Electric Heating Systems

In what follows, I can only vouch for the Redwell brand of infra red heaters and not for other brands which may not be as well coated or electrically as stable.

For heaters that are designed to operate within close reach of people then the answer is "these heaters are safe". There is the Redwell Sittingwave heater, which is designed to be sat on, and has an element surface temperature of 65⁰C which is comparable to a centrally heated water-filled radiator.

All other non-ceiling-mounted and non-industrial heaters have an element surface temperature of 95⁰C. Whilst ostensibly this is "too hot to touch", Redwell's mitigation for this is to apply a thermally non-conductive powder coating to the stanless steel casing of the heaters, which enables temporary contact with the unit without scalding. And you can definitely snuggle-up to units like the Free-Standing heater without risk.

Now, in cases where people are immobile or possibly vulnerable in other ways such as in hospitals or in schools, the types of heater recommended and installation instructions clearly indicate that the units should be wall or ceiling mounted and out of reach.

Ceiling mounted heaters - the rolling wave and panel wave - have a surface temperature of 120⁰C and are explicitly designed to be mounted out of both incidental and accidental human reach and carry the appropriate warning labels.

In no case with the above types of heater is there a scorching or fire risk. (For comparison's sake, electric bar fires which do carry significant risk of scorching and fire have a surface temperature of between 525⁰C - 800⁰C).

The Industrial infrared heater is a different kettle of fish, having a surface temperature more akin to an electric bar fire (up to 900⁰C) but this unit has comparable safety considerations to comparable non-infrared units designed for industrial space heating.

So yes, infrared panels tend to be about 30⁰C hotter than central heating radiators. Some IR heaters are explcitly designed to allow you to snuggle-close to them on a cold winter's night, such as the sitting wave and free-standing models. The hotter domestic and office models are designed for out-of-the-way installation - and this is clearly marked - whilst the industrial heater carries the same safety considerations as other industrial heaters.