The goal of this paper is to develop guidelines for placing and sizing radiant heaters in large occupied spaces where the indoor temperature is below occupant thermal comfort but at the same time individual workstations are positioned in various locations around the room. Examples of this kind of situation occur frequently in factories, warehouses, aircraft hangers, and large motor pool buildings. The approach used in this paper is to use radiant panel heaters to provide localized thermal comfort. The paper provides sizing and power guidelines for the radiant heaters to help the designer position and size these heaters. In particular, the mean radiant temperature distribution along a perpendicular line from the panel surface to the floor is provided.

The guidelines are developed using the Building Comfort Analysis Program methodology that resulted from ASHRAE research projects 657 (Jones and Chapman 1994) and 907 (Chapman and DeGreef 1997). The methodology provides an excellent design tool by which the localized mean radiant temperature can be calculated within the occupied space.

Units: Dual