Prevention of the adverse health effects of cold by using infrared heaters.

The aim of the work has been to develop a planning guide for local infrared heating systems and to compare the results to the heaters in the work place. The planning process for radiators is started by defining the goal ambient temperature and then the electric power needed for the radiators. The planning result should always be compared to the recommendations for infrared radiation. The usefulness of the planning instructions were tested by building a local heater for a cooled storage where a computer was used. The increase in operative temperature and the physiological responses of workers were measured as well as the change in the thermal sensations after using heaters. With these heaters the operative temperature increases 7 degrees C. The skin temperature of the fingers increased about 7 degrees C, which is meaningful, when finger dexterity is needed in using computers. Also the thermal sensations increased all over the body. Both the planning instructions developed and the local heating system turned out to be very useful. Also the low costs of local heaters are a good reason for using them. However the exact direction and the narrow bean cone of the heaters are important in obtain the maximum benefit from them.