Infrared Lamp, Heater or Heating Pad: What Is the Difference?
Hong Kong winters are short, but a damp evening in a flat without central heating can feel colder than the thermometer suggests. There are three common ways to warm up at home, and each works differently: one heats the air, one warms by touch and one warms the area it faces.
Three ways to warm up
Fan heater or space heater: warms the air
A fan heater blows air over a hot element; an oil-filled radiator warms the air around it more slowly. Either way the heat goes into the room air first and reaches you second. That suits a small room with the door closed, where the whole space warms up. In a larger room, or with a window open, much of the heat drifts away.
Heating pad or electric blanket: warms by contact
A heating pad or an electric blanket has heating wires inside fabric and warms whatever rests against it. It is quiet, gives off no light and works on a sofa or under a blanket. It only warms the part of you that touches it, and it has to stay in place.
Infrared lamp: warms the area it faces
An infrared heat lamp sends infrared from a hot bulb across the gap to you. You feel it as warmth on the area the head faces, without first heating the room air and without touching anything. From a chair you can aim it at your back, a shoulder or your legs. The flip side: move out of its reach and the warmth stops.
Side by side
| Question | Fan or space heater | Heating pad or electric blanket | Infrared lamp |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it warms | Heats the room air | Through contact | The area the head faces |
| Good moment | Warming a whole small room | Lying or sitting under a blanket | Sitting in one place for a while |
| Space it takes | A small box on the floor | Folds into a drawer | A stand on wheels, beside the chair |
| Light | Usually none | None | A visible red glow |
| Power in our example | 2,000 W | 100 W | 275 W per head |
| Lowest running cost | No | Yes: the clear winner | No |
Running cost: a worked example
Energy is power multiplied by time. We use an example rate of HK$1.50 per unit (kWh); your bill from CLP Power or HK Electric shows your own rate. For the heater and the pad we assume the ratings below for the example only, so check the label of your own appliance.
- Fan heater at 2,000 W for one hour: 2 kWh, about HK$3.00.
- Heating pad at 100 W for one hour: 0.1 kWh, about HK$0.15.
- 275W infrared lamp for one hour: 0.275 kWh, about HK$0.41. A 15-minute session is about 0.07 kWh, about HK$0.10.
- 550W lamp with both heads on for one hour: 0.55 kWh, about HK$0.83.
A heater with a thermostat switches itself on and off, so its real use can be lower. The lamp figures assume the full listed bulb power throughout. Even so, the heating pad wins this row clearly: if the lowest running cost matters most and you are happy under a blanket, a pad uses the least power of the three.
Space in a Hong Kong flat
A fan heater takes little floor space and can sit under a desk, as long as nothing blocks the air around it. A heating pad takes no floor space at all. An infrared lamp needs a little more: a stand on a cross base with four wheels, placed beside the chair you use, with the head bent towards you. The height adjusts between about 70 and 160 cm. The 275W lamp weighs 4.8 kg and the 550W lamp 6.7 kg, and the wheels let you roll either one into a corner once it has cooled.
When each one makes sense
- A heater: when you want the whole room warm, for example a small bedroom with the door closed.
- A heating pad or electric blanket: when you are lying down or wrapped in a blanket and want the lowest running cost.
- An infrared lamp: when you sit in one place, such as reading in an armchair or working at a table, and want warmth on one area without heating the room or touching anything.
Choosing a Resty lamp
The 275W single-head lamp warms one area at a time. The 550W double-head lamp has two heads on separate arms, for one wider area or two areas next to each other. Compare both in the infrared heat lamp collection or on our infrared lamp page, and read how to use an infrared lamp for distance and timer. A red light panel such as MARS 400 is a different product: it gives off light at set wavelengths rather than warming you.
Quick answers
Does an infrared lamp heat the whole room?
No. It warms the area the head faces. To warm a whole room, a heater is the better fit.
Which uses the least electricity?
In our example the heating pad, at 100 W. The 275W lamp comes second and a 2,000 W fan heater uses the most.
Can the 550W lamp warm two areas at once?
Yes. Each of its two heads has its own arm, timer and temperature control, so you can aim them at one wider area or at two areas next to each other.
Use and safety
- Stay awake while the lamp is on and let its timer end the session.
- Keep the hot lamp head clear of curtains, cushions and other fabric, and keep children away unless an adult is supervising.
- Let the lamp cool before you move it.
- For heaters, heating pads and electric blankets, follow the instructions that come with them.
