Warehouse Heaters for Light Assembly Environment

[BoilerControler]

Hello,

I have a customer who wants me to make his heaters a little bit more people friendly.
He manages a 65,000 sq ft light assembly environment that was once a warehouse environment with heat designed for warehouse.
There are 2 - 25' tall giant gas heaters along the eastern wall of the building with intake on the bottom and exhaust on the top about 15' apart from intake to exhaust.
When the heat is turned the blower runs constantly and the gas heat comes on intermittently. There are about 125 people in this room and when those heaters come on it is very loud, windy, and breezy. Papers are flying off of desks and everyone is complaining. Is there any practical solution to making these mega heaters a bit more personnel friendly?

Thanks for the help.

Jim

[fearlessfurnace]

cant think of much. it would be like trying to make a frieght train sound like a chevy. move the desks of course.

[BoilerControler]

Thanks for the reply. Can't move the tables, they are 50 feet long.

[energy star]

Is the supply coming out the bottom?

[BoilerControler]

Is the supply coming out the bottom?

No sir, the intake is on the bottom and the exhaust is on the top.

Hello,

I have a customer who wants me to make his heaters a little bit more people friendly.
He manages a 65,000 sq ft light assembly environment that was once a warehouse environment with heat designed for warehouse.
There are 2 - 25' tall giant gas heaters along the eastern wall of the building with intake on the bottom and exhaust on the top about 15' apart from intake to exhaust.
When the heat is turned the blower runs constantly and the gas heat comes on intermittently. There are about 125 people in this room and when those heaters come on it is very loud, windy, and breezy. Papers are flying off of desks and everyone is complaining. Is there any practical solution to making these mega heaters a bit more personnel friendly?

Thanks for the help.

Jim

[klrogers]

Add some ductwork?

[fearlessfurnace]

Add some ductwork?
yeah, if the equipment is legal for ductwork. maybe some cubical partitions to baffle the return if it is retun air blowing the papers off the desks?

[energy star]

I have put those in. You may be able to add 8' of duct on the top supply. Also look into a good diffuser manufacture (Titus or Price) they will help. You need a louvered (movable) diffuser face.

[BoilerControler]

yeah, if the equipment is legal for ductwork. maybe some cubical partitions to baffle the return if it is retun air blowing the papers off the desks?

Actually it is the supply air that is blowing papers off of the tables.
It is also noisy and breezy.

Thank You,
Jim

[woodsman]

Check out ductsox.com. Might give you some ideas.:patriot:

[HvAckid82]

Sounds like you have air rotation equipment. Not much you can do to change the unit. Check the diffusers that they are perpendicular to the floor and blowing out and not down. Also find out what the equipment is designed for. Air rotation equipment is designed to have 2-3 air rotations within an hour and if it is more than that you will feel drafts through out the building. Make sure you have the correct temp rise and check the fans, you might be able to slow them down a bit. I find most air rotation equipment I run across designed with a 60 rise. See if the unit can be staged in any way so you can always keep the burner on. Is it a 3:1 burner, or just on/off.

These units usually have a prop fan so static pressure won't be that high.

[flange]

yeah, air rotation, most likely johnson marcraft units. typically these do not get ductowork and cannot really handle a buttload of external static. These are mostly used for manufacturing environments where noise isnt an issue. They are suposed to Throw the air out and have it cycle back into the bottom. A vfd may help if you slow down the air some, but you need to watch the temp rise when the burner is firing so you dont overheat it.

[james mo]

Like flange says, a vfd and some type of modulating discharge air control would allow you to reduce noise, but you would also be reducing heat output and it may not be enough to heat the space.

[james mo]

If you so turn these systems down, installing some well placed radiant heaters may help keep the personnel areas comfortable.

[BoilerControler]

Thanks for all of the great replies. I truly appreciate all of the help. This is a bit out of my league so I will have to pass this info onto someone with a little bit more knowledge.

Thank you,
Jim

[hmscool]

Hey bud. Those heaters are designed to prevent condesation and quick air changes when wharhouse doors are open. They are kinda like air rotation units.The only way to make em quiet is to keep them off.lol The only other thing you can do is quote them a price for a new unit heater or several. Sorry for the bad news.

[BoilerControler]

Aside from the noise, can I at least make the room warmer by slowing down the blower and stopping the gas valve from cycling off and on every few minutes?
If so do I need to check my heat exchanger for over heating? Is there a certain temp that I need to look for? Can my hand held IRT do this task for me?
Thank You,
Jim

[plick27]

By changing the use of the space you've also changed the application of the equipment. Not sure there's a good out while still using the existing equipment.

If possible a few roof mounted heating units with duct could be one way. We've used gas packs with the cooling disabled before. Cheaper than some of the dedicated roof mounted heaters out there. Really high ceilings can put a damper on that idea tho.

Radiant is also an option. Call a local rep for corayvac (or a similar product) they should be willing to come out and look at what you have and make suggestions. They'll also do a gas consumption analysis against the existing equipment. Might find some savings in usage that will contribute to a return on investment which will help off set initial costs.

Good luck

[ICanHas]

By changing the use of the space you've also changed the application of the equipment. Not sure there's a good out while still using the existing equipment.

If possible a few roof mounted heating units with duct could be one way. We've used gas packs with the cooling disabled before.

I'm not sure the size of the gas/electric gas pack you're talking about, but since you'll still have to get it up there, connect the duct and such, isn't it economical to go with heat pump?

Are big heat pumps with integral furnace similar to Rheem RQPW available in big commercial sizes?

Instead of compressor that's just there just because, you'll have one running with pretty much all the time to compensate for heat loss whenever its above break-even temperature for your rates. The heat pump output and gas backup output won't be the same, so that will act more or less like dual stage. Depending on temperature and utility rates you might actually save $$$.

[plick27]

I'm not sure the size of the gas/electric gas pack you're talking about, but since you'll still have to get it up there, connect the duct and such, isn't it economical to go with heat pump?

Are big heat pumps with integral furnace similar to Rheem RQPW available in big commercial sizes?

Instead of compressor that's just there just because, you'll have one running with pretty much all the time to compensate for heat loss whenever its above break-even temperature for your rates. The heat pump output and gas backup output won't be the same, so that will act more or less like dual stage. Depending on temperature and utility rates you might actually save $$$.

Don't see a whole lot of heat pumps around here.
Not sure if the OP said where he was or not but yeah, depending on his location heat pumps could very well be a better idea. Not having to run the gas piping will be a pretty big savings for sure.

[flange]

There are limitations to how much you can do with air rotation, but you can make them better. A lot depends on what units you have, staging of the heat, type of control, and so on. Me thinks you may be out of your league a bit, and should consult the manufacturer or local rep for help.

[genduct]

I case you didn't see this on the parallel post:
!25 people have to inhale flue gas from a direct fire unit made for a warehouse operation where the temp was probably set a lot lower than it would be for an assembly activity.

Does that about sum things up? You need to step back and figure out what's going on here. And Oh by the way I wonder what the CO/ CO2 readings are?

[genduct]

PS this agrees with Plick27's concerns