Infrared radiation is a type of invisable electromagnetic radiation extending from the nominal red edge of the visible light spectrum.

It was discovered in 1800 by astronomer Sir William Herschel, who discovered a type of invisible radiation in the spectrum lower in energy than red light, by means of its effect on a thermometer.

Herschel used a prism to refract light from the sun and detected the infrared, beyond the red part of the spectrum, through an increase in the temperature recorded on a thermometer.

Infrared radiation is emitted or absorbed by molecules when they change their rotational-vibrational movements. That heat energy excites the molecules in the object it meets which begin to vibrate and warm up.

Infrared light from the Sun accounts for 49% of the heating of Earth, with the rest being caused by visible light that is absorbed then re-radiated at longer wavelengths.

Longwave or Far Infrared is the waveband at which water begins to absorb heat specifically well for the least input energy. Our skin is 80% water and so infrared is optimally absorbed by the skin surface, and transported around the body, which is why it’s the most effective way to provide comfort heating for humans.

It’s 100% safe, infact, it’s the form of heat our own bodies radiate and absorb. This is why Far Infrared is used in baby incubators.

Many of the earliest forms of comfort heating used radiated heat from the primitive wood fires to Roman bath houses.