Sunnyheat Infrared panels in church

As you may know, it's nearly impossible to heat a church. However, there is now a solution available by using far infrared heating panels made by Sunnyheat!

Sunnyheat infrared heating panels were installed in a church in Namen (Namur) in Belgium. On the pictures you can see that the panels were mounted on iron arms that can be moved around to position the panels above church goers. The panels are mounted on a height of 3 meters.

Here the priest chose to use iron arms. You can also have steel cables that go across the ship of the church and hang the panels in between them.

Instead of heating the church with conventional heating methods, which will heat the air, with these infrared panels you heat the people and the surfaces (like the tiled floor) below.

Sunnyheat Infrared panels hanging 3 meter above people

The people get the feel of the warmth of the sun, without the air being heated. The panels will be put on a half hour before the service and turned off straight after. Total running cost per panel is then maximum 2kw per hour per panel. Obviously you only turn on the panels where people are seated, other panels can be left off.

Each large panel (60x120) covers an area of 15 to 20m2. Panels are only placed above area where people are seated, about 3 meters above peoples heads.

Bikram Yoga and Sunnyheat

This test was performed in a Sportsschool in Hilversum Holland.

With Bikram Yoga you need a floor with a temperature of 40 degrees celcius.

In this room (42 square meter) we installed 6 large panels (60cm x 120cm) in a suspended ceiling. The floor was quick step laminate.

After 1 hour of heating up (before the session) ground floor temperatures of 40 degrees were measured.

The power consumption during the first hour was: 6x2000watt, the next hour (during the session) was 6x1000W. In total the consumption was 18kW, which cost a total of 18*15ct = 2 euro 70 ct.

The beauty of the system is that you can group panels, so when you have a small group, you only put on one group, there is no need to heat up the complete room!

Also, the room is not 'stuffy', because no air is being moved around.

Sunnyheat infrared heating panels in pheasantry farm

Sunnyheat Panels in Pheasantry Farm

The rooms where the pheasants are raised were heated during the months of May and July 2010. The performance of the Sunnyheat panels was monitored for a period of 6 weeks starting from July 2010.

Each room where the young pheasants are reared measures 12 meters in length by 4,5 meters wide (total surface is 54 m2), the height of each room is approximately 2 meters. The facility has 7 rooms; three are heated with a number of electric heaters without regulation, ranging from 5 to 7 heaters per room.Three rooms are heated with two bell-shaped heaters with regulation  and one room was heated using three Sunnyheat panels.

Electric heaters without regulation

Bell shaped heater with regulation

It is essential that the young birds have a temperature of at least 33 °C on the floor during the first two weeks in which they are in the rooms. The temperature should not be constant throughout the room but it is sufficient that the birds can gather in a warmer area (the surface of this area was kept between 2 and 4 m2. After the first two weeks the panels were programmed to maintain a temperature of 28 °C on the bedding below them, while the temperature in the surroundings was maintained between 24 and 26 °C. The electricity consumption of the different heating systems (heaters without regulation, bell-shaped heaters and panels) was measured using a digital Watt meters connected between the plug and source of electricity.


The temperature in all of the rooms was kept between 30 and 33 °C during the first two weeks, and between 24 and 28 °C during the remaining four weeks.
 
RESULTS


At the end of the six weeks in which the consumption of the different heaters was monitored the results recorded were the following:
- consumption of 1 bell-shaped heater over six weeks continuous operation: 465 kW
- consumption of 1 Sunnyheat panel over six weeks continuous operation: 188 kW
- It was found that all three Sunnyheat panels consumed in total ± 100 kW/week
- All heaters without regulation consumed together between 400 and 500 kW/week
- The bell-shaped heaters consumed in total ± 200 kW/week
Based on these results the use of Sunnyheat panels at the pheasant farm of Luhy (Czech Republic) has the potential of halving the energy consumption for the pheasant rearing compared to the bell-shaped heaters currently in use. When compared to the small heaters without regulation, Sunnyheat panels could reduce the consumption by three fourth (3/4) of the current consumption.


NOTES


It should be noted that the insulation of the rooms were the pheasants are reared could be improved by adding glass-wool material between the ceiling and roof, as well as on part of the walls. This operation has been estimated to be relatively low-cost (return to investment within 1 year), and would further lower the energy needed to heat the rooms by 20%. Furthermore, the results shown should take into account the fact that the spring of this year (2010) has been exceptionally cold in the location of the pheasant farm, and that it can be expected that the energy consumption for heating the rooms will be lower in those years were a normal temperature range occurs.


No significant differences in health of the birds was observed in the different heating conditions but the employee working at the farm observed a better quality of the air in the room heated with Sunnyheat panels.


It is advised to cover the panels in a way that the birds cannot sit on top of the panels.