Can I run infrared heating alongside my central heating?
Yes, infrared heating panels can heat a room on their own or work in conjunction with central heating when the weather is very cold.
Today I have quoted for a bungalow where the occupants are at home much of the time. The current central heating is costly to run and only has one control, all on or all off. The owner would like to be able to have heating on in only the rooms he is using during the day, thus avoiding wasting energy on heating rooms that are not in use. There are also times in the year when a little warmth is needed in the evening but it isn’t really cold enough to put the central heating on.
Infrared heating panels can be controlled individually with a room thermostat/programmer to achieve a comfortable temperature with a minimum of energy.
However, this customers room sizes require slightly higher than our usual 50 watts per square metre because it is generally a cold building, and just one panel per room would be slightly undersized and would struggle to really heat the room in cold weather although for most of the year it would probably be fine. So here I have suggested the client uses his central heating as back up because in very cold weather he would need that extra boost of warmth, plus the central heating can be programmed for fewer hours but sufficient to assist the panels in reaching a comfortable warmth. If both the central heating and the individual heating panels have room thermostats there is no chance of wasting energy or over heating the room.
For most of the year this customer will be only heating the rooms he is using with a far more energy efficient heating system and for just a few weeks of the year will return to his old central heating system. He will save on energy used and therefore the cost of heating his home will be greatly reduced.
So, yes you can run infrared heating alongside previously installed central heating.
