Temporary Construction Heating: Maintain the Temperature You Want On Site
Posted by Matt Milos on Dec 12th 2018
In order to keep building in the Mid-West year-round you need some type of temporary construction heating.
We've already discussed the drawbacks to direct and indirect-fired temporary construction heating: high fuel cost, moisture and fume production, and uneven heat distribution. The trouble is that, even if you can overcome these issues, traditional methods still waste valuable time and money just fighting ambient conditions. A common quote for open-flame heat, for example, sets a 10°-15° temperature rise as it's goal. This brings us to the important distinction between raising temperature and maintaining temperature.
There is critical difference between raising and maintaining temperature.
When a heat-source can only raise temperature a certain amount, it means exactly that.
In our example (10°-15°) this can mean from 45° to 60° or it can mean from 10° to 25°. The latter, in particular, is not exactly ideal when you're trying to get a job site warm enough for personnel, let alone for tasks like pouring or curing concrete. In order to boost temperature further, your only option is to get more temporary construction heating units, effectively decimating your fuel budget.
An effective climate control plan means maintaining ideal temperatures.
A heat-source that maintains temperature keeps your job site at a pre-determined level no matter what.
Whether it's 45° or 25° outside you can bring temperature up to 50° and keep it there—no extra units. These systems allow the contractor to choose their ambient conditions instead of being a slave to them.
The right temporary heat can make the difference between fighting conditions and choosing them.
Hydronic climate control is one such system, enabling you to control your building environment.
Just want to stay above freezing? No problem.
Need to stay between 60°-65° for ideal finish-times? You can do just that.
Are you one of those rare people that believes workers are most productive in 70°+ conditions? That's no big feat either!
Hydronic heat allows your to control your conditions for less.
Believe it or not, a hydronic temporary construction heating system can do all this without hurting your budget. Here's why:
The system pumps hot glycol to thermostatically-controlled exchangers around the job site. This not only keeps harmful fumes and humidity away from work areas, but also helps save you money. Unlike traditional heat sources which are either "on" or "off", a hydronic system can go into a standby mode once the glycol has reached the desired temperature. This process lets the system use considerably less fuel than other methods. Compare that to an open-flame heater which could be on for hours and still only heat one room, and that not very well without backup.