Infrared hall heating in your production: how to create the right indoor climate at work
Infrared hall heating in your production: how to create the right indoor climate at work
Hall buildings are a world unto themselves. Especially in winter, their high ceilings pose a real challenge for anyone who wants to ensure the most pleasant possible working environment in the workplace. But there are solutions - for example, infrared hall heating. But first you should ask yourself: what does comfortable indoor climate mean anyway? And what factors are decisive for this? There are various representations of this, which basically boil down to four different factors, which we will introduce to you in this guide.
4 factors that influence a pleasant indoor climate at work
Basically, when it comes to a comfortable indoor environment at work, you should always pay attention to these four factors:
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Air movement
- Air quality
While the temperature depends to a large extent on the type of activity (18 °C sensation temperature is sufficient for physical work, at least 20 °C is necessary for sitting), there is agreement on the factors of humidity, movement and quality of air. 40 - 60 % humidity, an air movement of no more than 0.15 m/s (at 21 °C) and an oxygen content of 21 % are standard values that most people find pleasant and thus constitute the optimum room climate at the workplace.
The right indoor climate in the workplace influences the productivity of your employees
It is a proven fact that a poor indoor climate in the workplace has a negative impact on the willingness and ability of your employees to perform. You notice it at the latest when complaints come in or sick leave increases. Among many other bodies, the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (baua) has looked into this and writes about it in a report published in 2016:
"Small deviations from the "climate optimum" initially lead to disturbances of well-being, complaints about the climate (too warm, too cold, there is a draft) are the result. If these effects are amplified and climate monotony or the inability to influence the climate itself is added, this can lead to a high level of dissatisfaction, stress and psychological strain; motivation and satisfaction with one's own work decline. Ultimately, the willingness to exert effort decreases, employees feel less capable, and objectively measurable productivity losses and increased error rates can occur."
The problems you face when you want to create the optimal indoor climate in the workplace
Hall buildings are not easy to heat. Due to the fact that the premises are particularly large and high, it can also be particularly challenging to achieve the ideal indoor climate in the workplace. What problems arise when choosing a hall heating, you will learn below.
Problem 1: The size of hall buildings as the biggest challenge for the indoor climate in the workplace
In offices, it is still relatively easy to positively influence the indoor climate. If, on the other hand, the workplace is a production hall, those responsible face completely different challenges. Because the company's goal of a "good working atmosphere" is facing headwind from various directions:
- Large ceiling heights from 4 to 20 meters and more
- Long gate opening hours
- Different work areas and hall zones
- Different building floor plans and layouts
- Dynamic temperature requirements
- Insufficient insulation, esp. old halls
- High pressure to reduce operating costs
So creating the optimal indoor climate at the workplace is anything but easy in a production hall. Just keeping the temperature in such a building at a comfortable level is not trivial. Especially because good and uniform heating must also be considered against the background of energy efficiency. Not to mention humidity, air movement and air quality.
Problem 2: Not every heater contributes to a good indoor climate at the workplace
A wide variety of technologies are used for hall heating. Not always with the desired result in terms of functionality, thermal comfort and economy. They differ according to the type of energy source (fuel oil, gas, wood, electricity, solar) and the type of supply: centralized or decentralized. Decentralized heated systems are the technology of choice in many applications today. In particular, gas-fired infrared hall heaters of the dark radiator type take a prominent role, because they are specially tailored for heating high spaces, where they offer important advantages.
No hot air: Why infrared hall heaters are so good for the indoor climate in the workplace
Infrared hall heaters are radiant heaters. These heating systems transfer heat by emitting infrared radiation. As soon as the rays hit bodies or objects, they are converted into heat. Thus, the effect of infrared hall heaters is similar to the heat principle of the sun, which heats not the air, but directly people, room frame, machines and other objects in the hall, resulting in a particularly pleasant indoor climate at work.
Radiant heating systems also have a decisive advantage in high rooms: where no air is heated, no warm air can rise high under the hall roof and form unused warm air cushions there - outside the working area. Infrared hall heaters are specially made to bring heat evenly to the area of use. And nowhere else. Incidentally, this is also the decisive reason why these systems are so energy-saving and thus so economical and environmentally friendly.
Infrared hall heaters influence an optimal indoor climate at the workplace in many different aspects
The uniform targeted temperature control is not the only reason why infrared hall heaters provide a pleasant indoor climate in the workplace. By not creating warm air, these systems do not cause unpleasant drafts - and where there is no draft, there is no dust swirl to pollute the air quality. Dust is almost everywhere - so this is an important plus for the well-being and health of your employees as well as for the protection of your production machinery. An advantage for the air quality is also the closed combustion of the infrared hall heating in the form of a dark radiator - and associated with this its property that exhaust air is specifically discharged to the outside and does not remain in the hall building. Incidentally, this waste heat can be used - with increased efficiency - for other thermal processes, e.g. for water heating (keyword: hybrid systems).
How to control good indoor climate at work with infrared hall heating very specifically
Infrared hall heating systems like KÜBLER's technologies are rarely simple stand-alone solutions today. They are digitally integrated into systems that enable a wide range of smart functions. In this way, different areas of use in the halls can be defined, specifically controlled and tempered according to need (keyword: zone heating). Intelligent efficiency modules detect open hall doors, for example, and automatically switch off the heating until the doors are closed again. Depending on the length of the door opening times, significant energy savings can be achieved. Today, switch-on and switch-off times are digitally optimized and entire heating processes are monitored and analyzed for audits, e.g. according to DIN EN ISO 50001. The air humidity can also be regulated - this is useful if you are storing corrosion-sensitive goods such as coils, for example.
Create a pleasant indoor climate at the workplace with KÜBLER infrared hall heaters
Infrared hall heaters can be used to solve the many climatic challenges of hall buildings - after all, they have been specially developed for this particular application and thus contribute a great deal to a pleasant working climate in the workplace. But they are more than the basis for a good and productive indoor climate in the workplace. Rather, infrared hall heaters today are designed to bring maximum energy efficiency to your halls. They are high-performance digital solutions that keep energy consumption so low that they pay for themselves both ecologically and economically. Through low CO2 emissions, favorable operating costs and low TCO (Total Costs of Ownership). That is why they are now one of the central building blocks of a sustainable financial and corporate strategy.
If you too are interested in a hall heating system that not only creates an ideal indoor climate at the workplace but is also environmentally friendly, you should take a look at our KÜBLER infrared hall heaters. With our heating systems, you are not only making the right choice for your employees, but also for the future of the planet.