Drywall Partition Under Infrared Radiant Heater

[rosetown]

I rent out some shop space and the new tenant has built a drywall partition to divide the space in half.

They left a cutout for the heater, but I’m unclear if it’s big enough. I’m having a hard time determining the required distance to drywall like this.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Jim greengo]

Maybe wrap it in sheetmetal with spacers to keep wall cool?

 

[johnre]

What does the manufacturer of the heater unit say is the minimum distance?

FWIW my electric infrared unit says to keep it 40" / 1 meter away from combustibles. I suppose that means the front of it, as they also say 16" from the ceiling.

 

[rosetown]

What does the manufacturer of the heater unit say is the minimum distance?

FWIW my electric infrared unit says to keep it 40" / 1 meter away from combustibles. I suppose that means the front of it, as they also say 16" from the ceiling.

This is where I get confused. It mentions 32” as the minimum distance to combustibles, however it also has a list of combustibles that doesn’t include drywall. Some further research indicates drywall is considered a “semi combustible.”

 

[johnre]

This is where I get confused. It mentions 32” as the minimum distance to combustibles, however it also has a list of combustibles that doesn’t include drywall. Some further research indicates drywall is considered a “semi combustible.”

If your wall studs are 16" on center (guessing here), then it looks to me like you've met the 32" requirement.

 

[PCustoms]

This is where I get confused. It mentions 32” as the minimum distance to combustibles, however it also has a list of combustibles that doesn’t include drywall. Some further research indicates drywall is considered a “semi combustible.”

If the minimum distance to combustible is 32", and you have that, then worrying if the surface is combustible or not is irrelevant.