Commercial heating
www.heatingandventilating.net
Identifying savings with infrared F
Targeting smaller areas within a large building with short wave infrared heating technology, instead of heating large spaces with more conventional methods, is delivering large energy savings, claims Bruce Miller, director of SunSwitch. This highly cost-effective technology also represents great progress towards a lower carbon foot print – and significantly lower energy bills, he explains.
or many decades, we have accepted without question that whole workplaces must be heated sufficiently to provide comfortable
working conditions. This has traditionally meant that in larger industrial spaces such as workshops and warehouses, huge heating bills are the norm, with eyewatering heat loss calculations and the frustration of knowing that some carefully heated areas are rarely visited. It isn’t acceptable that large industrial workplaces
should be unheated, but it is increasingly concerning that in many of these, there is a great deal of wasted heat. In offices or individual rooms, this is less of a problem, but in properties such as warehouses, wasted heat is a huge problem using conventional heating technology. For a start, we all know that heat rises, so heating an entire space is inherently wasteful, unless people are working at height or on mezzanines above ground level. Warehouses habitually receive and send deliveries using large vehicles, so the potential for heat loss when loading bay doors are routinely opened is considerable. The ideal is to apply local heating to the areas
that are used and frequented on a regular basis, leaving the parts of a building which are barely used unheated. If we can eliminate heat loss from large open doors – even better. In reality, this ideal is already possible using
short wave infrared technology. Older infrared heaters have not, historically, been able to solve this problem, as they have used medium or long wave radiation, which dissipates easily through the air, losing any tangible heating effect over relatively short distances. Short wave infrared heaters such as those offered by SunSwitch, by contrast, allow us to direct heat accurately at designated areas within a larger space.
10 November 2023
Because they do not heat the air, but transmit heat to the people or objects at which they are aimed, short wave infrared heaters can be used to provide targeted warmth to those working at specific areas, such as packing stations in warehouses; designated points on a factory assembly line; or inspection pits, fabrication bays and repair stations in workshops. Equally, they can be used in agricultural settings such as milking parlours or stables, where they can benefit people, and also more sensitive livestock such as horses. With short wave infrared technology, we can
target key the areas where people spend longer periods of time. However, there are also many less frequented areas, such as sections of shelving
Left: Bruce Miller, director of SunSwitch
which are visited occasionally to collect materials or parts. Lesser used areas may not need to be heated at all as they are visited for a very few minutes, or it may be desirable simply to heat them for those few minutes at a time. The simple switch on, switch off short wave heater allows us to do this without waste. Installation is very simple, requiring only an electricity supply and some wiring. Controls are also easy to operate or programme. In large buildings such as warehouses, there is often a great deal of available exterior roof space which could accommodate solar panels to generate electricity. Using electricity generated on-site makes this highly targeted heating even more cost effective to run. Their potential for both cutting heating bills and reducing carbon footprints is huge. To ensure comfort using traditional heating methods, you need to generate much the same amount of heat for a large space, regardless of whether it is routinely occupied by two, by twenty, or by two hundred people. Using SunSwitch short wave infrared technology it is possible to allow the pattern of usage and the number of people for whom you need to provide warmth to influence, and even to lead, the specification for heat provision. This completely new approach to specification often requires expert advice and guidance to begin with, which the manufacturer will happily provide. It is possible to save up to 70% in energy
consumption and costs when adopting a local heating approach, without factoring in any solar energy generated on-site. With energy prices far from certain and so much higher than a couple of years ago, short wave infrared must surely be poised to take its place alongside those more traditional forms of heating.
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