6 Years On: Herschel Infrared Heating Proves a Smart Investment at Warehouse

The Heating Challenge Faced by Dalradian Gold

Heating large warehouse spaces can prove to be a challenging task for conventional heating systems due to high ceilings, constant draughts, and vast open spaces. It often takes a lot of energy to heat a large volume of air in a factory, which then leads to heat rising to the ceiling, very slow warm-up times, and higher running costs. Dalradian Gold is a mineral exploration and development company who faced these issues when trying to heat their large factory space in Northern Ireland. They initially used Paraffin blow heaters, but soon found that these were not suitable for heating such a large space, and resulted in workers not being heated unless they were stood right next to the heater. They also reported lots of noise being produced by the heaters.

Choosing Herschel Infrared Heating: A Smarter Way to Heat Warehouses

Back in 2018, Dalradian Gold started searching for a more efficient way of heating their factory, this is where they discovered Herschel Infrared. Unlike conventional systems that rely on heating a volume of air, infrared heating works by gently warming people and objects directly. Herschel infrared heaters allowed Dalradian Gold to target specific areas they wanted to heat, saving energy by not heating the entire space.

Eugene Donnelly, Senior Geological Technician & Operations Manager at Dalradian Gold, explained:

“We only needed about 20% of the space heated and because the warehouse has a high ceiling and is draughty, infrared made sense. We knew from past experience that blowing warm air about the place wasn’t effective. We’re also a growing company, and liked that infrared can be readily extended or relocated as required, without needing to fundamentally redesign the heating system.”

Installing the heaters was a simple process. We supplied a heating design using our highly popular, UK-made Power 4 industrial heaters, suspended from the ceiling at 3m to provide 20m2 of effective heating per unit. The system integrated seamlessly into their existing three-phase power supply, and installation was quick and non-disruptive.

“The heaters were simple to install, silent in operation and feature no ongoing maintenance. You can feel the heat within a couple of minutes and the area remains warm for some time after the heaters are turned off. We only need to heat a specific area of the warehouse, and the area is not in constant use. Herschel Infrared is the ideal industrial heating solution, providing comfort when and where needed.”

6 Years On: Still Going Strong

Now entering their seventh heating season with the system, the feedback from Dalradian Gold has been fantastic:

• The warehouse heating system has performed without issue since installation.
• Warm-up time is just 20min to 1hr, depending on the time of year and ambient temperature on start-up.
• The heating is extremely comfortable when the system is on. Because the concrete floor is gently heated, the system continues to provide comfort for several hours after the heating is turned off. The floor effectively releases stored thermal mass over time to maintain a comfortable workspace.
• Based on projections, running costs have been entirely affordable, and the system only needs to be operated for several hours per day.
• Silent in operation, the system requires zero maintenance.
• As and when the high-performance Herschel elements need to be replaced, this can be done on-site without needing to replace the heater, thereby providing a heater-for-life,  and lowering the embodied carbon of the system.
• Because the site uses a 100% renewable electricity grid-supply, the heating system is essentially zero-carbon.
• The system is relatively simple to design and install, requires no planned maintenance and has a long operational lifespan. These three features are central to the decarbonisation of heat.
• Dalradian plan to install solar, thereby reducing electricity and heating overhead.

Read the full case study here.

Watch the full conversation with Eugene Donnelly, Senior Geological Technician & Operations Manager, below.

Herschel Power: The Ultimate Workshop Heaters

The Herschel Power range of heaters are unbeaten in quality and are built for heating large spaces efficiently. Manufactured in our UK Production Facility, the Power heaters are available in three different sizes, two colour options, and can be ceiling suspended to heat exactly where you want, when you want.