Workshop & Garage Heating Solutions
Garages and Car Workshop Heating
Heating garages and car workshops can be tricky as these types of businesses tend to be situated in uninsulated industrial units, have a fairly open door policy and have a number of staff moving around various workstations.
Working out which system is right for a project is very important and BN Thermic recommend two options. Space heating a garage with large fan heaters or spot heat areas with quartz halogen heaters.
A 25kW industrial fan heater providing comfort heat in a luxury car workshop
BN Thermic industrial fan heaters are hand assembled in the UK and backed with a 5-year warranty
Space Heating with Industrial Fan Heaters
Space heating – building and maintaining a warm body of air within a premises
Space heating is very common in garages as it creates a comfortable environment for staff and prevents a mechanic’s tools/equipment from freezing. When space heating an industrial unit, it is always recommended to use BN Thermic’s OUH3 industrial fan heater range which is manufactured and backed with a 5-year warranty. These units provide an even spread of heat throughout garages and are usually controlled via an energy-saving 7-day programmable thermostat.
When designing a system, it is very important to evaluate how often shutter doors are open as they will affect a space heating system. Unfortunately, when a door goes up, hot air will escape.
How to Save Energy
A suspended destratification unit can save up to 30% off a heating bill in a garage when paired with industrial fan heaters. As hot air rises, a destratification fan pushes warm air downwards before it gets a chance to escape through the roof. Destratification fans are designed to live in garages with 4-12m ceilings and are strongly recommended.
On average, air temperature increases by around 2.5°C for every metre above floor level. Therefore, to maintain an air temperature of 20°C at floor level, in a 6m high warehouse, the air temperature at ceiling level would be around 35°C. The net result is a large body of overheated air that is expensive to generate and serves no useful purpose. Click for a recent case study.
Destratification units push down the warm air that accumulates on the ceiling in garages. They can save up to 30% off a heating bill
Quartz heaters provide instant comfort heat and are ideal for spot heating mechanics at work stations
Spot Heating with Quartz Halogen Heaters
Spot heating – heating a specific area within an unheated premises
The idea behind spot heating is to directly heat people, not the air within a garage. For this, BN Thermic’s HN3 shortwave quartz halogen heater range is used. Quartz heaters provide instant comfort heat and are ideal for heating people at workstations, vehicle lifts, tyre changing machines etc. For example, a mechanic in a garage might spend 80% of their day around a single-vehicle lift. Spot heating the lift with quartz heaters will keep this worker warm and will avoid unnecessarily heating the whole garage.
Plus, as quartz heaters heat people, not the surrounding air, they are not affected by air movement created when a shutter door goes up on a cold windy day.
Energy Saving
The key to saving energy when using shortwave quartz halogen heaters is control. This is done using 3 different types of controllers – PIR motion sensors, push button timers and adjustable lamp controls.
PIR motion sensors – PIRs energize heaters when an area becomes occupied. They will then switch the heaters off when they sense no movement in the area.
Push button timers – timers energize heaters to stay on for a pre-determined amount of time. They then switch the heaters off once that time elapses which avoids heaters being left on all day.
Adjustable lamp control (2&3 lamp heaters) – these controls are unique to BN Thermic and allow you to control lamps individually. This means a 3kW heater 2 (lamps) can be switched to a 1.5kW heater with one lamp energized. This increases comfort and reduces energy consumption in the warmer time of year.
BN Thermic design heating systems for any size garage or car workshop
Designing a Garage or Car Workshop Heating System
Warehouse heating systems, whether using industrial fan heaters or halogen heaters, need to be carefully designed. The engineers at BN Thermic are very experienced and are always on hand to assist. When required, they will visit a warehouse, carry out a survey and provide a bespoke heating proposal. There is never a charge for this service.
Contact BN Thermic on 01293 547 361 to discuss your project.
Workshop System FAQs & Guide
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A major benefit of heating a workshop, garage or industrial work area with BN Thermic electric heaters is that there is virtually zero maintenance required. This is a huge advantage when compared to oil, gas or fuel-based space heaters which require expensive annual maintenance.
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BN Thermic offer a free design service and can offer advice on which heater or heating system would be the best fit for your building. To quote a space heating system, all BN Thermic require is the length, width and height of your premises along with a rough idea of the insulation. To quote a spot heating system, BN Thermic would need the dimensions of the work area you require to heat. From this BN Thermic can also recommend suitable controls and/or thermostats for your project.
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A space heating system (air heaters) will heat every inch of your promises and make sure staff, customers and tools/machinery/objects are warm. This is ideal for large regularly used areas. Installing a spot heating system (heats people/objects directly) allows you to focus on a specific target within an unheated premises. Both systems are suitable for a number of industrial applications.
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When installing an electric workshop/garage heater, it is always good to make sure objects, stock and machinery are not directly in the path of a heater. In a garage, car lifts can often get very close to a heater which could become a hazard. Kerosene and diesel-fuelled heating systems can create issues as you store flammable substances on your premises.
