Significant savings in energy consumption and operating costs are being achieved at the Stanley Black & Decker Northampton depot, following the installation of a new Schwank gas fired infrared radiant heating system.
This replaced an existing 21-heater warm air system and has created four separate heating zones. Allocating heating accurately to specific areas ensures that the workforce has ideal comfortable working temperatures exactly where they’re needed, with Schwank’s ThermoControl Plus M intelligent heating control system playing an integral role in temperature management.
The 19 state-of-the-art infraSchwank 50U radiant tube heaters, six without flues, are installed at one metre beneath the roof, maximizing heating benefits throughout the building. During 2013, the previous warm air system had consumed just over 2 million Kwh to achieve an operating temperature of 13ºC. With the installation of the new Schwank system, the figures for 2014 were down to 1.06 million Kwh while achieving midwinter working temperatures of up to 22ºC. Racking areas are maintained at temperatures from 16ºC to 18ºC.
Lee Hurley, Stanley Black & Decker Business Support Manager said that products stocked at the Northampton depot range from the full complement of Stanley Black & Decker screwdrivers to electronic components, Lithium Ion Batteries and chemical resins all requiring careful temperature control.
“Our tests have shown that this system is working very efficiently. For instance, carbon monoxide emissions at burner level have been shown to be only 0.001 parts per million while at ground level it is zero parts per million. The energy savings compared with our former heating system are excellent, with really significant cost and environmental benefits being achieved.”
Because infrared heating systems transmit heat by means of electromagnetic waves, air movements due to open doors have only a very limited impact on the comfortable indoor temperature. Stanley Black & Decker’s distribution centre is 14,132 square metres in area, with an operating height of 14.4 metres, and has 21 loading bay doors. Schwank’s gas-fired infrared heating systems provide the solution for heating this type of indoor space efficiently, maintaining desired temperatures even when loading bay doors are open.
Schwank engineers carried out the entire project using Stanley Black & Decker tools exclusively. Lee Hurley commented: “Schwank was extremely efficient with the installation, which took only three weeks including a week for decommissioning. The whole process was made incredibly easy and trouble-free for us.”
Email: sales@schwank.co.uk
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