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OKEL were approached to assist with Garrandale’s expansion plans for a newly acquired factory premises soon to be refurbished in Derbyshire. OKEL were advised that Garrandale hoped to be fully operational in its new factory within 6 months.
Due to the 12m ceiling height, it was important to provide a solution that ensured warm air from the heaters remained on the lower ground for Garrandale’s workforce.
As modern building materials were being used throughout the refurbishment, the building was well insulated. A site survey revealed there was an existing natural gas supply of maximum 275kW and no plans to increase the capacity.
Taking into consideration the maximum kW load available, OKEL designed a warm air heating system which consisted of 3 x high efficiency wall mounted TR units specifically designed for heating large industrial space such as factories and warehouses.
The warm air heaters chosen included integral destratification fans which force warm air back down to the lower level once the heaters gradient controls and temperature sensors identify that the ceiling temperature becoming too hot.
In addition to the heater’s integral fans OKEL introduced several heavy duty destratification fans, evenly distributed at ceiling height to assist with an even spread of heat throughout the factory.
The Carbon Trust estimates that the use of destratification fans in industrial buildings with high ceilings and operating a warm air heating system can reduce energy consumption by 20%.
Additionally, destratification can also provide summer ventilation when the outside temperatures start to rise.
A pre-installation engineer site visit took place ahead of the installation to determine the exact positioning of the heaters and fans which would allow for the most even spread of heat whilst considering the layout of the factory.
As part of our Garrandale’s project timeline OKEL requested that our team of engineers were the first team of tradesmen working on site so that the working at height could be completed before refurbishment activities started on the ground floor.
Electronic copies of Gas Safe and NICEIC certification and user guides for the heaters and fans were forwarded for the team to retain on file.
Works were completed ahead of schedule and upon project completion Garrandale received a full handover to ensure staff were confident in the capabilities of the heaters and able to maximise the efficiencies by effective use of the intelligent thermostatic controls.
Since the project was completed OKEL were approached again to complete a similar warm air heating installation at another of Garrandale’s new factory premises.