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Commercial · Infrared Tube Heater Installation & RepairInfrared Tube Heater Installation & Repair
Infrared tube heater installation is the right call for a building with a high ceiling or dock doors that open all day, because a low-intensity gas-fired tube heater warms the floor, the product and the people directly instead of heating air that rises to the roof or leaves through the door. Installation is governed by CSA B149.1 and the heater's certified clearances, and repair calls come down to six parts: igniter, pressure switch, tube, reflector, vacuum fan and gas valve. A tube that has burnt through or sagged is a shut-it-off fault, not one to leave until spring.
Three kinds of gas heater hang in warehouses and shops, and they work differently. A low-intensity tube heater fires a burner into a steel tube, usually about 100 mm across, and a polished reflector above the tube throws the infrared heat downward; it comes as a straight run or as a U-tube that doubles back so the hot and cooler legs sit side by side. A high-intensity heater burns gas on a ceramic face that glows orange, runs unvented, and suits spot heat and very high bays. A unit heater blows warm air, which costs less to buy and works well in a low, closed room; those are covered on the commercial unit heater page.
Radiant wins where warm air cannot be kept. Under a high roof, heated air stratifies at the deck while the floor stays cold, and every time a dock door opens the warm air leaves and has to be bought again. A tube heater warms the slab, the racking and the people under it, and the slab keeps giving that heat back after the door closes. The rule we use: the higher the ceiling and the more hours the doors stand open, the stronger the case for tube heaters, while a low, tight, partitioned space is usually better served by a unit heater or a furnace.
CSA B149.1, the natural gas and propane installation code adopted in Ontario, and the manufacturer's certified instructions decide where a tube heater can go. Clearances to combustibles are listed on the rating plate for the top, the sides, the ends and below, and they are largest near the burner end. Where product can be stacked under a heater, signs have to be posted stating the maximum stacking height, because a building that is safe on installation day becomes unsafe the day someone racks pallets one tier higher. Over vehicles, the clearance is measured to the top of the tallest vehicle, including one raised on a hoist.
Tube heaters are normally vented through the roof or a side wall, with combustion air ducted in from outside where the shop air is dusty, humid or carries solvent or welding fumes. Where the manufacturer and the code permit unvented operation, as with high-intensity heaters, the building needs mechanical exhaust sized to the total heater input and electrically interlocked so the burners cannot fire unless the fan is running. Mounting height comes from the manufacturer's table for the heater's input, and each area gets its own thermostat, since docks, storage aisles and work benches rarely want the same temperature. The gas connection is a listed flexible connector installed in the shape the manual shows, because a long tube grows as it heats and a rigid connection would be strained.
Repair calls follow a short list. The igniter or spark electrode fails, the gas valve stops opening, or the pressure switch refuses to close because the vacuum fan is weak, the tube or vent is blocked, or a spider has nested in the sensing hose or burner orifice over the summer. The first tube section after the burner runs hottest and eventually burns through, hangers stretch until a tube sags, and reflectors knocked by a lift truck end up aiming heat at the roof. The no-ignition case is walked through step by step in why a radiant tube heater will not ignite.
We publish no flat price for a tube heater, because the installed cost depends on the heater's length and input, the gas line run and its sizing, the vent route, the mounting height and whether a lift is needed, and the wiring for thermostats and interlocks. Installation and repair are gas work done by TSSA-licensed technicians out of our shop on North Service Road in Burlington, and the price is in writing before anything is ordered. Whole-building heating and ventilation for this kind of space is on the warehouse and industrial HVAC page and the overview is at commercial HVAC. The quickest way to a quote is to send the shop the ceiling height, the number of doors and a photo of the gas meter.
Equipment we install and service
A burner box, a run of steel tube and an aluminum reflector, hung on chains. A straight tube is hottest at the burner and coolest at the vent, so it is laid out with the burner end toward the door or the outside wall; a U-tube evens that out over a squarer area such as a work cell.
A glowing ceramic surface with a much higher surface temperature and a tight heat pattern, used for spot heat at a dock door or in bays too high for a tube. They burn unvented, so the exhaust interlock and larger clearances come with them.
The serviceable heart of the heater: igniter and flame sensor, gas valve, pressure switch and the fan that either pushes air through the tube or pulls it from the vent end. A large share of no-heat calls are solved inside this box without touching the tube.
The parts nobody looks at until the heat pattern changes. Tubes should hang level or at the slope the manual gives, couplings should be tight, and reflectors should sit square over the tube with their end caps on; a dull, dented or tilted reflector wastes fuel all winter.
What goes wrong in these buildings
- The heater clicks and the fan starts, then it shuts down without ever lighting.
- It is warm under the first few metres of tube and cold at the far end of the bay.
- Gas use is up and the dock crew still works in parkas whenever the doors are open.
- The insurer's inspector wrote us up for pallets stacked too close under the heaters.
- There is a scorched, flaking patch on the tube just past the burner.
- One thermostat runs every heater in the building, so the storage side is hot and the dock is not.
How it works
We measure the building, note ceiling height, door positions, racking and anything combustible, and place heaters so their patterns overlap where people work and their clearances stay free. The layout sets the inputs, tube lengths, mounting height, vent routes and thermostat zones, and it is the basis of the written quote.
Heaters are hung on chain from structure that can carry them, piped with a shut-off and a flexible connector at each burner, vented, and wired to their thermostats. Clearance signs go up wherever stock can be stacked, and the gas line and meter capacity are checked against the added load before the heaters are connected.
Each burner is fired and checked for gas pressure, ignition, flame signal and pressure-switch operation, and any exhaust interlock is proven by stopping the fan and watching the burners drop out. You receive the start-up readings, the clearance and stacking limits in writing, and a recommendation for a check before each heating season.
Common questions
How high does an infrared tube heater have to be mounted?
The minimum height comes from the manufacturer's table for that model and input, not from a single rule: larger inputs need more height so the floor below is not overheated. The clearance below the tube to anything combustible, including stored product and vehicles, also has to be kept at all times. If the ceiling is too low for the heater you were quoted, a lower-input heater is the fix.
Is it safe to run a tube heater with a hole burnt in the tube?
No. Turn it off at the thermostat and close the gas shut-off at the heater. A burnt-through tube lets flame and combustion products into the building, upsets the draft the pressure switch relies on, and can put radiant heat where the clearances never allowed for it. The first tube section is replaceable on most models, so the repair is usually a section and couplings, not a whole heater.
Why does our tube heater light and then shut off after a few seconds?
Lighting and then dropping out points to flame sensing or airflow, not the igniter. Common causes are a dirty or misplaced flame sensor, a poor ground, gas pressure that sags when other equipment fires, or a pressure switch that opens once the tube heats up. Repeated resets fix none of these, and the control will usually lock out after a set number of tries.
Can tube heaters be installed over racking or stored product?
Yes, provided the certified clearance below the heater is kept to the top of the highest stored item and signs are posted stating the maximum stacking height. In practice that means agreeing the top-of-load height with the warehouse manager before the heaters are placed. Where racking runs close to the roof, heaters go over the aisles instead, tilted only as far as the manufacturer allows.
Related
Keep the building running.
One licensed team for installs, maintenance contracts and 2 AM calls.