110v USA device, hardwired to UK electrical system?

Joined
29 Sep 2006
Messages
100
Reaction score
0
Location
Cardiff
Country
United Kingdom
As the title says really. I have a ceiling mounted infrared heater (via 2x 250W bulbs), but it's 110v as it's from the USA.

How can this be wired to our system here? I guess via some transformer.

What sort of cost should I expect from an electrician to do this?

Thanks.
 
Sponsored Links
But how much?

And if you can find a British version, I would buy it - I can't find one anywhere.
 
Sponsored Links
If you can't find a British version then likely there is some good reason for that. It may be that the design can't satisfy EU safety regulations or British safety regulations so I would be wary of using it. The E27 250W inferred bulb
philips-br125-ir-250w-e27-230-250v-red_8711500575210-22.jpg
can be bought in the UK which will be 230 volt however in the USA they don't use E27 fittings they use E26 so British bulbs will not fit USA units. You can still get heaters think this
t_404-01.jpg
but it seems not using the bulb to heat.

I will guess down to the control of the inferred output most of the bulbs were designed for medical use and in a simple heater they may cause harm from extended exposure. I will guess the quartz used around the bar heaters stops the harmful waves. But this is only a guess.
 
Last edited:
Ahh ok, thank you for that.

Regarding that E27 bulb that you posted, is there some safe, recessed enclosure that it could be fitted to, for use in a bathroom?

Edit: It's the top red bulbs that I'm after, but I need a recessed enclosure to fit a pair of them. The bulbs are easy to come by, but I've not seen enclosures for them anywhere.
 
Last edited:
Uncontrolled, frequent or long-term exposure to Near Infrared can cause thermal burns and ageing effects such as “Bakers Arms” or “Glassblowers Face” (Cho & others, 2009). Eye damage can also occur because Near Infrared transmits as far as the cornea – implying time limits or goggles should be employed when eye contact is likely (Voke 1999). The colour of the Near IR light itself is not relevant to its effects (ICNIRP 2006) as we have also heard statements like “it doesn’t affect horses, because they can’t see red”.

Reducing the wattage; reducing the voltage into the bulb or just moving the lamp further away does does not make Near IR “safer” per se, it just reduces the peak intensity of the lamp to a point where the wavelengths will be in the Medium to Far Infrared bands and the physical properties claimed as being “Near IR” no longer relevant anyway. We have seen a number of Near Infrared heater dealerships selling their lamps with dimmer switches and still claiming the “medical” benefits of Near Infrared.

Most the bulbs sold in UK are for so called deep heat lamps, and is the near inferred type. To make a unit to take these bulbs so it is possible to use near inferred in error would be a problem I found this site although inferred is a really good way of heating areas with high volume air changes and short usage like churches and garages plus of course your bathroom the heaters used give out it seems a different inferred. I will admit a bit of guess work but it seems to make sense.
 
E26/E27 are often close enough on tolerance, but there's always the option of changing the holders to use the existing unit. However, one thing which might complicate matters is that some of the dual-lamp units incorporate a small fan.
 
Thanks for the replies.

They are handy for places such as the bathroom and after getting out of the shower and so on. I guess it's just a matter of finding some UK compatible recessed unit that can take a 250W bulb. That seems next to impossible. Odd, because there are plenty available in the US.
 
...just moving the lamp further away does does not make Near IR “safer” per se, it just reduces the peak intensity of the lamp to a point where the wavelengths will be in the Medium to Far Infrared bands and the physical properties claimed as being “Near IR” no longer relevant anyway.
How exactly does 'moving the lamp further way' alter the wavelength of the radiation?

Kind Regards, John
 
I didn't think it would alter the wavelength.
To me, doubling the distance should cause the IR to spread out 4x as much so the intensity is only 1/4 as much at that point.
 
I didn't think it would alter the wavelength. To me, doubling the distance should cause the IR to spread out 4x as much so the intensity is only 1/4 as much at that point.
Quite so - but the material quoted by eric suggested that it would turn "Near IR" into "wavelengths ... in the Medium to Far Infrared bands", which makes no sense to me. The only way it could happen would be if the lamps radiated a wide range of IR wavelengths, but that the 'Near IR' components attenuated more rapidly with distance travelled (leaving Medium/Far IR predominant) - but I don't believe that is the case.

Kind Regards, John
 
Not a clue. I looked for units using bulbs and like poster could not find any ready made. So started to look for the reason why. I know I have an inferred lamp which is claimed to help with my mauled hand so it does seem reasonable that some bulbs are for medical use. However we have for 1000's of years used inferred to heat with that is what comes from a standard fire. I had never heard of near medium and far inferred and so it seemed reasonable that if split into different types one can harm and another not harm.

There are government web sites although not ours which confirm the different types of inferred it does however seem that the near, med, and far labels are swapped over so I am confused.

We have visible light, then inferred, then microwave so it does make sense that inferred on the visible light side of the spectrum should be reasonably safe and those approaching microwave should do harm. What seems to be the problem is near to mean near to light or near to microwaves?

Looking at Wikipedia seems it refers to distance from visible light so near should be OK and far it the problem type so it does seem that web site got the names swapped.
 
Last edited:
it does make sense that inferred on the visible light side of the spectrum should be reasonably safe and those approaching microwave should do harm

Other way around, at least if you're talking about eye damage; the short-wavelength more-like-visible IR will be focused on the retina, while the longer wavelengths will not be.
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top