Experimenting with infrared 250 watt lamps- 25-35F cold front, heaters maxed out.

Hey @Matt Gruber, i see are are also a livestock supplies fan

I used to rent a very cheap office that had terrible thermal controls ( ~60F in the winter, mid 80's in the summer )
And experimented with many heat lamp type things.
This one had kind of a penetrating heat instead of a surface heat. It would warm up my core without making me sweat at the surface.

Many times less expensive to run than a 120v 1000w heater, and to adjust the intensity, just adjust the distance.
1763004710958.png
If i had a somewhat enclosed bike, i'd rock one of these on a 72v battery, no question
 
Matt Gruber said:
Infrared penetrates deep into the body, nearly 2 inches!
Click to expand...
Maybe 1/32" at best. ;)

Everything in a house radiates in the infrared. From an ice cube, to an oil space heater, to a heat lamp. The difference is that it's much easier to focus thermal radiation from a heat lamp to a spot. You feel the same heat coming from an oil heater, it's just about 100 times weaker because it's not focused.
 
neptronix said:
Many times less expensive to run than a 120v 1000w heater, and to adjust the intensity, just adjust the distance.
View attachment 380432
If i had a somewhat enclosed bike, i'd rock one of these on a 72v battery, no question
Click to expand...
You can also get tiny versions of those. A couple versions we carry at the store I work at (in addition to the one you're using) The first one is about the size of two fingers side by side, and the second is the size of a tiny halogen spotlight.
1763010285478.png 1763010348544.png
 
BTW, if you want to make a reflector / directional cone for something like those, aluminum should work ok as a cheap compromise (but what heat it does absorb will end up reradiated everywhere).

A gold plated material (real gold, not gold-colored) might be more efficient. Ok for most visible light but not blue and above.

Silver works well enough for most of the medium-higher IR band up thru greens, but fades as you get up to blues.

Copper is more similar to gold than silver in these matters.

(a bit of astronomy trivia that might be useful here)
 
neptronix said:
They're good stuff, i got a guy on staff with an autoimmune disease who seems to benefit from a weaker one during winter when things flare up.

I'm using the big one in my video since 2020 and i love skipping insanity season that SAD creates for me.
Click to expand...

Do you use vit D?

One SAD eg:
Vitamin D supplementation for treatment of seasonal affective symptoms in healthcare professionals: a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial - PMC

Also basically:
When your immune sys 'sees' a pathogen its: "Pathogen! Quick send the vit D so I can kill it!"
No vit D: It just watches the sh!t unfold!

Now we spend more time 'sun seeking' in winter,
BUT
our skin is covered by a thick layer of clothing = no sun on skin = no vit D production..!

ie: The IR makes it warm enough to shed clothing, then the 'sunlight' = vit D production = "Lights work!"

From my extensive reading (longecity.org etc):
The RDA of vit D has been ...'underestimated' by a factor of 10.
NB!!
Oils help absorption. Choose Coconut Oil (for cooking etc) And wonder why there hasn't been any flu etc in your house this winter. ;)
 
Guys,
thanks for all the replies!
found a pair of warm socks I will have to try.
And I found old "shoe socks" which are so thick I think they are used to sleep in.
So how hot is the sun?
AI says
In Florida, peak sunlight can deliver approximately 1000 watts per square meter, which is equivalent to about 93 watts per square foot."
 
Logic11 said:
Do you use vit D?
Click to expand...

I haven't taken vitamin D3 since 2020. It's only ~33% effective on my SAD, and takes weeks to build up.
UVB and UVA produce a wide range of hormonal activities that D3, the end product, does not.
UV light produces better and massively more complete results within second-minutes.

I live in Utah and the UVB/UVA is really weak in winter. Sunbathing is not effective during dec-jan.
 
Scientific American magazine had an article about 6+ months ago on sunlight exposure (or lack of) and its effect on health. From what I recall sunlight has a benefit over vitamin D taken as a supplement. Yeah, skin cancer rates trend higher but, within reason, other risks decrease.
 
neptronix said:
I haven't taken vitamin D3 since 2020. It's only ~33% effective on my SAD, and takes weeks to build up.
UVB and UVA produce a wide range of hormonal activities that D3, the end product, does not.
UV light produces better and massively more complete results within second-minutes.

I live in Utah and the UVB/UVA is really weak in winter. Sunbathing is not effective during dec-jan.
Click to expand...

Yep light wins but not always an option and not great for the skin.

How many UIs per day where you taking?
 
You could get fancy and have a moving reflector that can track you as you move around the room. Some kind of occupancy sensor could turn the whole thing on/off when you enter or leave a room (might not be too hard).
 
fechter said:
You could get fancy and have a moving reflector that can track you as you move around the room. Some kind of occupancy sensor could turn the whole thing on/off when you enter or leave a room (might not be too hard).
Click to expand...
Sounds like you are an indoor cat.
I'm an outdoor cat. Say it is 40F outside. I dress for 40 and go outside. When I come in, say it is 58 inside, I feel warm and take off my coat. BUT it really isn't warm, so I love my warm spots, like the kitchen table which quickly gets to 80-87F when I turn on the IR lamp. When I move around inside the house I don't need a heater to follow me as the warm spots are so warm that it takes 5-10 minutes in an unheated area to feel chilly.
 
the average NSB resident uses 934 kwh/month x 12 months, not an October number
Just got my oct 25 bill. last year I used 131 kwh
this year 119 kwh- could be my lowest ever, $11.44 (not including base rate)
just read my meter, used 38 kwh past 14 days, astoundingly low. these heat lamps really cut the bill :bigthumb:
Don't be thinking my total bill is this low, I pay 43.69 for water and sewer
and 27.35 for garbage pick up.
 
Added a diode to the lamp at the kitchen table. now have hi/lo :bigthumb: Anybody remember those TV ads from the 70's where they sold like a dozen diodes so you could make your bulbs last longer? :cool:
Took a look at the new meter, a smart meter by the UC. Looks like it took about 2 kwh to roast a 12# turkey. well worth the 20 cents :bigthumb:
Looked at my neighbors meter for the last 7 days and they use 5x the kwh. I guess mostly from heating water in a tank in the garage. $30-50 wasted each month.
 
Logic11 said:
...From my extensive reading (longecity.org etc):
The RDA of vit D has been ...'underestimated' by a factor of 10.
NB!!
Oils help absorption. Choose Coconut Oil (for cooking etc) And wonder why there hasn't been any flu etc in your house this winter. ;)
Click to expand...

 
In 2018 I bought 400 IU of D3.
In May I got 5000 IU. Makes me wonder if the sunlight amount is also 10x. I get sun 1 hr or so a week.
No oil since 2018. Many foods have some oil. Even a banana. Don't take vitamins on an empty stomach. no need to guzzle oil.
I think the soft gels pack the D in oil.
I don't think IR light gives D. Get sun.
 
got my Dec bill, all electric house
148 kwh $14.23 for 29 days. down 33% from last year.
heat lamps rule :bigthumb: neighbor is 5X no heat lamps and water heater on 24/7
 
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