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By: Philip Hamer, Sun May 30th, 2010
Most people will have some kind of heating or cooling equipment to heat their space whether that is an office, shop or even a whole warehouse. The owner of the property must first decide if he requires the scope of heating, cooling and if ventilation (the supply of fresh air and the exhaust of stale air) is required. Generally large open spaces such as warehouses and distribution centres are only heated during the winter months. The fact that roller shutter doors are opened and closed generally provides some level of comfort by natural ventilation. The addition of ridge ventilators which can be opened during the summer months can increase natural ventilation and discharge heat directly from the warmest part of the open space. If the space does require cooling then the installation of insulated building materials to form a cold room and the addition of a large refrigeration system can achieve this on a large scale. This can create ambient areas, cold rooms or even freezers on a huge scale. Heating a large open space can be achieved in many ways using different types of heating equipment. The building owner may only require spot heating above work areas and provide no heating in storage areas. Radiant heating works well in these conditions and heats the surrounding work area from overhead and the people working in the work area. Other areas are best heated by warm air heating which can be fuelled by natural gas, LPG or oil. This type of heater actually heats the air and can heat large areas very quickly to a comfortable temperature. This type of industrial heating and commercial heating is available in many sizes from small 100kW models to custom built air handling units with an almost unlimited kW output. Warm air heating and radiant heating continues to be the most popular type of heating available today. Past methods of heating offices and shops generally comprised of a radiator and boiler based heating system which worked well in the winter but lacked a cooling option for the summer. If ventilation was employed in these areas the warm air was sucked out of the building and replaced with cold air directly from outside which taking into account the cost of gas today is expensive and very inefficient. A modern air conditioning unit equipped with a heat pump can provide a very efficient way to heat and cool a shop, office or other commercial space. Indoor units can be wall, ducted or ceiling mounted or left hanging on drop rods for a commercial space. They connect back to either a single outdoor condenser unit or multiple condenser units. During the summer they cool the area and during the summer they heat it. The modern control systems can maintain a constant temperature within the space to maintain a healthy working environment. Ventilation can be added to an air conditioning installation by the addition of a heat recovery unit which can connect to ducted systems and also some cassette based units. The HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilation Unit) discharges air from the space through a heat exchanger which heats or cools the fresh incoming air. The fresh incoming air can be either fed directly into the space or back into the air conditioning fan coil. The modern units utilise a very thin paper heat exchanger which can also adjust the humidity of the air it processes. The HRV will work all year round, cooling incoming air in the summer and warming it in the winter. The HRV can increase the efficiency of an air conditioned ventilated space reducing energy bills and providing an efficient ventilation system which complies with current building regulations. Regular service of both a heating and cooling system is essential to maintain a good healthy atmosphere and to make sure your equipment continues to operate many years trouble free. Air conditioning maintenance is generally carried out by the installer who will regularly clean filters and coils to ensure the equipment is well maintained. Industrial heating and commercial heating is serviced and inspected by a commercially registered gas company who must be gas safe registered within the United Kingdom.
Magma Energy Services Ltd specialises in industrial heating and air conditioning installation and can supply all types of warm air heaters and radiant heaters. They are a registered with Gas Safe Register and Refcom F-Gas certified.