5 Incredibly Useful Ways to Reduce an Industrial Facilities Heating Bill

A common challenge many factory and industrial warehouse managers often face during winter is the difficult task of keeping temperatures warm enough that the cold weather doesn’t affect worker productivity. Why does something seemingly as simple as heating a building give warehouse and factory operators fits during the winter month? The answer is pretty simple. Heating a building with regular-sized rooms is a pretty straightforward task, but things get a lot more complicated when you’re trying to heat up rooms that have extremely high ceilings.

That’s the issue right there. Physics tells us that hot air rises above cold air, so regardless of what type of heating solution you decide to go with, the warmest air in any warehouse is typically high up by the roof, far above from workers below who actually need it to keep themselves warm. Generally speaking, the air close to the roof of a warehouse or similarly built building is typically 20 degrees warmer than the air at floor level.
Heat rises and much of that heat is lost through the roof or any material or structure up there.  Even ceiling lights produce heat which, without a solution that heat is trapped at the ceiling and or lost through the roof. Warehouse heating expert Jim Stahl explains, “If we can reduce inefficiency and heat loss, we effectively reducing that heating bill phenomenally. From our experience, it's a minimum of 20% energy savings. Minimum.”

Two ways to reduce your facilities energy bill:

1. Install well-insulated roofs
   Since we know warm air will rise to the top of a building, the better insulated the roof of a warehouse is, the less heat will escape from the building. More heat retained means less energy consumed trying to generate heat meaning lower energy bills. Utilize Air curtains If there are areas in your warehouse that are rarely used by workers, there is no need wasting energy to keep them as warm as the frequently used areas. Cut those areas off by using air curtains, reducing the area of the warehouse you have to heat. Take advantage of natural heat and lighting when possible There’s no better energy source than the sun, so take advantage of this when possible. Install skylights and windows strategically around the warehouse, reducing the amount of work the heating system has to perform. Keeping heating systems in tip-top condition This is self explanatory. Well-maintained HVAC systems use less energy than problem-plagued systems, so make sure your heating systems are in proper working condition before the winter months roll by.
2. Maintaining proper air circulation
   The warmest air in a warehouse rises to the top where it doesn’t do workers any good. By strategically installing HVLS fans, that warm air can be pushed down towards employees, keeping them warm, while reducing your energy bill since you only have to worry about the air on top reaching the desired temperature rather than heating the entire warehouse. Warehouse energy savings expert Jim Stalh advises that; “Effectively reducing the gradient from top to bottom is I think the biggest point of how facilities managers can reduce their heating bill,” Stahl added. “When you're heating a facility, you're not trying to heat the ceiling. You're trying to create comfort down at, perhaps, the human level. We're talking five foot level down there, and we've got these enormously high facilities.