radiant tube heater questions?

[littleboss]

What angle do hanging radiant tube heaters cover? For example if i hang a heater at 12' high, how much floor does that cover? My shop is 40' wide and thinking about hanging a 30' tube down the middle.
Coverage for 12' high vs 14' high?
Is the only heat from one of these the area underneath it or does the heat spread farther out past the angle that the heat hits?
My thought is using a radiant tube down the middle to keep the concrete floor around 60-65 degrees as I hate working on a cold concrete floor and then either a wood stove or forced air furnace to help heat the rest.

 

[woodfirenewbie]

AFAIK each radiant heater is going to be slightly different depending on the reflector and the diameter of the burner tube. The manual for a given unit may contain that information around the section for minimum distance to combustibles. Either way, radiant or forced air, the space will be heated according to your tstat -- just two different ways of getting there.

 

[littleboss]

I just found a good chart. Basically the radiation pattern from side to side is your mounting height x 2.2
https://spaceray.com/ltu-series-low...t-infrared-tube-heaters/#technicalinformation

 

[woodfirenewbie]

Nice find!

 

[4x4Pete]

If you keep the heater set to a temperature and you're well insulated the spread doesn't matter too much. My 30x32x12 has on along the back 32' width. The front isn't cold enough to notice a difference. I keep it set to 70° all winter.

 

[jblnut]

Our old shop had one mounted in the corner where the wall met the ceiling and it worked very well. 40x60x15' ish ceiling height. Things under it got warmer than the things at the other side of the shop but it was better than working in a snow bank !!

 

[Fueler]

What angle do hanging radiant tube heaters cover? For example if i hang a heater at 12' high, how much floor does that cover? My shop is 40' wide and thinking about hanging a 30' tube down the middle.
Coverage for 12' high vs 14' high?
Is the only heat from one of these the area underneath it or does the heat spread farther out past the angle that the heat hits?
My thought is using a radiant tube down the middle to keep the concrete floor around 60-65 degrees as I hate working on a cold concrete floor and then either a wood stove or forced air furnace to help heat the rest.

It doesn't take long but everything in the shop will soak up the heat and radiate against each other. I have proven that it even goes around corners. Once everything is saturated including the floor the tube doesn't have to run all that often unless you open and close doors...a lot. In my 40 x 40 at about the 11 foot mark (12 foot rafters) I used 2 tubes to spread it out. Turned out to be the right move. The west and north side are open to the winter wind. Consequently that side needs a little more help. Together and at slightly different settings I get the same temp anywhere in the shop. No, I don't reduce the temp at night. Stays nice and steady that way.
As long as the wind is not a factor (pole barn) it might come on for a while 3 or 4 times a day. Never stayed up all night to see what happens when the lights are off and no work or machines are running.
When they say put the burner end near the big door or cold side they mean it.

One tube might do it depending on your location and nasty weather but it will be on longer than 2 and may not get the even spread you hope for.

I wonder if anyone has tried a cross corner mounting?

Forced air. Nope Stove: some danger in a car shop with flammables. Nope

 

[littleboss]

It doesn't take long but everything in the shop will soak up the heat and radiate against each other. I have proven that it even goes around corners. Once everything is saturated including the floor the tube doesn't have to run all that often unless you open and close doors...a lot. In my 40 x 40 at about the 11 foot mark (12 foot rafters) I used 2 tubes to spread it out. Turned out to be the right move. The west and north side are open to the winter wind. Consequently that side needs a little more help. Together and at slightly different settings I get the same temp anywhere in the shop. No, I don't reduce the temp at night. Stays nice and steady that way.
As long as the wind is not a factor (pole barn) it might come on for a while 3 or 4 times a day. Never stayed up all night to see what happens when the lights are off and no work or machines are running.
When they say put the burner end near the big door or cold side they mean it.

One tube might do it depending on your location and nasty weather but it will be on longer than 2 and may not get the even spread you hope for.

I wonder if anyone has tried a cross corner mounting?

Forced air. Nope Stove: some danger in a car shop with flammables. Nope

You don't think an infrared heater that gets over 1000 degrees won't ignite fumes?

 

[tymbo]

mine has a outside air intake/exhaust so is totally isolated from indoor air.

 

[littleboss]

mine has a outside air intake/exhaust so is totally isolated from indoor air.

How's that work? Doesn't the infrared part get over 1000 degrees. It could ignite any vapors?

 

[Bert_]

I think the implication was that a wood stove or similar has an open flame near floor level. The tube heater will get hot but no open flame and it is near the ceiling. Gas fumes will settle since they are heavier than air.

 

[Mr onetwo]

I tell this to anyone who asks these questions...first thing get an accurate, honest heat loss study done before you buy any equipment. Without that everything else is a waste of time.

 

[mikedodge]

Mine runs down the middle of the room. You feel the most heat directly under it when it's running but other then that once the room is heated up no area feels warner then another.

 

[tymbo]

How's that work? Doesn't the infrared part get over 1000 degrees. It could ignite any vapors?

The flame inside the tube may be 1000 degrees, but the tube itself is not. My heater is in a wood shop, so the tube would get sawdust settled on top of it. Never hot enough to ignite it. If I had to guess, I would say the tube itself only gets to maybe 250 degrees. Maybe someone with one of those laser temperature guns could measure the actual temp.

 

[littleboss]

The flame inside the tube may be 1000 degrees, but the tube itself is not. My heater is in a wood shop, so the tube would get sawdust settled on top of it. Never hot enough to ignite it. If I had to guess, I would say the tube itself only gets to maybe 250 degrees. Maybe someone with one of those laser temperature guns could measure the actual temp.

Thanks. Since you have one- anything you particularly like or don't like about the heater? My main reason to get one was so the concrete slab wouldn't be so cold.

 

[Buckgnarly]

The flame inside the tube may be 1000 degrees, but the tube itself is not. My heater is in a wood shop, so the tube would get sawdust settled on top of it. Never hot enough to ignite it. If I had to guess, I would say the tube itself only gets to maybe 250 degrees. Maybe someone with one of those laser temperature guns could measure the actual temp.

I check my temps with an IR gun, they are WELL above 250 but never more than 1k. Longest run I have had after an open door gives about 7 to 800 at the burner, about 150 at the vent pipe. This is a straight shot 20' 80k that ran for about an hour.