Heating Shops

For simplicity, we will divide the answer to this question into three sections: capital cost, installation cost and running costs. We have assumed that we are dealing with a conventional, single-story, high-street shop – for larger premises there will be other considerations and we strongly suggest that you call BN Thermic to discuss your specific requirements.

Capital Costs

The first consideration is to select a reliable shop heating manufacturer. Cheap imported options may look attractive but selecting an unreliable heating system from a company without a track record of providing excellent customer support is a false economy.

Secondly, you will need to select the most appropriate technology.  For most high street shops, we suggest electric fan heaters such as our SCHG ceiling heaters. Fan heaters of this type provide excellent value for money as a single, compact heater can provide an output of up to 6kW.  The most obvious alternative to fan haters is to install infrared radiant ceiling panels such as our RP3 range. This style of heating is always recommended where the noise associated with fan heaters is unacceptable but, as the output from each heater is significantly lower, the capital cost is inevitably higher.

Installation Costs

A well-designed heating system with all the required control devices incorporated will keep installation time to a minimum.  BN Thermic’s SystemX range is ideal for shop heating and was specifically developed to meet this requirement. Rather than relying on the installer to design a control system and to provide an array of external components (such as thermostats, contactors and junction boxes), SystemX ensures error-free, super-fast, plug-and-play installation. Heating control is provided by a single, wall-mounted controller and all control connections are using data cable. This means that rather than spending many hours connecting individual cables to a series of terminal blocks, the installer just has to ‘click’ a few data cable plugs into the ports provided in the controller and the heaters.

Running Costs

Ever-increasing electricity prices mean that limiting running costs is a critical consideration. Every possible measure should be taken to reduce heat loss from the premises including keeping doors and windows shut whenever possible, insulating suspended ceilings, fitting secondary glazing etc.

Focussing more on the shop heating system itself, accurate electronic thermostatic control will also help to limit running costs. This can be provided by a device such as the SystemX CX6 programmable thermostat. The CX6 combines very accurate temperature control with a 7-day programmable timer, eliminating the possibility of the heating system being left ‘on’ outside business hours. The CX6 also offers three additional energy-saving features.

• Screen locks prevent unauthorised personnel from adjusting temperature set points
• The adaptive start feature reduces heat-up times by calculating at what time the heating system needs to be switched ‘on’ to achieve the desired temperature.
• Logical heat control reduces heater output as the temperature nears the temperature set-point and in doing so prevents excessive temperature overshoot.

Carrying out a detailed heat loss calculation for a shop can be a very complicated and involved process. However, if you are looking for a ‘ballpark figure’, here is a rule of thumb you can use.

For a typical high street shop with a gazed front and a 2.4m suspended ceiling, we find that providing 150W per square metre of floor area is adequate. So for example, a shop with a floor area of 5m x 10m would need around 7.5kW of heating (5m x 10m x 150W/m² = 7500W).

For a more accurate estimate, you might like to use our heat loss tool.

Please bear in mind that installing more kWs than is necessary will not increase your running costs, assuming you have selected a suitable thermostat such as the SystemX CX6.

We understand that in a retail environment floor and wall space is at a premium. For this reason, we have developed a range of ceiling-mounted fan heaters which are widely used for shop heating. The SCHG range is designed for installation into a suspended ceiling whereas the SMH range is for use with a conventional ceiling.

Ceiling-mounted infrared heaters such as BN Thermic’s RP3 radiant ceiling panels range are also used to heat shops, especially when the noise associated with commercial fan heaters is not acceptable.

We are aware that there is a wide variety of pews both in style and size. If you would like BN Thermic to assist with pew heater selection and to calculate the running cost, please do not hesitate to call our experienced and friendly engineers.

In ‘high-end’ retail outlets, the noise that inevitably accompanies commercial fan heaters is undesirable. In these circumstances ceiling-mounted infrared radiant ceiling panels are ideal. BN Thermic’s RP3 range can be incorporated into a suspended ceiling grid or mounted directly onto a conventional ceiling using the bracket provided.

Infrared radiant ceiling panels provide an efficient and silent means of heating a shop. However because the output from each panel is considerably lower than the output from a ceiling-mounted commercial fan heater, the capital and installation costs of a radiant system are considerably higher.

In our experience, infrared heating in shops comes into its own in ‘high-end’ outlets where silent operation is critical.

Overdoor heaters (sometimes called over-door heaters or just simply door heaters) and commercial air curtains are often installed above a shop door. These devices can provide a warm welcome to customers, mitigate against cold draughts and create an invisible barrier across the doorway limiting heat losses. Depending on the size of the door, outputs from these devices can vary from 3kW to 13.5kW and in smaller premises may provide all the heat required. However, overdoor heaters are more commonly used in conjunction with ceiling-mounted fan heaters.