this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2025
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IR heat lamps sold as medical devices have timers, but pet stores sell them for reptiles w/out a timer. Are humans extra vulnerable? (www.beurer.com)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by plantteacher@mander.xyz to c/medicine@mander.xyz
21 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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

all 22 comments
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[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 29 points 1 week ago

I'd imagine it's more of a fire safety thing.

A reptile heating lamp is setup in a fixed location with a bit of forethought. It's probably not going to move around or come into contact/get near flammables.

A lamp for heating a person will likely be moved around quite a bit and somewhat carelessly. It's also more likely to be around blankets and pillows or other textiles where it may get covered up inexplicably.

A timer limits how long it outputs potentially dangerous heat before someone is required to check on it.

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 24 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Non-lasing infrared sources and class-1 IR lasers are perfectly harmless. The timer is probably there to limit fire hazard when continuous heat isn't required - and being sold as a "medical device", that particular scammy device is probably built to pretend delivering a metered medical session or dose of some kind.

Just get a small space heater, because that's what that thing is.

[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I just downloaded the manual and skimmed through pages of safety info. This was the only relevant statement about that:

“Limit the length of use and check the skin's reaction.”
“Overly prolonged radiation may lead to the skin being burned.”

Since they don’t mention a duration of exposure, I get the impression this is just pointing out the obvious for liability purposes in case someone does something foolish.

The 15 min seems to be more about protecting the device itself from over-heating. Which I suppose means it’s not well designed.. overly fragile. ~~And I guess the lack of fan would enable the device itself to take on lots of heat.~~ (edit: sorry, just read that it has a fan.. though it could be fragile nonetheless)

update: I also see that the bulb lasts 2000 hours. I’ve seen 250 watt bulbs claimed to last 6000 hours for like ~$20. So I guess this thing is garbage.

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

“Overly prolonged radiation may lead to the skin being burned” is clearly BS.

Unlike ionizing radiation, your body can feel "overly prolonged IR radiation" - aka heat - and get out of the way by reflex. There are exceptions, like intense IR radiation in the eye that doesn't trigger the pupillary response and will cook your eyeball, but that ain't it. That's an el-cheapo quartz heater that, as you say, would probably catch on fire if left on too long.

Unless you're passed out drunk in front of the device, you can't possibly burn yourself with it without noticing. And if you are unconscious, 15 minutes is plenty long enough to get burnt really badly.

[–] SpacetimeMachine@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My sister when she was younger loved sitting in front of the fireplace and warming her back, and burned herself multiple times without noticing. Not saying it's common, but it's certainly a possibility.

[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 1 points 1 week ago

I wonder if that’s a boiling frog scenario. I’m always tempted to keep increasing the heat in hot tubs after adjusting to temp. I wonder if your sister gradually moved closer as she got acclaimated to the temp.

[–] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thanks for the suggestion. That seems ideal because it’s directional. I could probably mount it to heat the keyboard area without adding any heat to the laptop. I’ll try to find a smaller 250 watt one so I can just heat the keyboard area.

[–] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oh, I didn't understand that restriction. In that case, get a microwave rice bag, if you have a microwave, and use that on your lap to grab for finger warmth-- maybe sitting in one position too long is the issue.

[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 1 points 1 week ago

i don’t have a microwave oven but I appreciate the suggestion.

[–] thebardingreen@lemmy.starlightkel.xyz 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

A reptile heat lamp would probably work great, and you would be supporting a local business. The timers are probably so that if anyone burns themselves, overheats or starts a fire through human stupidity and then sues the manufacturer, they have a safety feature they can point to.

My wife has chronic illnesses and struggles with temperature control. All the heating products we buy for her have stupid timers on them and she fricken hates them.

[–] BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Reptiles are cold blooded and depend more on the ambient heat for thermal regulation than humans do. They're better suited and adapted to continuous exposure to external heat (within limits of course). But also reptiles can't sue.

Humans are warm blooded and our skin gets damaged when over exposed to heat. We also do stupid things like fall asleep sitting under a heat lamp, so increasing the risk of real damage.

So part of it will be the difference between the species and uses, and the larger part will likely be liability and risk of burns due to over long sessions. That includes liability around health damage and maybe also fire damage if electronics like that fail as others have mentioned.

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

is long term exposure to IR heat harmful?

I don't believe so, otherwise radiators, wood stoves, and radiant floor heating would be harming people. Koreans have been using radiant floor heating for millennia. I don't see any reason physics-wise that it would be harmful either; IR is non-ionizing radiation.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not quite what you're looking for, but a Japanese kotatsu type setup might be worth looking into. It's highly efficient at delivering heat where needed. It basically uses your clothing as a chimney, to funnel heat over your body. This includes your hands, via the sleeves.

[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I’m considering that as well and got some tips from here:

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2024/12/how-to-build-an-electrically-heated-table/

So far my lower body is fine but in case it gets colder I have been keeping an eye out for excess waste roofing insulation in my area, which I would use for an under desk rig.

When you say your clothing becomes the chimney, that makes me wonder if I should surround myself in a insulated structure, unlike the link above where they seem to let heat escape around the legs.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

It doesn't need to be overly insulated, just loose. My martial arts dobok used to have a similar effect (though for cold air, rather than hot). A dressing gown would work fine. It just needs to be open under the table, with enough room for air to circulate. The warm air will rise and vent out the neck and hand holes.

[–] ShadowRam@fedia.io 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have heated fingerless gloves...
They plug into a USB port.

Similar to these.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7L_sqXuSAc

I also have a heated mat at my feet that radiates heat up under my desk.

[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

For £3 that’s certainly worth trying. I guess I would not find those locally but they look simple enough to make.

[–] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Doom@ttrpg.network 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

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.