How Do Ceramic Infrared Heating Elements Work?

To produce heat, each ceramic infrared heater has a coiled wire, normally made of nichrome or tungsten, embedded into a ceramic base. Usually, industrial heaters burn fuels such as oil, natural gas, or propane to heat the wire in the base.

As the ceramic surfaces heat up, they transmit their heat as infrared radiation. This process happens so efficiently that most IR heaters do not need fans to distribute their heat.