What is the difference between a red tube heater and a white tube heater?

Although the core of a red tube heater and a common white tube heater are both electrothermal conversion devices, there are significant differences. The most intuitive difference is the appearance material. The red tube heater usually uses a quartz glass tube and sprays infrared paint or coating inside it. After power is turned on, it can efficiently radiate a warm red light visible to the naked eye, which is the origin of its name; while the white tube is mostly a milky white quartz tube or a surface-treated metal tube. When working, it often does not produce obvious visible light, and mainly dissipates heat by invisible infrared radiation or convection.

The core difference lies in the way and efficiency of heat transfer. The red tube heater can produce stronger and more penetrating far infrared rays due to its special coating. It conducts heat like light and can quickly make the surface molecules of the irradiated objects (such as human body and furniture) vibrate and heat up, bringing a sense of warmth from the outside to the inside. The heat sensation is direct and strong, but the range of action is relatively concentrated. Although the white tube heater also emits infrared rays (mainly near and mid-infrared), its thermal radiation intensity is usually weaker than that of the red tube. It relies more on natural convection after heating the air to increase the ambient temperature. The heating process is relatively gentle and uniform, but the heating speed is slow.

In actual experience, the red tube heater can feel obvious thermal radiation almost immediately after it is turned on. It is as warm as direct sunlight. It is particularly suitable for scenes that require fast and directional heating, such as heating in the bathroom or heating in a local work area. The white tube heater needs a long time to preheat the air to gradually increase the temperature of the entire space. The advantage is that it can provide relatively uniform and enveloping warmth, and it is not easy to produce obvious uneven cold and heat.

From the perspective of energy efficiency, red tube heaters reduce the waste of heating large amounts of air due to their radiation heating method. When used for directional heating, they are theoretically more thermally efficient and energy utilization may be more economical; white tube heaters are more suitable for situations where the overall environment needs to be heated up and time requirements are not urgent. The key to choosing which type of product lies in the heating needs - if you are looking for a directional "fire-warming" experience that heats up instantly, red tube heaters are a better solution; if you prefer to slowly and evenly warm the entire room, the traditional white tube heating mode is more suitable. It can be said that the red tube heater is a "photothermal expert" that relies on strong radiation to achieve rapid and precise heating, which is essentially different from the white tube that relies on convection to slowly heat up in terms of heat transfer path.