Steel hall heating

Heating a steel hall is a major challenge. Two of the biggest problems facing designers and later users of steel halls. Steel is the material from which the hall is mainly made (metal does not have any impressive insulating properties) and the size of the hall (these are usually not small buildings).

Particularly problematic is the heating of a production hall, which in itself is a place with high noise levels and is also used by people. The designer of the heating of this type of facility is therefore faced with the requirement to use such solutions so that the heating equipment does not generate additional noise. Warehouse halls, on the other hand, are usually high, which gives rise to another specific problem: how to effectively design warehouse heating so that the air is not only warm at the top (heat escapes to the higher parts), but is evenly distributed over the entire volume of the room. What are the most effective methods for heating this type of facility?

Heating halls via traditional water heaters and air curtains – watch out for dust

Convection heating is a model with which we are familiar, but not very efficient compared to other modern ways of heating steel halls. We only distribute radiators against the walls, which raises a problem when the area of the hall is too large for the heat generated point-wise at the periphery to reach the central parts of the room. We should also definitely be wary of radiators that draw in cool air from floor level to operate. A production hall or warehouse is not a house covered with carpets. This is a dusty place that is not cleaned to a high standard, so the floor surface will always be covered with a greater or lesser layer of dust. The stirring up of dust clouds into the air during radiator heating is neither healthy nor safe for the people in the hall. It is therefore not exactly a good idea to heat the hall by air heaters or air curtains, (although the latter two are a very good idea for heating areas with particular heat losses, such as the entrance to the hall).

Electric underfloor heating in large warehouse or production halls – does it make sense?

Although seemingly a breakneck solution, there are times when hall users decide to implement it. However, the use of electric heating mats is strongly recommended in this case, instead of underfloor water heating, due to the possible freezing of pipes during frost (in halls with insufficient insulation). The energy efficiency of the use of electric underfloor heating in large steel halls depends on the aforementioned insulation of the structure, the use of other, additional heat sources to solve the problem of the very slow heating of the air with underfloor heating, as well as the materials used to cover the floor in the hall. It also depends on the effectiveness of the heating, as well as on whether this type of heating will be cost-effective for us, whether we have the possibility of connecting our underfloor radiant systems to a heat pump or to a photovoltaic installation.

Heating of steel halls through a network of ventilation ducts

The problem of bringing warm air to places far from radiators can be solved by ventilators coming out of the network of ventilation ducts, which are used not only for ventilation, but also for heating the air. An additional advantage of using heating ventilation is that you gain a constant exchange of air. However, when looking for even more efficient ways of heating the hall so that its costs are as low as possible and the thermal comfort for the people in the hall is at a sufficient level, it is worth considering radiant heaters and warm air generators. Radiant heaters or electric air generators are used where there is a need for spot heating. This is particularly the case in production halls, where spot warm air generators or radiant heaters are placed where production lines with workstations are located. Radiant heaters are particularly cost-effective in high halls, as they can be freely installed in the lowering, reaching exactly where people are. Radiant heaters can be connected to a gas central heating system or to a cooker for biomass heating.

Radiant heaters in steel warehouses

Infrared heating, set up in spots, performs a similar function. It allows the air to be quickly reheated where it is needed. For halls where certain areas need to be kept at a lower temperature (and this is very often the case in warehouse halls), this is a very effective solution. Especially when the infrared heating is connected to a central remote control system. Programming the type and power of heating in individual spheres of a warehouse or production hall will significantly speed up the heating of air where it is needed, with the added benefit of minimising costs.

Efficiency of steel hall heating and its thermal insulation

The cost and efficiency of heating a steel hall depends on the material used for the walls and roof of the hall, as well as the quality of the thermal insulation used to connect the partitions. Modern steel halls have thermal insulation made of mineral wool, polystyrene, PIR/PUR panels, installed in such a way as to meet the increasingly stringent standards for heat transfer coefficient. Thanks to the use of good quality thermal insulation materials and the use of modern construction solutions, it is possible to design a steel hall from which heat will not escape as quickly as from buildings built 20 or even 10 years ago. At the same time, such facilities do not overheat during the summer.

Summary

As you can see, there are several ways of heating a steel hall that differ significantly from each other. Among the factors we should take into account when choosing one of them should be parameters such as the low weight of the heating system’s construction, the possibility of automating its control, how quickly the air is heated, how noisy the device is, and energy efficiency.