‘As close to nature as heating can be’

Anyone sitting in the sun knows that the sun gives extra heat and an extra comfortable feeling although the temperature may not be high enough. Every time a cloud passes in front of the sun we are reminded of this. Sitting under a Gastrion Infrared Heater is like sitting under the sun, as close to nature as heating can be.

In general there are three ways of transferring heat:

• Conduction – This is heat transportation within a solid material, metals in general are good conductors.
• Convection – Using a medium that heats up (liquids, air, etc.) and then transferring the medium.
• Radiation – Using a source which radiates its heat directly. The sun is a good example.

In practice all heating systems use all three principles of transferring the heat but there are big differences in the ratios between these three variables between the systems. At Gastrion our first priority has always been on Radiation Heat, to create artificial suns. The following is to give the reader some understanding of differences between these principles.

Conduction:
Conduction heating is generally used for transporting heat over short distances and for that reason not suitable for heating outside with strong winds and cold temperatures.

Convection:
This is heating by moving warmer air or liquid to colder areas and thereby warming that area or spot one wants to warm. Hot air heating is a much used example in poultry houses.  Typical of convection heating is that the heat always wants to go up first. This means that before one can heat the floor and the animals on the floor one has to heat the top of a room. This explains why in general preheating a poultry house with hot air heaters takes longer than preheating with Infrared Radiation heating.

Warm water is also often used as a transportation medium to distribute warmth, this is convection. By installing warm water lines in the floor of a house, these warm water lines then warm the floor around and above them through conduction.  Another option is working with radiators that warm the air around them and by moving the air one can spread the heat. Both systems work but they require large investments and only work inside.

Radiation:
With radiation one can aim a large part of the heat output towards the place one wants to heat. The Gastrion Infrared Radiant Gas Heaters are designed to aim their output as much as possible downwards to heat a particular area.