How to heat a shop ?

[Talay]

I need to heat some shops which are currently using plug in oil filled radiators. There is no gas and no option for any form of central heating.

I have thought about air curtains over the doors and perhaps some radiant ceiling panels but I am not sure how well these work in practice.

Any thoughts ?

 

[foxhole]

Oil filled heaters are probably best option , more efficient than fan heaters or anything mounted on the ceiling which will just keep the ceiling warm.

 

[Blagard]

You could consider Infrared heaters, they come in all shapes and sizes - They were very effective on a warehouse job I once worked on as the directed radiated heat down (no fans). I am not convinced oil filled radiators are that good because convected heat (part of an oil filled radiators output) just goes up to the ceiling so you tend to get only the radiated portion until the whole place starts to warm up. I would suggest get an ifrared heater of the type that would work (fit into) your envirionment and see how effective it is yourself. The biggest downside with them is outside of the beamed area it can still be cold! The ones I experienced were ideal as they just put heat into the ailses where the staff walked!

 

[foxhole]

You could consider Infrared heaters, they come in all shapes and sizes - They were very effective on a warehouse job I once worked on as the directed radiated heat down (no fans). I am not convinced oil filled radiators are that good because convected heat (part of an oil filled radiators output) just goes up to the ceiling so you tend to get only the radiated portion until the whole place starts to warm up. I would suggest get an ifrared heater of the type that would work (fit into) your envirionment and see how effective it is yourself. The biggest downside with them is outside of the beamed area it can still be cold! The ones I experienced were ideal as they just put heat into the ailses where the staff walked!

Any heat source will warm the ceiling by convection, oil filled rads are most cost effective.

 

[Blagard]

Any heat source will warm the ceiling by convection, oil filled rads are most cost effective.

In a shop, which more often than not will also have high ceilings please explain how your oil filled rads are most cost effective.

Anything in front of a Infrared heater will be warmed directly - no need to preheat the space beforehand. Yes, once whatever is in front of the heater gets warm it will release heat back, a good deal of it in convection from the object itself. But you miss the point that infrared heat is direct and immediate. So in the extreme example I cited, working people are warmed not the whole warehouse and I can assure you just heating objects in the ailses (the people) was way more cost effective than heating the warehouse! - The OP needs to consider the layout of his establishment the amount of loss though entrance doors being frequently opened to the cold and so on.

I have on this occassion assumed that a ducted system is not practical to the OP - That is how you would normally heat a commercial space such as a shop since wall and floor space is taken up by stock and changing layouts.

 

[foxhole]

He is heating a shop , not a wharehouse , oil filled heating turns nearly 100% of energy used to heat.Probably the reason it is already installed.