Are Pelonis heaters energy efficient? The answer to this question is very simple. Yes, Pelonis heaters are energy efficient. But let’s have a closer look at what that means and why.
Quick answer: Yes, technically, Pelonis heaters are 100% energy efficient. The reason is that all the input power from your wall outlet is converted to heat. There is no difference in efficiency between different heater brands. It might only be the case that some heaters feel more efficient than others because they heat up quicker.
Now, let’s have a deeper look at the energy efficiency of Pelonis space heaters and why they are always 100% efficient.
By the way: If you are looking to buy a heater, check out this link to see my favorite Pelonis oil heater (click here to see the review).
All energy ends up as heat
For most devices, to find out the energy efficiency, you have to find the amount of desired work being done by the machine in comparison to the energy that is being lost. Lost energy is always heat.
For example, for a car, efficiency is about how far you can drive (the work you desire) versus the energy lost through friction (which is converted to heat) and which results in fuel consumption.
However, for heaters, the desired form of energy is already heat. All energy that you put into a heater ends up being converted to heat. Since heat is your desired form of energy, space heaters are always 100% energy efficient.
All heaters are 100% energy efficient
It doesn’t matter if you buy a Pelonis heater or any other brand. All heaters are 100% energy efficient.
There are no space heaters more efficient than other heaters. When some heater brands advertise efficiency, that is a plain lie building upon the ignorance of the customers. Luckily you are reading this article.
You can even buy a $20 heater and compare it to a $500 heater. They will output exactly the same amount of heat given that both heaters have the same power rating (which is mostly 1500W).
Heat distribution of Pelonis heaters
When you heat your home, when you think about it, the temperature doesn’t really matter. What matters is how warm you feel. Your body doesn’t measure temperature as a number in Fahrenheit or Celsius, but it evaluates your well-being.
Therefore, the temperature of your room or the power ratings of space heaters don’t really matter. What matters is that the heat from a heater goes towards you and warms your body.
In technical terms, all space heaters are 100% efficient. But from a point of view of your wellbeing, some heaters feel different than others.
The reason is that heaters transport the heat differently. Some heaters use radiation to transport heat, for example, infrared heaters. Other heaters use convection, which is the movement of warm air, such as oil-filled radiators.
Depending on how a heater distributes heat, it might feel more or less efficient than other heaters.
Heat distribution of infrared heaters
Infrared heaters usually point in a fixed direction and radiate infrared rays. Infrared radiation, also commonly known as heat waves, is a very pleasant form of heat. As soon as you turn an infrared heater on, you can already feel the heat. Infrared heaters have no heat-up times. This is why they are mistakenly assumed to be more efficient than other heaters in terms of your electricity bill. However, as soon as you turn an infrared heater off, the heat vanishes almost immediately.
The advantage of an infrared heater is that it radiates in a specific direction. Infrared heaters do not distribute the heat radiation evenly in all directions. They do not warm up your entire home. Infrared heaters heat up only the objects and people in its line of sight.
While an infrared heater consumes the same amount of power as any other type of electric space heater (usually 1500W), an infrared heater directs that power to a specific area only. Therefore, infrared heaters feel more efficient than other types of heaters. The area that the infrared heater points at warms up quickly. Meanwhile, the air of your room and the objects that are not in the line of sight of the infrared heater stay mostly cool.
Therefore, an infrared heater provides quick heat, and it feels efficient. But it is not really suited to heat your living room or bedroom evenly. The perceived efficiency comes from the concentration of radiation in just one specific direction.
When Pelonis infrared heaters are efficient
Pelonis infrared heaters are especially efficient when you want to quickly heat a narrow space, without heating the whole room. For example when you want to keep yourself warm in a woodworking shop. Or for a quick workout in your garage gym. And also infrared heaters are efficient when you want to heat just yourself and your desk in a home office setting.
Heat distribution of Pelonis oil-filled radiators
The heat distribution of oil-filled radiators is different. Oil-filled radiators produce warm air instead of heat radiation. If the heater has no built-in fan, the warm air rises straight upward until it hits the ceiling of your room. Warm air then accumulates at the ceiling of the room and slowly moves down until you feel it.
If your Pelonis heater has a built-in fan, the heat is blown into whatever direction you desire. This speeds up the time until you feel the heat. However, it does not cause the entire room to heat up quicker. Again, it is all about heat distribution.
Since oil-filled heaters produce warm air it takes some time until your room is warm and cozy. However, we as humans perceive the oil-filled radiator heat as much more comfortable than infrared heater heat. The reason is that an infrared heater does not heat up the air. The air actually stays cold. The heat radiation passes through the air molecules and heats up only the objects or people that the radiation “hits”.
Only after some time, infrared heaters heat the air through the heated objects.
Oil-filled radiators heat the air. But it takes time. Infrared heaters heat objects, but it is quick.
To get an entire room up to temperature, in the end, it doesn’t make a difference whether you use oil-filled or infrared heaters. As long as both heaters have the same 1500W power rating, both deliver the exact same amount of heat to your room.
Efficiency is a matter of taste
What do you consider efficient? Do you prefer to feel the heat almost instantly or are you patient and you can wait half an hour for your room temperature to rise?
Based on this preference you should pick your Pelonis heater. There is no technical difference in efficiency. The only difference is in how you perceive the heat.
For quick heat, but little heat retention, pick an infrared heater. For slow but comfortable heat, pick an oil-filled radiator.
That’s it.
Conclusion
You should not base your space heater choice on technical energy efficiency. Some heater brands may claim that their heaters are especially efficient. That is a plain lie. All space heaters are 100% efficient because all of the 1500W input power from your wall outlet is converted to heat.
These 100% efficiencies apply to all heating devices. Heat is the “lowest” form of energy. And therefore all energy ends up as heat at some point, which makes the efficiency 100%.
Efficiency is not something to worry about when picking a Pelonis space heater.
Rather, you should pick your space heater based on your personal preferences. Do you prefer radiant or convection heat?
In this article, we have covered all of that so you can finally pick a heater that suits you!