Industrial Space Heater UK – Your Options

Industrial Space Heater

Industrial Space Heater – Is the heating bill for your plant or warehouse too high? What about cold dock door areas and unbalanced temperatures? Is negative building air pressure a problem? Have you experienced employee complaints and lost productivity from heating or indoor air quality problems? Do you have high maintenance costs for existing heating equipment?

There are only a few common problems that result from choosing the wrong heating system, using obsolete heating/ventilating equipment or simply miscalculating space heaters

Annual space heating costs are a significant part of operating budgets for industrial units, manufacturing plants and large warehouses. Selection and application of the proper space heaters can reduce annual energy costs more than 60% and increase company profits.

What factors determine the best space heating system? Everyone wants a heating and ventilating system that meets their unique requirements at the lowest total cost,wheter it be warm air heating to deliver warm air heating power for various applications such as exhibition halls , or frost protection / temperature protection for building sites, we have a large range of many high performance industrial heaters that can achieve your required results.

Prior to selecting industrial heaters you must first decide the heating/ventilating requirements and understand all the cost factors that determine the true lowest total-cost solution for a specific facility or regular site use.

Industrial Space Heater and Space Heating Systems

A gas-fired heating system usually offers the most cost-effective way to heat industrial buildings. Oil-fired and electric heaters are sometimes used for specific space heating applications or when gas is unavailable.

Gas-fired space heating systems are classed as being either direct fired (normally warm air heating ) or indirect fired, and with adjustable thermostatic control and variable heat output, with low heat settings the can provide heat for many applications.

Indirect-fired heating systems use a method of heat transfer, such as a heat exchanger, which lowers overall energy efficiency. A flue is needed to vent the products of combustion outside the building. The inside air is re-circulated with little or no provision for ventilation with outside air. There are two popular types of indirect-fired heating systems.

1.Boiler systems (hot water and steam) have historically been a major source of industrial heat and power. These centralized systems were often used for space heating when energy costs were low, or when steam was a by-product of boilers used for nearby process heating applications.However, industrial boiler heating systems are becoming a thing of the past due to rising energy prices, poor efficiency, uneven heat distribution and high maintenance costs. Many large facilities are now replacing space heating with boilers with efficient gas or oil fired space heaters and use the energy savings to pay for the new equipment.Although condensing boiler technology has improved greatly over the last decade, and “wet systems” are still very popular.

Gas Condensing Boiler , fully modulating with efficiencies of up to 109%

For more information on our range of condensing gas boilers or condensing oil boilers , please click on the links  for further information on our ranges. These “wet heating systems” often use a unit heaters or sometimes referred to as a hot water unit heater or steam unit heater ( if utilizing steam as the heating medium ). These are pictured below , and are basically an industrial radiator with a axial fan behind them that blows out the warm air.

These industrial unit heaters are available with a heating power of up to 400kW, dependant on the medium and temperature feeding these industrial heaters

Hot Water or Steam Unit Heaters

2.Unit heaters are a proven method of heating small, open spaces. Multiple heaters are installed around the perimeter of a building to match heat losses. The benefits of unit heaters include redundancy in case one unit fails, intermittent fan operation that reduces electrical costs and installation on the ceiling or mounted on walls to not take up floor space. Due to a limited air throw, their efficiency can decrease with increased height above the floor.

Standard Gas Unit Heaters – Efficiencies of 91%

For more information on our range of standard gas unit heaters, click here for our standard range or here for our premium range , which has a stainless steel heat exchanger and combustion chamber

The initial installed cost is relatively low for small facilities that only require a few  industrial space heaters but the costs can be higher for large buildings that require multiple heaters. A proportion of heat and energy will escape up the flue. Typical overall efficiencies can vary from 85% to 91%, and these industrial space heaters can be used in a room sealed configuration , meaning that the combustion air that is required is taken from the external air to the building.  This industrial space heater technology has moved on greatly over the last 5 years or so , with the development of  warm air condensing technology , which has resulted in this industrial space heater range achieving efficiencies from 96.6% to 108% , with a pre-mix gas burner with low NOx emissions (class 5) form more information on this range click here.Both the standard or condensing range of  these industrial space heaters ( commonly known as unit heaters ) can be fired by either natural gas or propane gas. There is also an option to have a oil fired suspended industrial heater , please click here for information on this range , which goes from 52kW to 209kW.

Unit heaters are often used in partnership with make up air heaters in industrial plants or warehouses with constant or variable exhaust loads to provide ventilation.

Industrial Space Heater – Floor Standing Option

If floor space is available, quite a few people opt to have a floor standing industrial heater, as these are often more easily installed , as they are at low level , negating the need for lifting equipment and other associated problems when installing an industrial space heater , pipework etc at high level. They are also easier to service and maintain  at low level , something which needs to be considered when selecting your appropriate industrial space heater. These can be fulled by either gas ( both natural gas or LPG , and even waste oil , bio oil or vegetable oil with one of our multi oil burners ).Here is an example of one looks like , with standard distribution heads –

For more information on these Industrial space heater ranges , please see our products page here

Industrial Space Heater – Selection factors 

• How important are balanced temperatures throughout the building, from wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling?
• Where will the heating system be located? Will it consume floor, ceiling, or racking space that could be used for manufacturing or storage?
• What are the facility’s indoor ventilation requirements and air quality? How much fresh air is required by industry guidelines to dilute contaminants generated by LP forklift trucks, welding fumes, and other manufacturing processes?
• Is spot heating or zone heating required?
• How will the loading bay areas be heated and how fast must temperatures recover? or can I use a heated or ambient air curtain ? see here for more info –
• What are acceptable noise levels?
• Is makeup air needed to compensate for exhausted air? Or shall I use room sealed heaters ?

Should you require anymore assistance or information on our Industrial Space Heater range, please don’t hesitate to contact our sales team on 01202 822221 or click here for our email contact form