JPHEAT editors (Kawaguchi Seiken Co., Ltd.) / Updated 2026-11-15
What heater wire is.
Heater wire is a line-shaped heating element that heats when current flows. In electric blankets and heated carpets the wire is laid through the body at set intervals, and the heat made along it passes into the filling and the surface fabric. The spacing, the layout and the material around the wire are designed product by product.
What a planar heating element is.
A planar heating element is one in which the sheet itself heats. Some are made of a conductive material such as carbon, formed into a sheet or a woven mesh. When current flows, heat is made across the whole surface; instead of a laid wire, the size and shape of the heating sheet set the area that heats.
Heat travels three ways.
With either structure, the heat travels in three ways: conduction between things in contact, convection through moving air, and radiation, which travels as infrared without passing through the air. [1]
A warm surface gives off infrared according to its temperature. Heated carpets and mattress pads are used in contact with the body, the floor or bedding, so conduction from the surface you touch also plays a part.
What a thermal image shows.
A thermal image captures the infrared a surface gives off and shows the surface temperature distribution as colour. [2] With heater wire, depending on the shooting conditions, stripes may follow the layout of the wire. With a planar heating element, the area of the heating sheet shows as a surface.
The colours are a guide to the surface temperature at the moment of shooting and change with the camera settings and display range. Colours from different images cannot be compared directly, and a thermal image does not show how warm something feels or how well it performs.
How to check the type of heating element.
The type of heating element is given in the product specifications, the manual or the maker’s description. The “heating element” or “heater” entry may say whether it is heater wire or a planar element, and what it is made of. If it is unclear, ask the seller.
At JPHEAT.
The four heated carpets and two electric mattress pads JPHEAT sells in Taiwan use no heater wire; their heating element is ORIZUMI, a woven mesh of water-based carbon. The carpets have an insulation layer built into the back and run on AC 110 V in their Taiwan versions; every model carries the BSMI commodity safety label. The technology page shows the infrared thermal image from the test report and a thermal image of a working unit.
Questions and answers
How do heater wire and a planar heating element differ?
In the shape of the part that heats. Heater wire heats along the wire laid through the body; a planar heating element heats across its whole sheet. Which one suits you depends on the size of the product, how you use it and where.
What are planar heating elements made of?
Some are made of a conductive material such as carbon, formed into a sheet or a woven mesh. JPHEAT’s ORIZUMI is a fine woven mesh of water-based carbon.
Does a planar heating element give off far infrared too?
Anything with a temperature gives off infrared according to that temperature. Whatever the heating structure, a warm surface radiates infrared. The amount and the wavelength distribution depend on the temperature and the material.
If a thermal image shows no stripes, is it planar heating?
A thermal image alone cannot tell you. Whether stripes show depends on the wire spacing, the thickness of the fabric and filling, and the shooting conditions. Check the type of heating element in the specifications or the manual.
Where can I check that a product uses no heater wire?
In the “heating element” entry of the specifications or the manual, or in the maker’s description. JPHEAT states in the specifications of every product it sells that the heating element is ORIZUMI, a planar heating element with no heater wire.
Does the structure change how warm it feels?
How warm it feels depends on many things: the set temperature, how you touch it, the floor or bedding material and the room temperature. The structure alone does not decide it.
Sources
These public sources are used to explain general physical principles and terms. They do not mean that these organizations endorse JPHEAT products or confirm any action on the human body.
Based on JPHEAT product specifications and manuals, and on public sources.