February 20, 2023
Whether you have a small garage or shop space or a large manufacturing plant or warehouse, infrared heaters are not only more efficient, they also provide a much more comfortable atmosphere than conventional forced air heating systems.
What is an infrared heater?
An infra-red heater is simply a hot surface heating appliance which, like our own sun, emits radiant (infrared) wave energy to surfaces below. When this infra-red energy strikes a surface or an object, the energy converts to heat which in turn heats the surrounding air.
The sun does not heat the air, it heats the earth and the objects on it, and then those earth heat the air. That same infrared heating principle is a practical and effective way to heat building spaces. In an aircraft hangar, for example, multiple infrared heaters can be suspended from the ceiling with the emitters directed toward the floor below. The heaters are spaced appropriately to create heat uniformity and optimum comfort. The biggest heat source when you implement a properly designed radiant infra-red system, is no longer the heater itself, rather it is the floor which stores all the heat as well as objects within the building itself.
What are the benefits of using infrared?
Infrared energy heats from the floor up. Even though the infrared heaters are mounted up high (near the ceiling in most cases), the energy they emit does not convert to heat until it strikes the floor and objects at ground level. Heat is then stored and re-radiated to the surroundings. The result is warm floors, warm feet, and better use of energy.
By contrast, forced air heating depends on the principle of warm air stratification. Using the aircraft hangar example, warm air must stratify from high up at the ceiling level all the way down to floor level. The result is cold floors, cold feet and high ceiling temperatures which results in wasted heat energy at the upper levels of the hangar.
Is infrared practical in my application?
An infrared radiant tube heater can be sized to meet the heating needs of just about any building sizes and application. 400 square feet to 1,000,000 square feet or more it does not matter as long as the heat loss is covered. Residential garages, Commercial spaces, residential garages, Industrial buildings, Aircraft hangers, and more!
While infrared heaters can save consumers as much as 50% in energy usage, the one benefit that gets overlooked most often is creature comfort. We have designed thousands of heating systems for every application. We commonly get clients that have existing unit heaters the owners complain of high gas bills. This is where we step in and help them design a system that will optimize the heating comfort in their space and save them money on their monthly billing. In many cases the system pays for itself in one heating season with the savings on their gas bills.
In one application where the owner had 122,400 square feet and large cold masses to heat when using forced air unit heaters they were paying $106,000 per year in heating costs not to mention over 624,000 tons of CO2 emitted by the heating system each year. The biggest issue with this application was the sheer volume of cold masses being brought into the building. The system that was designed for them ultimately saved them over $36,000 per year and reduced their carbon foot print by over 213,000 Tons of CO2. This translated into a reduction of heating costs by 34% and a 35% reduction in carbon foot print.
In other buildings and applications without large volumes of cold mass rotation we have seen savings up to 50%! With radiant infra-red heat you can expect to save 30-50% on your application with a properly designed system.
What to expect with a properly designed system:
- Your heating bills reduced by 30%-50%
- Reduction in your carbon foot print
- Even heat distribution
- Better overall comfort