IR heat lamps sold as medical devices have timers, but pet stores sell them for reptiles w/out a timer. Are humans extra vulnerable?
IR heat lamps sold as medical devices have timers, but pet stores sell them for reptiles w/out a timer. Are humans extra vulnerable?
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I’m trying to practice heating my body, not the whole room. The main problem is cold fingers when using a keyboard. Fingerless gloves are insufficient. So I figured a heat lamp would be ideal for this. And it turns out it’s been done.
I’m nixing that particular device though because the light is not red (thus not good for late night usage). It’s also only sold online and I will only buy local. The linked Beurer heat lamp is a “medical device” intended for humans. It looked suitable for my purpose -- then I saw there is a timer with max 15 min. What is that about? Is that for safety or for convenience?
I can imagine 15 min being enough for pain relief but my use case requires keeping my hands warm for hours. Pet stores sell 150 watt IR heat lamps for reptiles just as a standard bulb, thus would go into a desk lamp without a short time limit.
The linked device is 300 watt. That’s good but it has no intensity control. A normal light dimmer on the A/C line would solve that. But I wonder:
- is long-term exposure to IR heat harmful?
- if not, should I be avoiding medical devices and looking in pet shops or restaurant supply shops for IR heat lamps, to avoid the timers?
- are there IR lamps for medical purposes that have longer timers?
Bit nutty.. or it could work if the mouse is not needed much→ http://i.stack.imgur.com/bbE42.jpg
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Our household heat-the-body methods:
- a 'heat dish' aka a parabolic heater, about 1000 watts directed into a cone of near infrared
- microwaveable warmer bags filled with rice, hand stitched into different sizes
- lap blankets and clothing
- hot water bottles
- tea
The heat dish costs about $100, but we bought a second one used for $20. No timer!! It gets used all winter as medical therapy but also just comfort. Radiant heat is cozy.
The heat bags are generally replacing the hot water bottles here, they are smaller and more portable and some will fit in pockets or a hoodie belly pouch, and good for warming the bed too. Microwaving is energy efficient.
I tried this and felt the rice would cool too quickly and if I heated it too hard it was intensely hot and suddenly too cold. No decent middle ground
Yes, we found out also that they need to be over a certain size to have enough thermal mass to heat and cool more evenly. A good size takes around 2 minutes at 1500W. We use them daily, but only kept a couple of the small ones for cooling injuries.
Pro tip if you're making them: either use a cover slip or make it easy to replace the rice if it gets wet. Old jeans are excellent for this.