What about a fireplace? How much infrared does a fire in a fireplace produce? And is that a healthy amount? Over the winter, I’ve been sitting in front of the fireplace a lot doing my work. I use about 3-4 logs an hour.

I wondered about this as well. And how do gas fireplaces (with 'logs' that light up red-hot) compare? Does it matter if you're facing it, or facing away?

If you feel radiated heat and see a bit of red infrared on a wide spectrum.

The infrared deeply penetrate the tissues, so it shouldn’t matter much.

Trust how you feel too.

>Does it matter if you're facing it, or facing away?

It is best to do both, and your sides too.

The infrared does not go all the way through your trunk or legs or head.

I would be amazed if any benefit from infrared outdoes the harm of smoke/air pollution.

With today’s fireplaces I think there is very little harm from smoke or pollution. Newer models are down to 1gram / hr of smoke and burning wood is carbon neutral for those that care about that part.

Nothing nicer than an indoor fireplace when it’s cold outside. The fact that it might help with degrading eyesight is a win.

Do you mean that much through the chimney or in the home? And what does that translate to for health outcomes. A gram of particles small enough to enter your bloodstream could actually be a lot for all I know.

And I ask about the chimney because fireplaces have been shown to impact neighbor health as well so it’s not just about getting it outside and it’s all good.

Here’s a link to the epa wood stove data. The 1gr is referring to the exhaust out the pipe.

https://www.epa.gov/burnwise/choosing-right-wood-burning-sto...

I think it’s a big part of why it feel so good in the winter.

Heat without infrared doesn’t feel the same at all.

Here (Canada) people have spent the winter close to a fireplace for 100’s of years. Warm room without infrared source is recent.

There is nothing better that having a nap in font of a window with full sun blazing down on you in the middle of winter.

Cats have known this all along.

It's interesting you say that. There's this feeling when you do some work outside with your top off in the AM, it's like a recharge just standing there for the first moments. I'll still cover up before noon, but those first moments where the suns coming over the treeline and hits your skin, it's magic.

>>There's this feeling when you do some work outside with your top off in the AM, it's like a recharge just standing there for the first moments.

Understanding I may not be on the fat part of bell curve when it comes to outdoor activities, but I've literally never experienced that feeling. Working with my top off means I'll spend the evening peeling blisters off my skin. Doesn't make my feeling or your feeling valid or invalid; but there's at best a tenuous line between how good something feels and how good it holistically is :-/

If you're getting blisters you've overshot the mark. Early morning sun is not going to do this, as it passes through much more atmosphere as it approaches you at an angle. Try covering up earlier, I'm talking about sunrise and the hour after, sunset and the hour before.

When people say "early" they can mean very different things, it's not really useful for gauging your actual risk.

Check a yearly UV index for your area. There are times of day that are completely safe for your skin type; but typically those times are quite early / late, like before 8am and after 4pm. UV tends to rise quite sharply in the morning, so while it might be a 2 or 3 at 8am it could be 5 or 6 at 9am (enough to burn your skin type).

When i was under paxil, i unwillingly skipped a day, not knowing this would trigger pain and brain zaps. I noticed everytime was getting sun to warm my skin, the pain and zaps would withdraw (the other one was chewing any food, i'm now extremely curious of the depth of these senses into our brain)

Paxil like many SSRIs can cause photosensitivity. [1] I suspect you were just noticing changes to photosensitivity associated with skipping a day.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19817765/

Thanks for the link, but it seems photosensitivity is tissue reaction like an allergy right ? In my case it was all neurological pain going away. And also it was also due to the warmth, it was deeper when outside directly hit compared to inside a room.