Why a Warehouse Should Have Underfloor Heating

Heating warehouses evenly and efficiently remains a challenge to this day. With wide open areas, tall roofs, and thin walls, maintaining an optimum temperature can be difficult. It may surprise you to learn that underfloor heating can be a very tangible heating and cooling solution. Here’s why:

Evenly Distributed Heat

With mounted heaters and air conditioning units, one of their weaknesses is that the areas directly underneath them are much warmer than areas just a few steps away. But one of the primary benefits of underfloor heating is the fact that it distributes heat evenly across a floor, which rises upwards.

This makes the warehouse environment much more comfortable for employees. Furthermore, it makes it easier and safer to store temperature-sensitive products. It can also potentially increase storage or working space, when proximity to heaters would have caused an issue.

Energy Efficient Heating

By far the biggest benefit of underfloor heating is its potential to decrease energy bills. It runs at a lower temperature than space heaters and air conditioners, requiring less energy to function. Combined with heat pumps and floor insulation, you could expect savings of up to 40% on your bills.

Space Efficiency

Underfloor heating doesn’t take up any wall space or ceiling space, and doesn’t create hotspots. This frees up much of your warehouse for more efficient working or storage layouts. At most, you would have to accommodate for the increased floor height, and space for a heat pump if you are having one installed.

Installation Considerations

Of course, there are circumstances where underfloor heating may not be appropriate for a warehouse setting. The following should be considered before going ahead with an installation.

Warehouse Size

The larger an open space is, the more difficult it can be to heat it evenly and efficiently. Zoning is essential for Energy efficient heating, as this ensures hot water reaches all sections of an open-plan area evenly.

To date, EasyFlow’s largest open-plan underfloor heating setup is 250m², with installation in larger spaces possible thanks to our approach to pipe network design. If you are unsure, a consultation can help you confirm if floor heating is suitable for your property.

Heat Loss

Whether you use underfloor heating or other heating solutions, heat loss is an essential factor to mitigate to ensure you have energy efficient heating. We highly recommend having floor insulation and liquid screed formulated for use with floor heating. These will minimise heat loss whilst ensuring effective transfer of heat from the pipes to the floor surface.

Floor Weight

Heating pipes have the compressive strength of 30 tonnes per m² before they may become damaged. If your warehouse has heavy machinery or vehicles traversing the space, or stores heavy goods, floor-based heating may not be appropriate.

Consult With EasyFlow

At Easyflow we have great experience with commercial heating installations of large open spaces. We strive to create the most energy efficient heating setups for business premises, and can advise on the feasibility of retrofitting underfloor heating systems. Get in contact with us online or over the phone to see how we can help you.