[sangnoir]

> but any wavelength of light you absorb (not just IR) will heat you up

Thanks - this is the bit I was un-/miseducated about. When we were taught about radiation in high school, I suspect my young mind concluded that since infrared and visible light were mutually exclusive on visibility, the same applied to heating. To this day, I thought infrared → heat and heat → infrared.

[AnkhMorporkian]

I just happens that at everyday temperatures familiar to humans, the primary wavelengths emitted are infrared. Heat something enough, and that curve will shift to predominantly visible wavelengths; think about an electric oven.