How do you know the infrared heater you’re thinking of buying is the best infrared heater?
Is there a checklist of what the best infrared heater should include?
Yes there is. Here it is.
Your checklist for the best infrared heater
1. Testing & Certification
Any heater you buy should have been comprehensively tested and certified. Some manufacturers will just CE mark their heaters.
What does that mean? Simply that the manufacturer declares that the heater is manufactured to relevant standards.
A CE mark doesn’t necessarily mean that the heater has been independently tested and certified to those standards.
So what are the standards required?
• EN 60335-1:2012 / EN60335-2-30 (Safety of Electrical Appliances) • EN55014 1 + 2 / EN61003-2 / EN61003-3 (EMC) • EN62233-2008 (EMF) • EN60529-1992 + A2 (IP rating) • 2011/66/EU RoHS Read more about these standards If the heater you are considering purchasing only has a CE mark and no independent testing, then it is worth investigating this issue further with either the distributor or the manufacturer. Jigsaw heaters in all ranges have been independently tested and certified in the UK to all the relevant standards.
2. Class 1 or 2 Electrical Appliance
Most of the infrared heaters on the market will be class 1 electrical appliances. They should be properly earthed. The means that the whole of the heater should be earthed, not just the front or rear panel of the heater. The heater should have a 3 core cable (live, neutral and earth). This also means that any control system used with the heater should also have an earth connection. If not, your heater will not be properly earthed during operation. Please ask whoever sells you the heater to confirm that the controller has an earth connection for a Class 1 appliance.
A Class 2 heater is one which does not require an earth connection. This will be because the heater is made with non electrically conductive material, such as glass. Jigsaw glass heaters are Class 2 electrical appliances.
3. IP rating
If you are planning to install a heater into a bathroom or externally then it must have an appropriate IP rating.
An IP rating stands for ‘Ingress Protection’, that is how effectively sealed the heater is at protecting ingress from foreign bodies and / or water.
The table below shows the way the IP rating is calculated.
For a bathroom installation you should expect an IP rating of at least IP44
Jigsaw heaters have been tested and certified to at least IP44 and are suitable for zones 2 and outside, in bathrooms. See illustration below.
4. Control System – off the shelf or specific to the heater
The first thing to ensure is that the control system which is being suggested for the heater you are thinking of buying is suitable for the class of electrical appliance. In most cases this will mean that it should be suitable for use with Class 1 electrical appliances.
The control system must always be offered with the heater you are purchasing. This is a requirement under LOT20 legislation.
99% of the control systems offered with heaters are generic and have not been designed specifically for use with that heater. These will need to be paired at the time of installation and may or may not have functionality such as app control.
These controllers can be tricky to pair, can often unpair and are not designed specifically for use with the infrared heater you are thinking of purchasing. Meaning that they have not been optimised for use with infrared heating.
At Jigsaw we felt that the control of the heater was too important to make these sort of compromises.
Our control system has been tested with and specifically calibrated for our heaters. Optimum performance and control combined with simplicity of installation and use. See more in point 7 (Ease of Use).
5. Ease of Installation
Some heaters are really difficult to install. Really. Difficult. They may have 4 or more fixing points requiring exact lining up. The supplied brackets can be weak or poorly manufactured. The fixing system may not be suitable for ceiling mounting or may not be suitable for both landscape and portrait fixing.
The fixing system must also be lockable so that the heater cannot simply be lifted off its fixing bracket.
When designing our heaters, we looked at all of these aspects and developed an installation system which was easy to use and provided great flexibility. Our heaters can be ceiling or wall mounted and in landscape or portrait orientation.
The design of the fixing point allows flexibility without impacting on the integrity of the mounting.
Control system – every smart control system supplied with our heaters is supplied pre-paired and with the name of the room it is to be installed in noted on the box.
This makes the installation of both the heater and the control system as simple as possible.
6. Specification and Technical Support
We’re here to help, we’re not here to sell.
If we don’t think our heating is right for you then we’ll tell you.
We’ll make sure you’ve got the correct size of heater for the spaces you want to heat.
We’ll ensure that the heater is the correct style of heater for your needs.
If you or your electrician need any questions answered during the installation, we’re here to help.
We’re only happy when you’re happy.
7. Ease of Use
A control system designed for how you live.
A control system which learns how you live and adapts accordingly.
Our control system can be app controlled. We combine that with a PIR sensor.
Your heating is programmed as normal, however if the sensor doesn’t see any movement in the space then the heating is automatically turned off until movement is detected.
Also, if the sensor detects movement in the space when your heating is turned off, the control system will turn the heating on for you.
We think that’s better than a control system which hasn’t been designed for modern living and modern efficiency needs.
The smart control system we offer has been specifically calibrated for our infrared heaters. It is not an off the shelf solution. This means you can be assured that the controller is controlling your heating for optimum use and efficiency. No compromises.
8. Warranty
What is the warranty really worth? If the heater you are buying is bought through a distributor or re-seller, who manages the warranty should anything go wrong?
The likelihood is that the re-seller / distributor will point you back to the manufacturer. If that’s a Chinese manufacturer, what then?
Most of the heaters on the market have a 2 year warranty. Not long is it? Particularly if you’re fitting out a whole house.
Why are most warranty only 2 years? Because of the cheap components used in the manufacture of those heaters.
A quality infrared heater should have a minimum 5 year warranty.
9. Place of Manufacture
Is the heater you’re thinking of buying manufactured in a ‘country’, or at a specific and accountable factory? Does your re-seller or distributor even know?
How about the manufacturing standards of that factory?
If your re-seller distributor doesn’t know anything about the factory of manufacture then how can they really be sure about the quality?
At Jigsaw, we manufacture ourselves, in the UK. If you have any questions about it, we’re delighted to answer them. Jigsaw Infrared Factory.
10. Integration with smart systems
Future proofing of technology is important. The heater you are considering buying should be compatible with a smart control system, and this is something which should be offered at the time of purchase.
The smart control system should be expandable to other parts of the home, such as lighting.
Our heating systems are designed so that they can be integrated as part of a whole smart house or property. Smart controls are offered at the time of purchase.
11. Choice
You can have any colour infrared heater as long as it’s white. Not much of a choice is it.
Does the heater you’re thinking of buying come in variety of colours, wattages and shapes? If not, why not?
It’s vital you have the correct wattage for the space, if there’s not a sufficient variety of wattage then you risk compromising on the efficiency of the heating.
How about your own style? Does the heater you’re thinking of purchasing offer enough variety to fit in with your tastes?
We offer mirror, white and a range of colour heaters in both the aluminium and the glass range. We can even incorporate a bespoke image for you.
Our glass infrared heater range comes in 5 different shapes to match your style.