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Heaters: artificial rays of sunlight after every shower

8/2/2021

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

A radiant bathroom heater makes getting out of the shower that much easier. Their environmental impact, however, turns many away. But if you do it just right, you'll stay warm while keeping the planet cool.

Step 1, pull the cord once. Step 2, pull it again. One more time to reach maximum power. No more shivering, even if you're going commando. A radiant bathroom heater from my childhood takes care of that. Its infrared light dances off my back like artificial sun rays. Its orange lighting settles like a blue filter over the harsh reality of any alarm. How I've missed it, after all these years.

Radiant heater

Sonnenkönig Halogen floodlight Venus

2000 W

The bathroom at my home in Zurich is unheated, there's not even a separate door. My bathroom is a brick shoebox integrated into one room of my 3-room apartment. Especially in winter, there's always a slight breeze that makes me shiver just thinking about it. Not so in my parents' Aargau apartment. There you'll be warmed up in an instant, all thanks to the infrared heater. No goosebumps, no covering up drenched skin just to avoid hypothermia. Showering is once again a morning ritual with positive connotations, even if I'm not awake enough to form coherent sentences by then. It's not just the warmth, but also the soft orange light enveloping me in well-being.

Environmental regrets

But what about our dear Mother Earth? Aren't radiant heaters energy guzzlers? You're completely right. These days I don't use them as recklessly as I did when I was younger. Infrared heating as a sole heat source is inefficient, thereby massively inflating heating costs. Accordingly, they're banned in this form in Switzerland. However, small ones are still allowed as comfort heaters, as in my parents' bathroom.

In this setting, heaters are only used for a few minutes and aren't looking to heat the whole room. Unlike a normal radiator, infrared radiators don't heat the air (convection heat), but objects directly (radiant heat). That's how it manages to warm my back within seconds. However, it would take forever to raise the temperature of a whole bathroom. In addition, much more energy is lost when heating with electricity than with gas. Fossil fuels are directly converted into thermal energy, whereas electricity must first be generated in a power plant (preferably from renewable energy), which is then converted into heat by the electric heater. There's always that extra step. On the other hand, natural gas has the well-known disadvantages of a fossil fuel. Supplies are finite, while fracking and combustion release greenhouse gases – albeit less than oil or coal. Biogas is cleaner, but it isn't yet the be-all end-all. Your best bet is a ground source heat pump that runs on green electricity. Anyways, back to what we were talking about.

My heart burns for heaters

My love for the radiant heater has been rekindled. Which is why I feel the need to take a stand for this forgotten luxury. Since I never stay in my bathroom for too long and only need heat selectively, I can turn the general heating down permanently and let a few infrared rays warm my skin briefly when needed. This keeps energy consumption and heating costs in check. If you also use green electricity, that's even better. And the positive effects on my energy balance shouldn't be forgotten either: my body doesn't have to struggle to warm itself up and my mood is improved. Needless to say, I'm enjoying the benefits provided by my vacation in quiet Aargau.

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Carolin Teufelberger

Editor

carolin.teufelberger@digitecgalaxus.ch

My life in a nutshell? On a quest to broaden my horizon. I love discovering and learning new skills and I see a chance to experience something new in everything – be it travelling, reading, cooking, movies or DIY.

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