LEGO vs Infrared/Radiant heaters (display, storage and such)

papluh

Quick backstory: We are currently in the process of preparing the project for our new house. Lot of choices there, one of those is heating. Won't bore you with all the proposed alternatives, but there is the one in title - using infrared heating panels. In short, those are electric powered wall/ceiling mounted panels that project line-of-sight infrared rays to heat up objects in the room wall,furniture,persons ... and displayed LEGO.

While it is known that sun and specifically UV rays damage LEGO, I could not find any reference to damage from IR. It seems this type of heating is not (yet) really used by many.

I guess next closest experience would be effect of long term heating with fireplace (an IR source too) with LEGO displayed in sight.

Does anybody has experience ? Comments ?

LusiferSam

The best analogy I have for you is using IR heaters is like turning your room into a microwave. My experience with them (in a work place, not home) has been they only heat the surface of your skin. It's comfortable to stand under one. But the objects under them remain cool. I would also think unless somebody is in the room you would probably want these turned off as it's a waste.

IR light is a low energy form of light, as opposed to UV which is a high energy form. That is not to say IR can't cause damage. What's relevant in this case is the intensity of the light. IR heaters are going to be tuned to a specific range of temperatures and relatively low intensity.

If you're worried about long-term storage, the best advice is always keep things in a cool, dark place. Cool and dark excludes IR. Now that said your IR heaters are not going to be set to 85° or above all of the time. They are likely to be 72° or less. And for limited periods of time. The damage likely to because by using them is the same as what would be caused by heating your house via other means.

papluh

@LusiferSam thanks for answer.

The main storage would be most probably in basement/mancave/LEGO room. That one would be cooler than the living areas. I'd probably use different type of heating there to keep stable temperature, fortunately I'll need lot less ° than kids upstairs.

I don't plan to keep many sets upstairs, just some for display purposes, maybe some UCS or Creator cars or such. I'm just wondering if it will damage the stickers or so. Maybe I will keep all downstairs if we go with IR heating.

Also wondering if it will block the use of IR PF controls, I got quite a lot of track and it would be a shame. 

Unfortunately I need to decide in next 1-2 months and it might be too soon to find some place to fully test the system somewhere.

LusiferSam

Stickers would be the major thing I'd worry about.  What happens to the adhesive and backing?  But again the IR heating I'm use to works only on your skin.  Your clothing and objects stay cool.