this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] TheFogan@programming.dev 42 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Some of the energy is converted to light.

[–] einfach_orangensaft@sh.itjust.works 34 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

100% of the energy is converted to light, its just in the IR spectrum.

Unless u feed the heater with AC power then you are also generating magnetic fields/radio waves....but those are also just photons (light) with a very long wavelengh.....

[–] turdas@suppo.fi 3 points 2 weeks ago

Space heaters mostly heat by convective heating, where the heat energy is transferred from the element to the air molecules around it. This doesn't involve infrared radiation (though in practice it is involved because any object above 0 K radiates infrared).

[–] Martineski@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

You reminded me of a certain video (or videos?) on quantum fields that I watched a few months back. Truly fascinating subject.

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Which unless it goes out through a window would eventually be turned into heat anyway, right?

[–] BurgerBaron@piefed.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah it's still thermal radiation, us being able to see it isn't a disqualifier :p