Recommend me a 3ph heater

[MattH]

Looking to get a heater for the workshop before the cold weather really starts.

1200 sq/ft unit with a high ceiling. I can't have a gas heater as I need dry air due to all my MDF stock.

I will put in a 32a 3 phase socket for this.

Does anyone have any experience with large electric heaters?

 

[500e]

Oil\ gas to produce hot air hot air
Clark do some 3 phase electric heaters but we have geny for 3 phase

 

[WorkshopChris]

Is this to keep you warm to to keep damp at bay, the Clarke ones are OK but lots of £££ in for not a lot out. What about a indirect oil fired space heater.
If you are in a well sealed building then running a big dehumidifier will help. MDF is fairly tolerant to humidity as long as it not wet or damp.
Do you have heaters in the cabinets with the drives and controllers in they will be more susceptible to the cold than the mdf.
To keep you warm the infrared heater are worth look at.

 

[daleyd]

Never seen many large spaces with electric heating, other than as said above the infra red ones (and occasionally radiant tube type) for more localised heat rather than space heating.

Usually gas or oil fired blower types, I presume that they are the most popular choice because they are the most efficient/cheapest to run?

The gas ones won't be (or shouldn't be) pumping "wet" air into the building, they usually have a flue for combustion products to the outside (i.e. moisture laden air) and a heat exchanger for the inside air.

 

[daleyd]

Something like these are the usual ones I see knocking around in the factories I visit.

http://www.powrmatic.co.uk/products/heating/browse/view/product/cpx-cabinet-heater/#main-content

 

[MattH]

Cheers for the replies guys. It's mainly for keeping us warm rather than the stock or machines. The machines produce enough heat to keep them happy.
I'm not looking at spending the sort of money to install a big fixed system like those linked. And I'm really not interested in oil or gas.
My electricity is fairly cheap and I use loads already so 10 or 20 extra kilowatts is not the end of the world.

Looked at the Clarke units but I'm not convinced. Hanging radiant units might be the key but I don't know where to start looking.

 

[daleyd]

http://www.orionairsales.co.uk/broughton-electric-heaters-3kw-to-100kw-450-c.asp

A company I installed some machinery for used these for some radiant tube heaters a few years ago.

Edit: if you go to their home page there are a lot more options for the type of heaters they supply.

 

[500e]

Hot air is the way to go radiant take time we have 3 in fab shop not that great I must admit, IR to local if you are moving about, blown air heats big aria quickly & relatively cheap
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Combat-In...del-CUHA-A-120-34kW-Heat-Output-/222274808088
Had Combat htrs in our garage sites, life 30 + years
Powermatic is just down the road from us

 

[MattH]

Those gas blown air heaters are all well and good but I don't have a gas supply at the unit and no outside space to store bottles or have a tank.
That means I'd need to keep big cylinders inside the unit and I don't want to do that.

 

[MattH]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9KW-30-70...-Heater-Electric-Tilt-7745-Kcal-/222206313102

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15KW-Industrial-Electric-Fan-Space-Heater-51000-BTU-5000-10000-15000W-Wheels/222206313550?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=2&asc=39272&meid=69d9f77966d34adbb14756bff3bc51ab&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=112156477654

Either of them any good @MattH ??

That's the kind of thing I was looking at, just hoping someone had some experience with them. Looking around a bit more the radiant heat units might be a better bet. Put a couple of 4.5Kw units in the right spots.

 

[knighty]

That's the kind of thing I was looking at, just hoping someone had some experience with them. Looking around a bit more the radiant heat units might be a better bet. Put a couple of 4.5Kw units in the right spots.

I've got a 5kw one of those... it's pretty rubbish, if you're working in one spot and have it pointing straight at you it takes the chill off the air... slightly...

would be great for heating a room/office etc.. but useless in a factory unit / large workshop

if you've got loads of wood, do you have much scrap wood ? you can get blown air wood burners for factory units... a bit like the gas ones linked above but have a big firebox instead

I've got a gas blown air heater in a unit about 10m x 12m, it's 20kw and does take the chill off the place... but takes all day to get the place 'warm'
(unit isn't well insulated at all, and 8x4ft door is open a lot)

cheap electric here too because we use a shed load... but 20kw of heaters = ~£2.40/hour to run so easy £100 a week... always irks spending money with no return on it

 

[WorkshopChris]

if you've got loads of wood, do you have much scrap wood ? you can get blown air wood burners for factory units... a bit like the gas ones linked above but have a big firebox instead

Could get nasty with mdf, i burn it occasionally and carefully.
You get a building and very intense burn getting hotter as it gases off then turns to a type of charcoal and you get a nice steady burn for a while.

Have seen it blow a shut but not locked door open on a Talbotts wood burner and shoot 6 foot ball of gas flame out of the front, not what you want in a dusty workshop.
http://www.talbotts.co.uk/product-range/

Forgot as ask last night Matt is your dust extraction inside or outside of the building.

 

[Burdekin]

Heatrae do a wet electric boiler for radiators.

 

[MattH]

Could get nasty with mdf, i burn it occasionally and carefully.
You get a building and very intense burn getting hotter as it gases off then turns to a type of charcoal and you get a nice steady burn for a while.

Have seen it blow a shut but not locked door open on a Talbotts wood burner and shoot 6 foot ball of gas flame out of the front, not what you want in a dusty workshop.
http://www.talbotts.co.uk/product-range/

Forgot as ask last night Matt is your dust extraction inside or outside of the building.

Indeed, all our scrap is mdf so not ideal to burn.

All our extraction is inside but the dust levels are very low as is required with mdf.

 

[WorkshopChris]

When we were running the big cnc and edgebander on production, you could get the workshop reasonably warm and within 3 min's the extraction had sucked all the warm air out the building.

 

[MattH]

Lol, I'd not considered that. My main extrator is rated at 2000M3/hr and runs 8hrs a day, so if it was outside as you say warm air wouldn't stand a chance.

 

[WorkshopChris]

We have a woodwork shed at home with a 2000w camvac extractor, in the summer it vents to outside and in the winter we let it vent inside.
The 3" outlet feels just like a hairdryer on low. With all the insulation it soon warms up.

 

[WorkshopChris]

one of those each and a pile of generic milwaukee 12V batteries? might work out cheaper and still warm if outside

Does anyone have any experience of these have been thinking about 1 for dad he gets cold quick from blood thinning tablets.

 

[MattH]

My extractors are all industrial cyclone units with large paper element air filters so don't really put out much heat.

The 7.5kw vacuum pumps however put out a nice warm stream of air but it would take all day for them to take the chill off.

 

[WorkshopChris]

The 7.5kw vacuum pumps however put out a nice warm stream of air but it would take all day for them to take the chill off.

A lot of the bigger compressors are now coming with heat recovery options to help them get green points, at one time there were all sorts of interest free grants for anything energy saving.