We live in a time of rapid change. Digitalization is increasingly determining our everyday working lives. For companies that want to be successful and competitive in the future, there is no way around it. When we talk about Industry 4.0, this is exactly what we mean: Machines and industrial processes are intelligently networked and controlled by algorithms. Many industrial companies have already implemented this or are on the way to doing so. But while the main focus is on production processes, other areas, such as heat supply, are usually overlooked. Rightly so? 

To Heat 4.0 with a smart heating control system 

The fact is that digital heat supply through smart heating controls can unleash great savings potential – especially in the industrial sector, where enormous amounts of energy, financial resources, but also manpower are used for heating. With “HEAT 4.0”, we at KÜBLER have developed a concept that makes it easy to digitize your heating system with smart heating controls. Find out here what the industrial heating of the future will look like and what new technical possibilities digitalization with smart heating controls will bring. 

With a smart heating control system, the heat supply runs at an optimal efficiency level 

As a rule, heating systems in manufacturing plants and warehouses are switched on at the beginning of the heating period and off again at the end. In between, little happens for the most part. Between us: In very few companies there is time to regularly check whether the heating time is too long, the heating temperature is too high or the night setback is not regulated at all. The same applies to hall heating as to cars: the driving style determines the energy consumption. Therefore, the better adapted to the requirements of use, the more efficient is the heating operation. Smart heating controls that function fully digitally can take care of that for you at this point – they steer the heat supply through the winter with significantly less energy consumption, but at an optimal temperature level. 

Smart heating controls and intelligent tools manage the heating process and enable a completely new transparency 

These smart heating controls permanently collect data in real-time monitoring. This creates unprecedented transparency about the heating process. If you want to know which devices are active, how much energy they consume and when, whether the settings and efficiency values of your heat supply are still correct – now it is possible. In addition, the data collected by the smart heating control system is permanently analyzed and documented and is available to you, for example, for your internal quality management or for ISO 50001 or 14001 audits. 

Achieve increased availability of your heating system through smart heating control 

The interplay of digitized industrial heating systems and smart heating controls thus offers completely new possibilities in heat supply. This also includes predictive maintenance. Long before your hall heating system possibly malfunctions, you can see what is happening in the burner at the control station or on the monitor. You could have many interventions performed directly online, without the need for a service technician to make a trip. This would not only save an enormous amount of time and distance, but also increase the availability of your heat supply – and thus the safety of your production processes. 

Speaking of production, imagine what would happen if the heating system in production failed. Employee satisfaction and motivation will suffer – and in the worst case, production will come to a standstill for the time being. This can be remedied by early detection of possible malfunctions and failures through smart heating control. This also makes sense from an economic point of view, because heat supply today should be subject to the same cost-benefit consideration as any of your production machinery. 

With smart heating controls and intelligent networking, you save  

Industrial heating systems are no longer isolated solutions. They are networked with other technologies and themselves network the various energy flows in the building. This means that residual heat can be used to generate hot water and use it in sanitary rooms or to support hydraulic office heating systems. Waste heat from the production process can be integrated into the systems, as can energy from solar thermal energy and, and, and … Building management systems or various software tools can be integrated into the smart heating control system and monitor, for example, the opening times of hall doors. And all of this is controlled across locations, regardless of the PC workstation. 

Smart heating control improves energy efficiency and reduces costs 

But digitizing hall heating systems with the help of smart heating controls not only offers you completely new technical possibilities. It also helps you identify and harness potential savings in the heat supply. Simply reducing energy consumption through extremely efficient infrared heating technologies and optimized operation with smart heating control can result in savings in primary energy consumption of up to 70 percent. These are dimensions that pay off significantly in business terms given the high consumption levels in industrial companies – with annual cost savings of up to six figures, depending on the company, at relatively low investment costs.  

Incidentally, this is also interesting to know: Legislation also rewards the high contribution to CO2 reduction and climate protection. In the Building Energy Act (GEG), the heat supply with decentralized systems (such as gas infrared heaters) in new buildings with a room height of more than four meters is exempted from the obligation to use renewable energies. 

New and economically very interesting services are only made possible by digital, smart heating control 

At this point, you should also get to know a new – and perhaps the most interesting – aspect of smart heating control: The heat supply can be rented. After all, the new, digital possibilities are particularly helpful when companies find themselves in the situation: Modern energy-saving heating technology? “Yes” – budget? “No.” 

Many companies shy away from investing in a new heating system with smart heating controls and the associated depreciation expense. And that’s understandable – especially in economically uncertain times. If the old heating system is then still running halfway – why not save the new investment? The digital age also offers a solution for this, which can be extremely interesting for companies: The digitization of heat supply enables completely flexible and very favorable rental concepts such as HeizWerk. 

With this rental concept, we assume responsibility for the heating process. And from energy refurbishment to operation. Via smart heating controls, such as intelligent remote maintenance software, we have a permanent overview of the heating processes and efficiency of the system and control it at an optimal level according to the usage profile. The company itself only rents the heat, so to speak – without the associated investment and depreciation requirements. At the end of the year, companies with such a rental solution therefore even have money “left over”. This is because the energy cost savings are usually higher than the rental amount. So tackling the digitization of heat supply is also worthwhile in financial terms – making this sustainable and economically sensible decision palatable for every company. 

Our conclusion: Smart heating controls are simply part of the future 

They can help companies overcome the biggest challenges in heating halls – always with an eye on the future. Digitized heating systems, smart heating controls and the appropriate software tools ensure greater process transparency, increase energy efficiency, increase availability and at the same time reduce heating costs. And at a time when flexibility is also playing an increasingly important role, it is impossible to imagine life without digital solutions anyway. Only with their help can rental concepts be offered that enable heat supply without any capital expenditure at all. 

Would you now like to exploit these possibilities in your company? Then please feel free to contact us! Together we will find a smart heating control system that fits your requirements exactly.