Interview with Phil Alcock, FRICO MD - Infra Red Heating

In the last blog entry - Phil and I were discussing using infra heating as a total house / office heating system, and comparing radiant heating with gas central heating, and ground source heat pumps.  In this article we will look at the various applications for infra red heating, the difference between infra red and radiant heating, and energy savings.....

So how long will an infra red heating system last?

The shelf life of the system once installed will be the life of the building and we certainly know that other electrical appliances are still going strong even after 20 years of running quite happily and they run at much higher stress loads (take your dishwasher/washing machine).

Commercial environments differ somewhat in that there are things to consider like damp and corrosion, so a commercial system might last 15 years but it is in a much harsher environment

We supplied one of the major zoo’s lions dens, what sort of other interesting projects have you seen?

We have done a number of projects for zoos and their reaction to radiant heating is exactly the same as humans.  Because radiant heating is the natural form of heat - we always say it is like heat from the sun - most animals that live on the planets are designed to keep warm and comfortable with radiant heat, so as well as heating animals from the Savannah like lions, we’ve heated snake and reptile enclosures, and  we’ve heated alligators enclosures where the animals and reptiles bask in the radiant heat environment. 

It is very effective.  And, another advantage with using a radiant heating system in a zoo is they don’t emit visible light so the animals stay warm but they don’t get the impression that it is daylight 24 hours a day!

We’ve spoken about using the heating system in sports halls, yoga studios, modern gyms – with regard to sports halls we recently made a large installation in France in a judo stadium with a very high roof, and the challenge with judo and indeed hot yoga is that at floor level the mats need to be warm, and to an extent need to be kept dry – although I’m not sure in judo whether that is meant to be dry from sweat or blood but it is certainly needed to be kept dry, and the infrared heating (as well as keeping the occupants warm) keeps the surfaces warm – so  if you have a yoga studio, you not only keep the participants warm but their exercise mats are comfortable as well.

We put infrared heating systems in halls as the classic problem there is that the village hall is used in the evenings and a just few nights a week and the rest of the time it is off.  The yoga instructor comes in to find the building stone cold, switches an infrared heating system on and within a few minutes the heaters are up to their full temperature emitting heat, you can put your exercise mats down and immediately feel warm, so we do a lot of those sorts of applications because they are away from conventional sources of heat and are only used periodically. 

We also use a lot of radiant heating for outdoor heating smoking areas for restaurants and public seating areas where they wants to maximise the use of the drinking or eating area. Process and industry favour infrared heating for example in warming plastics as they travel along the production line.  We did some work with one of the major car manufacturers where they manufacture components, and if the factory is cold, making the plastic panels fit in to their surroundings gets very hard and can become brittle - they need a heating system to keep the plastic a little bit soft and pliable.  I could go on and on, but there are many many applications for infrared heating.

You mentioned radiant and infrared - what is the difference between these two terms?

It is the same thing - a lot of the terminology being used is referring to radiant heat, infrared heat, you’ll see FAR infrared, particular an American terminology yet the heating is always infrared heat – the basic physics are that any ‘body’ be it human or any other hot surface – as soon as it gets hot, will start to emit infrared energy, which is the energy that we use.  It is an electromagnetic wave that is part of the lighting spectrum, but it is at a very low level so you can’t see it when the ‘body’ gets hot. As an example, when a hot cup of coffee gets hot it will start to emit infrared energy, but we don’t see it necessarily.

So we’re emitting energy all the time?

Yes and most people are familiar with that, as most people will have seen infrared cameras – like the thermal imaging cameras police use on the police stop programs, this is showing the thermal signature of the human body, it picks up the spectrum of light from the body. Humans can’t see it, but some animals can and use it to hunt, but we can’t see it – but that is all we really need to know.

From a technical standpoint, on the infrared spectrum we can move from long wave infrared which produces heat energy but no light, and as we increase the surface temperature of that heat emitter we get to a point where it can be seen as visible light by the human eye - that comes at about 700⁰C and when an object gets to that temperature it begins to glow. We can see it glow from the heaters that we see outside the pubs and bars – essentially it is all infrared heat and all radiant heat so the two terminologies are interchangeable. 

Thank you for clearing that up.  Building consultants are looking to make savings – have you any reassurance you can give them?

Most building consultants and people who design buildings are certainly familiar with the concept of radiant heating and it’s nothing new.  It’s something that has been around for a very long time.  What is changing is the number of applications and the number of products that we can use, which have improved a great deal. 

Control systems have improved a lot and building standards have improved a lot as well – making very well insulated properties.

The reassurance that we can offer energy consultants is to point to case studies and calculations - it is very easy to use the FRICO Heat Output Calculation Tool that we have on our website to work out the heat loss of the building.  It is very easy to put the details through online tool and one of the parameters you change when doing the calculation is from infrared heating or convection heating.

One of the main areas of energy saving is that you have very little high heat build up with infrared heating.  What this means is that with a convection system the warm air rises, and all of that hot air at the top of the building has cost money to heat so when you design for a warm air convection system you have to allow for that discrepancy and to allow for say 21⁰C at person height where you are sitting and 27⁰C at ceiling level.   You would have to pay for that energy and on a calculation simulation we can easily show the difference between the radiant heating and the convection heating.  With the radiant heating there will be less than a 1⁰C difference between the air temperature at floor level compared to ceiling level and that is where is translates in to an energy saving.

More to come on infra red heating.....

Hot And Sweaty Again - But Will It Last?

"Temperatures this week are likely to top that figure with 30C possible across parts of south-east England between Tuesday and Thursday.

Absolutely loving the weather at the moment, check out the latest from SKY Weather - it gets better (apart from Scotland and Cumbria - sorry!):

http://news.sky.com/story/963734/weather-hot-week-forecast-for-parts-of-uk

How To Heat The Flagship Apple Store

Large Apple Greenhouse - New York

I expect the guys at Apple real estate have the heating system pretty well wrapped up, but a building of this type will come with plenty of heating, cooling and ventilation issues, if not properly managed.

For one, we had a green house in the back garden that looked a little like this (well OK,it wasn't quite as big, and we obviously weren't growing apples inside) and it was south facing....so in the morning, on a damp spring day you could see the condensation building up on the windows, slowly turning into thin streams of water, trickling down the window pains and onto to shelving.

OK, so who's really that interested in my parent's greenhouse?  - just to prove a point though, buildings with so much glass and exposure to sunlight will suffer from the above without a well planned out heating and ventilation system.

Underfloor heating that is programmed to switch on a couple of hours before anyone sets foot in the building, and certainly before sunrise will help to alleviate the damp conditions and should eradicate all condensation on the glass surfaces once the glass has begun to absorb the infra red electromagnetic waves.

Once the doors fling open for the mad frenzy of Apple Enthusiasts - condensation will be no more.

I Have Become An Infra Red Heating Geek....

.....I am thinking of changing the name of this blog to theinfraredheatinggeek.com

Underfloor heating, domestic heating, radiators

Underfloor heating – which is still infra red heating – is capable of heating a whole house without popping the wood  floor up or destroying the laminate.  In fact underfloor heating is the most efficient type of heating because of the minimal heart stratification experienced when turning the system on – in a nutshell you get more consistent heat spread in the room compared to using a conventional gas heated radiator system.

We do rant on about infra red heating being far superior in terms of comfort, energy savings and ease of installation, but in all fairness you may quite like having old style radiators on the wall, perhaps boxed in with a decorative wooden panel.

Infra red heaters aren’t exactly much to look at, in fact you barely notice them at all, however it is the 'discreet-ness' that makes them so appealing to home owners, office landlords.  They can go behind the plaster board in the ceiling in between the rafters, they can be mounted on the wall with a picture design (insert picture) emitting heat, or as mentioned they can go right under your feet in the floor.  It just means you can reduce the amount of heaters attached to the wall, provide a comfortable spread of heat and not worry about the boiler breaking down in the winter – as long as your electricity supply is OK, you will have heating.  No bleeding of radiators, no service call out, just plain on..and off.

One of my goals is to build a house in Berkshire, right out in the sticks, and guess what I shall be using – yep, infra red ceiling and floor heating throughout....

Am I a bit of an infra red heater geek? – perhaps.

It just made total sense when learning about the benefits over using radiators that when the house is going through the design stages, I shall be accounting for the use of infra heaters.  Either the manufacturers have done a great sales job on me, or I am seriously on to something.  I want to keep my bills low, use the heating on demand at the flick of a switch and not have to worry about the boiler (except for hot water for my morning shower of course!).

Customer Feedback - How Do You Get Yours?

Favourite Customers...

You know the ones that pay on time, work with you during the specification phase, are clear about what they want and don't want, and give you feedback on the products and services you provide.

It seems the 80/20 principle can be applied here - but why is it only 20% of customers provide 80% of the feedback a business (especially an SME) really needs to grow, adapt and change to meet the demands of the end user.  How can we engage our customers more fully to provide a cleaner, smoother buying process where both parties are satisfied?

Do your customers provide unprompted feedback?  Is it a British thing to keep quiet and not make a fuss?  Will it make us too proud if we receive positive feedback?  We're apparently a nation of whiners - where's the whining gone?  If we can't hear you, we can't help you........

Thinking a little more about this topic - and how the likes of super seller Amazon openly encourage author / book seller feedback - it would seem the easier way to report on a book / book seller is through digital feedback systems, which is fine, but how about a bit of direct "liking", "not liking" or commenting over the phone, or for those who do prefer a written response - email.  I would expect most SME owners are very open to criticism that could lead to the discovery of a new and innovative way of conducting business based upon an upfront, and honest critique of the way the product or service was delivered.

Our harshest critics can turn out to be our greatest teachers.......

Granted, companies do use Facebook for feedback and for customer service messages, however, is social media really taking place of the customer service team, the person on the end of the phone?........What do  you think?

Anyway, back to our favourite customers:  we all have them - they pay on time, ask engaging questions and challenge us to be a better company, give honest feedback and give us referrals for more business.

Our hats are off, and we are bowing down to The House of Yoga Owner, Jason Pooley, who recently opened the first hot yoga studio in Putney.  He has worked very closely with us right from the get-go to ensure the best type and model of infra red heaters were fitted into the new studio, and that his members/clients would be happy with the hot room.



He provides us with regular feedback, what has worked, what hasn't worked, and asks questions about refining the controls of the heating system.  With this sort feedback we can improve our services, after sales support, and it helps when advising customers by providing solutions based upon experience rather than a manual.
He has provided us with referrals, and we are busy providing quotes for more hot yoga studios in and around the London area.

So, we are deeply grateful for the opportunity to get involved in a project that was a little outside of our usual scope, for the insights into the hot yoga industry and the chance to be a part of fast growing market.

Thanks Jason, we wish you the very best of success, and look forward to the expansion!

Infrared Heating - Discussion With Phil Alcock, MD, FRICO

Contd....Part 2 of Discussion With Phil Alcock, MD, FRICO UK.

Thanks Phil – infrared is becoming more and more popular in yoga studios, gymnasiums, sports halls; do you see any other growth areas where infrared heating can be used?

Infrared heating will provide heat in large areas such as warehouses, churches, sports halls, gymnasiums, which have very large air volume structures and traditional buildings like a warehouse, which is not usually well insulated.  Trying to heat the air space in those buildings is almost impossible or certainly very expensive to do, so radiant heating is better because you don’t have to heat such a huge air space. 

Radiant heating has not been the most obvious option to use, but now with very well insulated properties and at the other end of the scale, living rooms, domestic rooms, offices, yoga studios, most new buildings are now very well insulated - so radiant heating is a very, very effective solution.  Part of the reason for this is that the heat requirement in a well insulated environment is very low.  One of the benefits of using radiant heating is that you can very precisely match the heat loss of the room to the power needed - so in theory if the heat loss is 700W you install 700W of radiant heating.  You precisely match the heat load for that the room.  

Again, the advantage of radiant heating is that you don’t need to preheat the air or to provide a more powerful unit to provide a fast warm up, so you can very precisely match the heat loss.  If the heat loss is low, and for a small room typically it may only be few 100W which is the sort of heat contribution you would get from a couple of light bulbs - a small amount of radiant heating can provide a similar amount of radiant energy and because of that you can hide the radiant heating in parts of the structure.  You can put it in the floor, you can put them in the ceiling or on the wall as decorative panels, so there is a huge amount of possibilities but the main advantage is that you can directly match the heat loss and hide them in the structures very discreetly.

So what with better building standards – the use of infrared heating looks to be a far better alternative to gas central heating?

Yes exactly, and if you class under floor heating systems as radiant heating (which they are) there are an awful lot of new homes using this method of heating, and under floor is a very successful heating system – wet or electric – it is popular mainly because it is very easy to connect to a heat pump.  

Heat pumps are very energy efficient but they are very high capital costs and if you look at domestic radiant heating, it is very low capital costs and absolute zero maintenance.  In fact a lot of radiant heating systems we supply are intended to be largely DIY installed type products, so there is not such a huge level of skill required to install electric radiant heating system  - so it has a low capital cost and it has a low running cost which are just more examples of the advantages of using infrared heating systems – so, the fact is that when placed in a well insulated modern building we can provide heat with very low energy without the maintenance worries and costs.

Managing a sports centre?  Looking for ways to save energy?  Why not try installing infrared heating panels............visit our site:  Euro Controls UK Ltd 

10 Step Guide to Programming A Hot Yoga Studio

How to measure the heat up time on an infrared heating system....

......you can't.

Well, to be precise, you can't be exact.... 

Each building is different - insulation, windows, flat ceiling vs pitched, hard floors, external walls, the list goes on........

10 Step Guide to Programming Your Hot Yoga Studio:

FRICO TFP12 Remote Controller

1. Set the comfort (heating) mode to the desired temperature (e.g. 35⁰C)
2. Set the set back (night setting) mode to around 10-15⁰C
3. Program the class schedule into the controller
4. Allow for 1 hour of heat up time prior to the class starting.  E.g. for a 7am class, set the program to begin at 6am.
5. If the air temperature has reached 35⁰C by 7am, no need to read the rest of this article.
6. If, however, you are not satisfied that it has reached the desired temperature, add an extra hour of heat up time - i.e. start the heating at 5am.
7. Once you have established the best heat up time save the settings.
8. There is no greater cost to add another hour of heat up time (roughly 50p per hour on a 100m² room)
9. Winter - add an extra hour to the heat up time.
10. Summer - reduce by an hour

Finally, keep playing with the controls until you are happy with the heat up time.  It takes time and patience to diligently test out the above, however, it will be worth it when you see the reduced heating bill and the satisfied clients!

The above is recommended only when you want to make sure the air temperature has reached the desired set point - remember, infrared heating can be felt immediately when standing under the heater, so don't obsess too much about air temperature.

Owner of a yoga studio?  Looking for a commercial edge?  Why not try installing infrared heating panels............visit our site:  Euro Controls UK Ltd 

Infrared Heating - Interview With Phil Alcock, MD Of FRICO UK.

Interview with Phil Alcock, UK Managing Director of FRICO.

Phil thanks for coming in to talk about infrared heating and this developing market.

Let’s get straight into it - how do you go about proving or calculating the energy savings of using infrared heating?

We have a few a case studies where we have been using infrared heating in portable homes, small offices and commercial buildings where they have measured the energy savings using radiant heating versus using conventional convection heating.  We’ve also asked our clients to measure the savings, and we can clearly demonstrate a 25% savings across the heating use, and we can show the savings by making calculations and the saving is made mainly because the input loading of the heating system is lower using a radiant heating system - you install smaller lower energy appliances to do the same job as a warm air system.

Is that because you run the temperatures at different levels?

Yes that’s correct – there are several reasons why infrared heating uses lower energy compared to conventional warm air systems, and the main reason is exactly as you mention – that you can run the radiant heating system at a lower temperature and get the same heating affect as a hot air system.  Plus, it is not just what we say but it is enshrined in the European standards that tell us how we are to design heating systems correctly - because the body can directly absorb the radiant heat energy you therefore feel the warmth long before the room air temperature has risen.  

You actually feel warmer at lower air temperatures than you would with a conventional system. So, for example to feel comfortable in a typical living room or office situation traditionally you would assume you need an air temperature between 21⁰C and 23⁰C deg C for people sitting in their shirt sleeves to feel comfortable.  If you use a radiant heating system, because of the radiant heating contribution the comfort that people feel is the same as an air temperature of around 18⁰C – which is between 3⁰C and 5⁰C lower - you still feel the same comfort if you have a direct radiant heating source and that’s the physics of radiant heating.  

As it is directly absorbed by the body there’s no need to surround yourself with a jacket of very warm air to feel comfortable.  The radiant heating contributes directly to your heating so what you have with the radiant heating system is you are able to have a lower air temperature meaning overall you pay for less energy to heat the air and the system will concentrate on heating the objects in the room.

That makes sense – the comfort level though, is that based on studies that have been carried out or through the experience of supplying the heating system - how have you come to the above conclusion?

It is based on the experience of a number of infrared heatingsystems - thousands that would be installed in Europe and United States where it is a common form of heating, but it is also based on some empirical science. 

 One of the studies to look at, done in America Massachusetts Institute of Technology did some studies measuring people and comfort levels with different air temperatures and measuring the comfort levels when the sole source was hot air heating and measuring comfort levels when temperatures were lower but where there was infrared radiant heating contribution and in summary those tests showed that you could have a 3⁰C - 5⁰C  lower air temperature and the occupants will feel the same level of comfort.

To be contd.........

Hot Yoga - What To Expect

With the rise in popularity of hot yoga and in particular Bikram Yoga, it would seem that many other yoga studio operators are looking to jump on the back of the latest wellness buzz and get stuck in to performing poses under hot conditions.

Bikram Yoga operators use a hot air system that works in the same way as an air conditioning system, heating the air up to around 40⁰C. However, infrared is being touted as the latest and most practical way to heat the room ready for yogis.

There is a distinct difference between the two types of system, and it is important to clarify the difference in the results you get from a purely technical point of view.

Firstly, when the studio uses an air conditioning system, expect to feel the heat in the air.  The floor will not necessarily be that hot, but you will certainly feel the raised air temperature as you take part in the yoga class.

Picture Source:  White Ibiza Blog

The air you breathe will feel hot, and there will be background noise from the air conditioning system. 

Secondly, when the studio is heated using infrared heating - expect a different result (and feeling).  

When you walk in to the studio the air temperature will not feel as hot as though you were walking in to a hot air studio.

The reason for this is that it works by the heaters - placed along the ceiling - emitting a type of infrared heat wave (much like the sun but on a smaller scale) that is absorbed by the body, reflected off the  floor, and absorbed by the walls and other objects.

The body absorbs the infrared waves, and the body will over time get warmer and warmer - this, coupled with the action of the different yoga poses will further heat the body, making you feel hot.

I am told that as the body is at a higher temperature because of this absorbtion of heat, there is greater detoxification, and a better result from the class - I would think it depends on preference.

You will sweat, it will feel hot, but don't expect to be hit by a blast of hot air when you enter the room.

Owner of a yoga studio? Looking for another commercial edge?  Why not try installing infrared heating panels............visit our site:  Euro Controls UK Ltd 

Hot Yoga - The Problem With Infrared Heating

My Infrared Heating Is Not Working!

Having read various blogs, forums, studies and websites proclaiming both the marvellous benefits of using infrared heating for a hot yoga studio and the pitfalls of using such system - it is clear that a point is being missed.

I read about a hot yoga studio owner who had a bad experience using the heaters as they did not provide enough heat, claiming they were a waste of money.  I cannot say for sure, but, I would ask if a comprehensive heat loss calculation had been made prior to the installation being made?

FRICO Thermocassette 600W Infrared Heater

This is a must before ordering any type of infrared heating, and especially when sourcing heaters for a hot yoga studio because of the high heat demand.

We take into consideration the age of the building, the type of insulation present, the number of people that will be in the room, the window sizes, the type of windows, the type of flooring, the number of external walls, average outdoor temp, indoor temp, the coldest day of the year, etc, etc.

If You Don't Assess - You Are Taking A Guess!

By performing a heat loss calculation, you can identify the amount of power (kW) that needs to be put back in the room to firstly overcome the heat loss and then to heat to the desired temperature.

If you have any questions, contact us, and we can walk you through the heat output calculation.

sales@eurocontrols.co.uk

Link to our Infrared Heaters page

Owner of a yoga studio? Looking for another commercial edge?  Why not try installing infrared heating panels............visit our site:  Euro Controls UK Ltd 

Installing Infrared Heaters - False Ceiling

Installing Infrared Heaters Into A False Ceiling - Guide

Sometimes it is not as simple as just hanging or placing the heaters in to a modular ceiling - mainly because depending on the total weight of the heaters, which can be anywhere from 80 to 150 kgs, it is worth checking a few things out before-hand:

Firstly, the design of the FRICO Thermocassette HP is so that they fit any standard modular ceiling much like what you would find in an office.  Because the larger heaters weight 10kg, it is well worth contacting the manufacturer to check if there are any constraints on extra weight being added to the ceiling.

If so, then you will need to check the ceiling above the false ceiling is capable of taking the extra weight of the heaters (it should be as it is probably made out of concrete!).  The Thermocassette infrared heater can be hung from the ceiling using the mounting brackets on the reverse of the unit.

Secondly, check there is enough space for extra cabling (you will need to connect the infrared heaters together to form a continuous electrical circuit).

And finally, remove any of the brackets that will be in the way of laying the infrared heaters.  Most of the cells of the modular ceiling will be 600x600mm, and the heaters are double this in length.  By removing one of the brackets the heater will slot in perfectly and blend in with the rest of the ceiling.

Key points regarding installation:

1. Ensure you have enough power supply available for the controller and the heaters combined, in Amps.
2. Check the status and the capability of the modular ceiling
3. Insulate the ceiling void to keep the heat where it should be - in the room
4. Remove any unwanted brackets
5. Support the heaters from the ceiling above the void
6. Make room for connector cables to go from one heater to the next
7. Space the heaters out along the ceiling in a uniform manner
8. Place the controller/thermostat out of direct sunlight

In addition to the above, you will need to specify the number of infrared heaters for the size of the room, the temperature you wish to achieve, and your geographical location.

Owner of a yoga studio? Looking for another commercial edge?  Why not try installing infrared heating panels............visit our site:  Euro Controls UK Ltd