Original Paper Effect of Thermal Comfort/Discomfort due to Infrared Heaters Installed at Workplaces in Industrial Buildings

The use of infrared heaters in a workplace provides heat-ing systems with low energy intensity and an immediate effect on thermal comfort. When compared with other heating systems, they offer the substantial advantage of greater energy efficiency. In addition they contribute to an improved living environment since they are fired with natural gas which is the most ecological option of all fos-sil fuels. Heat waves propagate from infrared heaters in the same way as the radiation from the sun, and up to 30 % of this short-wave infrared radiation penetrates the skin and is absorbed by the human body. The human body is adapted to infrared radiation at this wavelength, and, consequently, people feel comfortable to be irra-diated by it. In this paper, we present our recent studies on the operation of gas infrared heaters in industrial buildings. The paper is based on the experimental re-sults from a study of energy conservation and its impact on the indoor environment of the workplace. Copyright©2001 S. KargerAG, Base