bodies just like the sun. The warming of the air is a result of micro convection from the warmed surfaces. The heat is homogeneous and pleasant.
 
Did you know? The best systems of this type are the old style hot-water radiators, wood-burning masonry heaters, heated floors and the Ecotherm radiators. Why? Simply because they all combine radiant heat and thermal mass!
         

Convection heating

    

Convection principle

Convection means heating directly the ambient air, which makes it rise. The greater the difference of temperature between the ambient and heated air, the faster it will rise and the larger the difference of temperature between the floor and the ceiling. In simple terms, convection means that hot air rises. Convection heaters work by heating the air. This hot air rises up straight to the ceiling. When it cools down, it drops to the floor to be heated again, which makes it rise to the ceiling once more and so on.

    

Convection effects

Convection therefore generates a temperature which is not uniformly distributed in the room. As warm air rises and accumulates, it is much warmer at the ceiling than at the floor level. Hence the feeling of "a warm head and cold feet". In some cases, people may have a sensation of dry air. This could come from cycles of air heating then cooling which would disrupt the humidity equilibrium.

 
Did you know? The most popular heating systems (electric baseboard heaters and convectors) work by convection.