That's nice for heat, but thermal mass means that air conditioning is most efficient when it can get the whole room to equilibrium and then shut off. Like a car coasting going down a hill.
I just bought my apartment last year and I made the decision to use infrared panels for heating. Best decision ever. No moving parts(no noise and no constant breeze), no dry air indoors, the heat is actually stored in the walls and furniture(denser objects), so I can vent the air regularly without loosing much energy. And it's supposed to help generate vitamin D which during the winter is usually a problem. The downside is that it takes longer than air conditioning to warm up the same room and it requires great wall and floor insulation(which I have). There is also the problem of overshooting the temperature(because the panels don't cool immediately, it takes about 15-20 min), which is solved in some thermostats using hysteresis algorithms for the temperature delta(it uses shorter cycles between on and off and more precise measurements, however this could wear the electrical panels quicker). I'm not that sensitive to the temperature so I don't use those and I have my temperature sensitivity up to 0.5C.
Yes, you are correct. I've misremembered the
effects. However there are other positive effects from infrared light.In any case, this is just a bonus to the actual purpose of the panels.
I was looking into infrared panels as well, but was slightly worried reading that they may cause your eyes to become cloudy. Is this something you heard of?
The cool thing is you can make it part of the interior. I have 3 panels hanging from the ceiling, 1 painting and one mirror. They can be integrated into hanging or floating ceilings and usually have standard dimensions. You have to be aware, that most panels do not have thermostat. They have only one operating mode - On. In order to regulate them, you have to put a thermostat on the electrical line before it(essentially a smart switch). There are thermostats for wall integration. I use those, the cables are hidden in the wall and the actual thermostat is mobile so it can measure temperature at any location in the room. There are also thermostats which are plugged directly on electrical sockets for more integration out of the box. The price is comparable to any other heating solution and the consumption is a little less than air conditioner. Mine came with 5 year warranty. I just hope that they last longer, but with the exception of the painting, all the rest are easily replaceable.
I always see it like this, if it's cold you can put on more clothes (you probably already have them, and they don't waste energy to wear). When it's hot, there's a certain societal lower threshold for what you're allowed to wear in an office (depending on the office shorts are ok, but not less). So you can't individually cool down.
The mantra I've heard is "move heat (energy) don't make it". Don't burn or even use renewable enery to generate heat but move heat already present. Move it away to cool and move it towards somewhere that needs heat.
