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A decade ago, Nate Ray moved from Arizona to North Dakota, which was a little like jumping from the frying pan to the freezer. Ray learned to love his new home state and became an official North Dakotan after surviving his first winter.
“In the spring, when the sun comes out and it’s like 25 degrees, you walk outside and say, ‘Wow, it feels pretty good out here,’” he said with a laugh. “At that point, you know you’ve adjusted.”
For the last two years, Ray has been sharing warmth from the EquipmentShareTM branch in Williston, a town in the northwest corner of the state. Until his recent promotion to district operations manager, Ray was the branch’s Advanced Solutions general manager. He quickly became an expert on the heaters that keep his region’s oil fields and construction sites busy all year.
“We start planning for it and talking to customers about heaters in the middle of summer,” he said. “Normally, October and November is when we start putting them out on rent, and they stay out until April or May.”
The climate probably isn’t quite so chilly in your part of the country, but for anyone who builds, manufactures or drills where the temperatures can dip below freezing, the right heaters can help you stay productive throughout the winter.
With information from a trio of EquipmentShare heating experts — Ray, Midwest District Sales Manager Justin Wann and Climate Control Product Manager Joe Gallagher — this guide will cover the main categories of temporary heaters, their uses and the factors you should consider. You can find these heaters for rent at EquipmentShare, and, just as important, you can find an Advanced Solutions professional to help you select, install and safely get the most from your heater.
Types of Heaters
Direct fired heaters
Description: Direct fired heaters pull in outside air and push air across an open flame. This hot air is then blown straight into a space that needs to be heated. They are often shaped like a cylinder — some versions are called torpedo heaters or salamander heaters. These heaters can generate warmth for a well-ventilated area. A distinct kind of direct fired heater called a makeup air heater has baffling to cover the flame and is often used in the construction industry when the building envelope is somewhat loose. Because these heaters pull 100% outside air, they will help pressurize a space and deter air from entering the space.
Common uses: Construction (Warm an area to pour concrete for slab-on-grade and slab-on-deck foundations; warm workers in the early phases of the building process before a structure is tightly sealed.) Industrial (Keep employees comfortable in areas where bay doors have to remain open.)
Advantages and limitations: Direct fired heaters deliver a lot of BTUs for the buck. They can only be used in well-ventilated spaces and never in enclosed buildings or in areas like oil fields where flammable gases could be present.
Expert commentary: “In the early stages of construction, sometimes you run into a situation where the exterior is up and for the most part enclosed,” Wann said. “Windows may not be in yet, but they are tarped to prevent outside air from entering the space, and temporary doors are hung to do the same. In this situation, you’re probably going to use makeup air. The heater sits outside, so it’s pulling in outside air and forcing it into the building through a metal duct. After properly sizing, these units will heat the space to the customer’s desired temp, all the while ensuring the space remains pressurized. This is extremely beneficial at this stage of the build.”
Indirect fired heaters
Description: Indirect fired heaters draw air from inside a space, pull it over a stainless steel heating element and then blow the heated air back into the space. Typically, they are placed outside a building and pull return air through ductwork. However, they also can be used inside a space as long as the flues are ducted out of the building to prevent asphyxiation.
Common uses: Construction (Provide heat during the middle to latter stages of construction when a building’s envelope is fairly tight.) Industrial and commercial (Temporarily heat buildings after heating systems have failed.)
Advantages and limitations: Indirect fired heaters have high static ratings, meaning the blower can push warm air through a large amount of duct work. This type of heater has become very popular over the last five to seven years due to its ability to pull return air vs. 100% outside air. By pulling a return, you ultimately reduce the amount of BTUs needed for a space, which leads to a large reduction in fuel consumption.
Expert commentary: “They’re so versatile,” Gallagher said of indirect-fired heaters. “You can move the air in and out of the building whether the building is sealed or not sealed, and you don’t have to worry about emissions.”
Hydronic Surface Heaters
Description: Hydronic surface heaters include a heating unit and a long roll of hose. The hose is spread across the targeted area, and heated glycol fluid is circulated through the hose to heat the surface. They are also known as ground-thaw systems (GTS).
Common uses: Construction (Thaw the ground to dig and pour concrete; pair with concrete blankets to keep fresh concrete warm while it cures.) Industrial (Heat water for mixing concrete; heat chemicals for production processes.) Petroleum (Keep wellheads and frac tanks warm.)
Advantages and limitations: Hydronic surface heaters allow contractors to do site work through the winter. To cure thick slabs of concrete, cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) tubes can be placed directly in the concrete, manifolded together and connected to the heater. The hot glycol running through the PEX tubes will help the concrete cure, and when it’s finished, the PEX tubes are cut off at the edges of the concrete.
Expert commentary: “A typical application for a ground thaw heater is when a contractor has dug out an area to pour concrete but they can’t pour concrete due to the ground being frozen,” Wann said. “So they’ll take this unit, run the hoses back and forth on the ground with 12-inch spacing, and warm the area prior to their pour. When they do concrete curing, they’ll run the hose with 18-inch spacing, and then they’ll put concrete blankets over the top of it. This process helps the concrete cure despite the ambient temperature.”
Flameless Heaters
Description: Flameless heaters include a diesel engine, which powers two friction plates that rub together to create heat. A key feature is a butterfly valve that shuts down the engine if it starts to take in combustible air.
Common uses: Petroleum (Warm people, buildings and equipment on sites where flammable chemicals could be in the air.)
Advantages and limitations: They are safe to use on oil and natural gas extraction sites. Flameless heaters also could be used in any scenario in which an indirect-fired heater is used.
Expert commentary: “When you talk about these sites that have any number of chemicals floating around in the air, a situation can arise where the engine begins taking in a second fuel source, which allows the engine to ‘run away,’” Ray said. “So that’s why in the oil fields they want these heaters with a friction-driven heat plate. The air passes over the heat plate, and the hot air pushes out on the workers, whether it’s on the bottom of an oil derrick or if they’re heating a building on-site. We’ve also had customers use them to thaw pipes on the bottom of rig houses.”
Electric Heaters
Description: Electric heaters blow air over a series of electric coils and into the space they’re heating. Depending on their size, they could use a 120-volt, 240-volt or 480-volt power source. Some versions are known as shipyard heaters because of their frequent use in that industry.
Common uses: Manufacturing (Provide temporary heat for indoor facilities.) Events (Keep tents warm with minimal noise.) Construction (Control temperatures for building additions and renovations in locations with an established power source.)
Advantages and limitations: Because they run on electricity instead of fuel, electric heaters have no emissions and add no moisture to the space they’re heating. They require access to a powerful source of electricity, which can limit their usage in new construction. They are not as cost-effective as fuel-powered heaters because of the amount of energy required to operate them.
Expert commentary: “I’ve provided electric heaters to auto assembly plants, auto parts manufacturing facilities, food-and-beverage manufacturers, data centers — any facility that has a lot of power at their disposal,” Wann said. “Electric heaters are great because you can put them inside or up in racks and you don’t have to worry about venting flue gasses or emissions, because there aren’t any. You just hook them up to power, ensuring the cables are in a safe area and out of the way, and let them heat the space.”
Central Heating Units and Hydro Heat Pros
Description: Central heating units (CHUs) are portable hot water heaters. They tie into a building’s existing boiler system to heat and circulate nonpotable water to heat the building. Hydro heat pros (HHPs) are similar, but they have two heat exchangers on the back so they can connect with potable or nonpotable water systems — or both at the same time.
Common uses: Industrial (CHUs and HHPs heat buildings while the permanent boiler is down, and they heat and circulate water or other fluids for manufacturing processes.) Construction (CHUs and HHPs can provide heat to high-rise buildings where it’s impractical to duct heat into a space.) Commercial (HHPs provide hot water for drinking, cleaning and bathing.)
Advantages and limitations: CHUs and HHPs can both temporarily replace a failed hot water heater. Hydro heat pros are more versatile because of their two heat exchangers.
Expert commentary: “In the rental world, there’s not a lot of potable hot water solutions where you can tie into a potable system and create hot water,” Wann said. “So let’s use a hotel for an example. When a hotel loses its source of heat for potable water, no one can take showers and the kitchen has to close down. Well, on the hydro heat pros, you have an exchanger specifically for potable water. With that unit, you can plug into their system and they’re back up and running, people can take showers and the kitchen can stay open. The same goes for food-and-beverage manufacturing.”
Choosing the Right Fuel for Your Heater
Some heaters run on diesel, some run on natural gas or propane and some run on any of the three fuels. How to choose?
Price is one factor. Natural gas is generally the cheapest fuel, but using it requires access to gas lines. Propane is the next cheapest, followed by diesel.
“In most situations, if the customer has access to natural gas, they’ll choose that,” Wann said. “The second choice, if they can’t get natural gas, is usually propane. Diesel is usually their last option. However, some customers don’t feel comfortable with propane on their jobsites. It’s a worry for them, so they go with diesel.”
Choosing the Right Sized Heater
The ratings of fuel-sourced heaters are measured in BTU — British thermal units. One BTU is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one pound of 39-degree water by 1 degree. To give you an idea of scale, EquipmentShare’s smallest direct fired heater produces 115,000 BTU, while the largest cranks out 2.5 million BTU.
The best way to figure out the exact size and quantity of heaters you need for your job is to let an EquipmentShare Advanced Solutions heating professional assess the situation and give you the right solution. Here are some of the factors at play:
- Availability of electric power.
- Availability of fuel sources.
- Preferred location of the heaters — indoors or outdoors.
- Length, width and height of the space.
- Desired temperature.
- Expected outside temperature.
- The insulation R-values of the walls and roof.
“Ultimately, after we input the data into a BTU calculator and we account for all of the factors that need to be looked at, we determine the amount of BTUs needed to heat the space to the desired conditions the customer has provided us,” Wann said. “We are engineering a tailored solution for the customer for every project.”
The output of an electric heater is often measured in kilowatts (kW). EquipmentShare’s electric heaters range from 1.5 kW to 150 kW. To convert kW to BTU, take the kW number and multiply it by 3,412.
An EquipmentShare Advanced Solutions sales rep can help you determine the size and number of electric heaters you need for your job.
Why Choose EquipmentShare for Heaters?
Newer equipment: Warming up cold air is hard work, and heaters often reach retirement age in eight years. The vast majority of EquipmentShare’s heaters are just getting started.
“EquipmentShare’s Advanced Solutions division is in its third year, and our equipment is so new, the reliability is going to be better than you can get with some competitors,” Gallagher said. “The average age of our Advanced Solutions equipment is right around 2 years old. That makes a huge difference.”
Plus, EquipmentShare’s heaters are equipped with T3TM telematics, which allows users to monitor the locations of all their heaters.
Expert guidance: EquipmentShare’s Advanced Solutions pros can walk you through all the factors to consider before you decide on the size, type and quantity of heaters for your job.
“The biggest thing customers need to expect if they haven’t done this before is they’re going to be asked questions about the size and scope of their job and the end goal,” Ray said. “We’re going to ask those questions, while other places might just be order-takers. Even for the smallest projects, we want to put forth a plan for the customer so there are no surprises. Here’s what your job looks like, and here’s how we’re going to make it work.”
Turnkey service: EquipmentShare’s service team can set up heating systems for you and quickly respond to any issues if they arise. That allows you and your team to focus on completing your work comfortably.
“We can be 100% turnkey,” Wann said. “Sometimes when we’re working with our customers, they’ll ask us to set up the entire project and ask us to be to turnkey. There are only a few limitations to consider — if we’re doing natural gas, we can’t make the final terminations on their gas main or the final electrical terminations. So we give them the option of us hiring a contractor to do this or using their own contractor on-site, and usually they use their own. Once they let us know, we take care of the rest.”
