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Forced Air Heating

What it is

Forced air heating is the process of creating a heating source with gas, other fuels or electricity by running air directly through a heat exchanger before distribution throughout a building.  The heated air can either be circulated internal air, intake air or some combination of both.  The purpose is to ensure that the forced air is brought to the ambient temperature required for internal building comfort.

How it works

Internal  or intake air is heated as it passes a heat exchanger plate.  On a residential scale most people know these systems as furnaces. 

Commercially forced air heating units are typically larger and are most often located on the rooftop of a building, where the intake air vents feed into them.  These heating units often contain cooling packages as well, multistage combustion systems for efficient heat production; and can be integrated into sophisticated control systems to allow zoned temperature and Co2 control.

Benefits

• Inexpensive and moderately efficient way to satisfy large heating demands
• Systems can be sized to allow larger single units for tight roof spaces (such as apartment blocks) or multiple smaller units for larger roofs (manufacturing, malls etc.)
• Packaged Systems offer both heating and cooling for building use, reducing servicing costs and installation complexity