Radiant Tube Heater placement

[Fitwod25]

Hi - looking for suggestions on tube heater placement. I have 32x40x16 wall height. 4/12 cathedral pitch in the ceiling which makes the ceiling peak height approx 20 feet. Top of door tracks to peak is approx 4 feet. Ideally, would love to get the tube heater in the peak for maximum coverage but concerned about when garage doors are up if there would be issues with clearances. Does anyone have a similar experience to this layout? Any issues with potential heating issues to garage doors?

One manufacturer recommended 2 stage - 100K BTU High Fire/65K BTU Low Fire based on R38 Ceiling and R19 in walls.

 

[Bert_]

100k for that building is insane overkill. 45k is usually as small as you can find and will be plenty.

Put the tube above the area you will spend the most time. Tube in the center with the burner near the doors is a good generic answer.

 

[elp]

Hi - looking for suggestions on tube heater placement. I have 32x40x16 wall height. 4/12 cathedral pitch in the ceiling which makes the ceiling peak height approx 20 feet. Top of door tracks to peak is approx 4 feet. Ideally, would love to get the tube heater in the peak for maximum coverage but concerned about when garage doors are up if there would be issues with clearances. Does anyone have a similar experience to this layout? Any issues with potential heating issues to garage doors?

One manufacturer recommended 2 stage - 100K BTU High Fire/65K BTU Low Fire based on R38 Ceiling and R19 in walls.

Long time lurker here. Where are you located? I am also in the planning stage for a tube heater placement/venting. I had the exact same 2 stage 100K/65K recommendation from a local distributor here in Denver for a 40x40x13 with R38/R19. I was skeptical that this was too large even considering my elevation. The 100K/65K recommendation was refuted by speaking directly to the manufacturer and a another distributor for a competing tube heater manufacturer. It is reassuring to have to other forum members also confirm this.

You will want to check the clearances to combustibles for each of the tube heaters you are considering. Clearances can also vary by BTU. Check each installation manual. Insulated doors are probably considered combustible. I am treating them as such for all my clearance measurements. Have you decided how you are going to vent, i.e., vertically or horizontally?

 

[Fitwod25]

Long time lurker here. Where are you located? I am also in the planning stage for a tube heater placement/venting. I had the exact same 2 stage 100K/65K recommendation from a local distributor here in Denver for a 40x40x13 with R38/R19. I was skeptical that this was too large even considering my elevation. The 100K/65K recommendation was refuted by speaking directly to the manufacturer and a another distributor for a competing tube heater manufacturer. It is reassuring to have to other forum members also confirm this.

You will want to check the clearances to combustibles for each of the tube heaters you are considering. Clearances can also vary by BTU. Check each installation manual. Insulated doors are probably considered combustible. I am treating them as such for all my clearance measurements. Have you decided how you are going to vent, i.e., vertically or horizontally?

Hi - I am in Ohio. I too thought that was a little excessive 100/65K BTU's. Unfortunately the clearance for that unit is 60" which does not give me enough height (approx 48" ) for the garage doors when open. I was hoping to find some others who may have come across this or in a similar situation and if they had any issues with their doors as long as they are typically closed while the RTH is running. Or if the doors are open for a short time while getting a vehicle in/out. Someone mentioned a permissive switch that turns the RTH off when doors are open but I have not found much information online. I definitely do not want to cause any damage to the doors but was hoping to run this in the peak. I will be venting horizontally.

 

[Bert_]

If you're worried, turn the heater around. The exhaust end is a lot cooler than the burner end.

 

[elp]

Another option is to use a door sensor relay to control the operation of the RTH. Then your heater can only run if the doors are closed.