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With more and more UK based companies now looking at occupying warehouses with storage and racking facilities within the UK, to overcome recent challenges experienced with global supply chains and logistics, high efficiency warehouse temperature control is of the essence.
Warehouses are typically large, open plan buildings; and when left to their own devices, it is easy for them to experience major fluctuations in ambient temperature.
If it’s a cold winter’s day outside, then that’s likely to be exacerbated inside the warehouse itself. This can lead to a wide range of problems, from creating a cold and unpleasant working environment for your warehouse operatives, to risking the quality of goods stored within your warehouse, especially items that are temperature sensitive.
Many stored items such as pharmaceutical, electronics, textiles, building mortars and cardboard packaging all have recommended temperature requirements to ensure the goods remain fit for purpose and of the highest quality.
But how do you heat your warehouse efficiently? The optimal way is to choose an energy-efficient heating system that is tailored to your premises.
Different warehousing set-ups require different heating solutions, and we know the best way to achieve the right one for you and your individual needs. The size, fabrication, purpose, and layout of any given warehouse produces different challenges that need to be addressed.
We offer a bespoke warehouse heating service, each one carefully tailored to suit your individual requirements, and with installation teams consisting of both commercial gas and electrical approved engineers we offer a one stop shop for gas fired or electric warehouse heating installations – whatever your fuel preference we have a solution for you.
With the ever-increasing rise in the purchase price of fuel and soaring energy tariffs, its essential that you have a warehouse heating system in place that is both fit for purpose and of the highest efficiencies, preventing wasted energy and higher than necessary energy bills.
Heat loss within a warehouse, whether this be at ceiling height or through large roller shutter entrance doors, is extremely inefficient and costly for businesses due to wasted energy.
To circumvent this problem, OKEL design specialist warehouse heating solutions that can introduce further energy saving equipment including destratification systems and industrial air curtains that are both effective and efficient in helping you keep energy costs down while simultaneously reducing your environmental impact.
We pride ourselves on approaching each warehouse heating solution as a personal project. We will assign an experienced member of our team to the job as project manager.
They will act as a single point of contact for you and your team, streamlining communication between OKEL and your company. They will work with you from start to finish, providing you with regular updates and answering any queries you might have throughout the process.
Whether you have a single warehouse in need of a practical heating solution, or an entire portfolio of varying sizes, you can rely on OKEL to provide a quality service.
We work with companies large and small across the UK, delivering the same high standard of workmanship and customer service on every job we undertake.
To meet the high expectations of our warehouse heating clients, we ensure that every member of our team is fully trained and qualified to the highest industry standards and with many years of hands-on experience installing warehouse heating systems, guaranteeing a professional approach to all warehouse heating enquiries.
All our heating engineers have at least 20 years of experience in their chosen field, all fully trained, qualified, and insured to work on commercial heating installations, and approved on either the Gas Safe or NICEIC register to give you peace of mind that the works are being carried out in the safest of manners and by industry leading experts.
Contact OKEL to discuss your project requirements
When you contact OKEL to get an effective heating solution for your warehouse, there are several stages we need to go through. We have a reputation for quality work and excellent service because we choose to get things right from the very start.
This is what you can expect from us:
1. Initial site survey
The first stage is to discover what you require from a warehouse heating solution and for this you will be assigned a project manager who will visit your site in person to carry out a detailed survey of your warehousing facility.
This will include fully assessing the area, including any existing heating, or cooling equipment on site, and to gain a full understanding of your individual site’s needs. As part of this free consultation, they will offer their professional advice and share details of similar projects completed by the team. Once completed they will compile a detailed report for our design team.
2. Solutions and quotations
All the information gathered during the initial site survey provides our design team with the basis for designing a high efficiency warehouse heating solution that delivers against all your needs.
Your project manager will arrange a follow up call to discuss the most suitable option/s with you and provide estimated projects costs, to include a green funding business lease option should you prefer to spread the cost and retain cash flow within your business. This will be followed up with a formal estimate for you to review at leisure with your colleagues.
3. Running costs
We appreciate that future ongoing running costs of your new warehouse heating system must not be overlooked and if required we can provide you with estimated running costs of your new heating system, whilst factoring in your operational hours and current energy tariffs.
4. Pre-installation planning
Fitting a warehouse heating solution involves several risk factors including working at height and asbestos therefore before we set to work, we need to prepare the appropriate risk assessments and method statements. This protects our own engineers, as well as your warehouse operatives, who may well be working on-site during the installation.
5. Warehouse heating system installation
The installation process is carefully thought through in advance, including positioning of the equipment, and with our engineers endeavouring to complete works at a time to suit you to ensure minimal disturbance to the day to day running of your business.
On day 1 of the installation, we request that a member of your team provides our engineers with a local site induction prior to works commencing.
6. Handing over
Once the warehouse heating system has been installed and commissioned, we will show the appropriate members of your team (usually warehouse managers / supervisors and health and safety executives) how to operate the system and heater controls.
Commissioning certificates and maintenance and operation manuals will also be sent electronically to whomever is responsible for such things within your company, so you have a central point of reference.
7. Aftercare
Our partnership doesn’t end once we have fitted your warehouse heating system. All our work includes a full manufacturer’s warranty for your added peace of mind, and we also offer a complete aftercare package, which includes regular routine servicing and priority repair services.
There are several advantages to fitting an effective warehouse heating solution. These are some of the most important ones to consider:
As heat naturally rises, warehouses will be affected at some degree by thermal stratification, causing a significant imbalance of temperatures from the lower ground to ceiling height and with as much as 60% of the heat generated likely to be lost through thermal stratification.
A modern high-efficiency warehouse heating system that incorporates destratification to recycle the hot air and to force it back down to the lower level again, can greatly help you to mitigate those losses, reducing your energy consumption and saving you money in the process. Read our Bunches Case Study to see how we helped them reduce their energy consumption and cut back on energy costs.
Working on the warehouse floor can be an arduous job for many reasons, not least of which is the temperatures during colder weather.
When the warehouse doors are open, whether to accept a delivery or to load up a dispatched order, cold winds blow right through the ground level.
Not only does this extreme cold poses several health and safety risks, including respiratory and circulatory problems, it also leads to a less productive and unhappy work force and increases the risks of mistakes happening.
A properly installed warehouse heating solution will eradicate that issue. This leads to a happier, more productive workforce. Read our Fortress Technology Europe Case Study to see how our warm air heating and destratification systems helped improve the conditions for employees working a production line.
Depending on what you store in your warehouse, fluctuations in temperature can cause significant problems with the quality and usability of stock.
Extreme cold can cause a variety of materials to warp and crack and with the right warehouse heating solution you can keep your warehouse at a steady temperature, greatly reducing the risk of costly stock damage.
When many workers enter a cold warehouse, their combined body heat can cause condensation to form on cold surfaces such as the wall and shelving units.
In extreme circumstances, this can result in slick surfaces and puddles of water that pose a slip hazard to your employees. Left to their own devices, even small patches of condensation can form a breeding ground for mould and other microorganisms.
This can cause respiratory disease in your workers or damage your stock if the mould develops on the shelves.
An OKEL warehouse heating system maintains a comfortable ambient temperature, ensuring these extremes of heat change no longer occur.
Any company that operates commercial warehousing facilities can make use of an appropriate heating solution.
We have worked with businesses large and small across the UK, helping them maximise efficiency in heating their storage assets. This includes both energy efficiency in terms of heating the building, and employee efficiency in terms of providing a temperate working environment.
Absolutely first-class service and workmanship and we have been very happy since choosing OKEL to fit heating and cooling at several of our sites up and down the country. The team at OKEL have been responsive, and very accommodating with us too, having opened multiple sites in the past year and without giving them much notice. They have provided cost effective solutions to both large and small premises, and all very neatly installed. I would not hesitate to use OKEL again”
Scott Apsey – Managing Director – Medstrom
Good, professional company who have recently offered us excellent service on the installation of new gas fired warm heaters at both our Preston and Manchester branches”
Tony Glen – Director Par Group
Thanks to all the guys who worked on site, no safety issues and the guys were very responsive to our requests particularly around safety”
Steve Scott – Plant Manager – Saint Gobain Weber
Contact OKEL to discuss your project requirements
No two warehouse heating solutions are the same and we should know. We have designed and fitted heating systems in warehouses across the UK for many different companies. These are just a few of our warehouse heating projects, to show you the sort of work that goes into them.
Most warehouses are made up of large open plan space and with average heights often exceeding 10 meters that makes heating a warehouse effectively and efficiently a challenging task.
The 2 types of warehouse heating that are most popular with our customers are warm air and radiant heating and each comes with its own individual merits.
To help you decide which is the most suitable type of heating for your own warehouse premises a member of our team will visit your site to carry out a detailed site survey and to understand more about your individual needs so we can then determine which option would be best suited to you.
Any company that utilises warehouses or other storage facilities may require a suitable warehouse heating system to protect the quality and preservation of stock and to ensure a comfortable working environment for warehouse operatives.
If the warehouse premises, you own, or lease does not benefit from a natural gas supply you may want to consider other fuel types such as LPG or Electric.
OKEL’s teams of engineers are fully trained, qualified, and accredited to install Natural Gas, LPG, and Electric warehouse heating systems – more detailed information can be provided on the various fuel types at the time of your initial enquiry / site survey.
Some large organisations, as part of their commitment to become carbon neutral, are wanting to phase out gas from their sites, including existing gas fired heating systems – opting to replace with a greener and more environmentally friendly alternative fuel source such as Electric.
How feasible it is for you to swap from gas to electric fuel will be dependent on you having sufficient spare electricity capacity to fuel your site – it is also likely that running costs will increase should you move to electric as the cost of commercial electricity per kw/h exceeds that of commercial gas.
OKEL can support you with either gas or electric warehouse heating options and we can also provide you with comparative running costs between the 2 fuel types to help with your decision making.
Many warehouse heating systems consist of standalone heaters that can easily be replaced by a more efficient OKEL heating solution.
If your existing warehouse heaters are in good working order yet you are experiencing heat loss from above, we may recommend that we combine your existing heating system with our state-of-the-art destratification fan technology to attain optimal temperatures in your warehouse and prevent wasted energy.
A warehouse heating system is a complex installation and subject to your chosen fuel source will require either commercial gas or electrical approved engineers to carry out the works to comply with safety regulations such as Gas Safe and NICEIC.
Our teams of engineers have years of experience installing warehouse heating systems and are all fully trained and accredited in their chosen field – Not only do they know how to make your new system operate at maximum efficiency, but they also have experience fitting these systems while working at height – a key part of the installation process.
Every warehouse heating solution we design, and install is bespoken to our customers individual needs and therefore we are only able to provide you with a formal quotation having attended site in person or having received detailed information remotely relating to your individual project.
Much like estimating the installation cost, it is not possible to confirm the length of time it takes to install a warehouse heating system, without knowing exactly what kind of heating system you require. For example, a one heater installation could take 1-2 days to complete the installation whilst a large-scale heating project with multiple heaters and destratification systems can take weeks, all depending on the project specifics.
Our warehouse heating solutions are tailored to the needs of your warehouse and rather than having just a single solution to offer to our customers we prefer to design a system that packages several products or elements, that when combined, deliver the most effective and efficient heating solution you are looking for.
These are just some of the elements that we work with:
Contact OKEL to discuss your project requirements