Radiant Tube Heater Floor Heating Patterns

Radiant tube heaters are the latest heating system to come on the market for use in poultry houses. They are in many ways the next logical step in the trend towards increasing the size of the radiant heat zone produced by an individual brooder. By increasing the coverage area of an individual brooder not only can the number of brooders be reduced, but overall floor space receiving radiant heat can often be increased at the same time. A radiant tube heater consists of a metal tube approximately f...our inches in diameter and 30 to 40 feet in length, a reflector to reflect the radiant heat produced by the heated tube down towards the floor and a burner box. A small fan draws fresh air from outside the house and into a burner box. Propane or natural gas is then burned and the resulting flame and hot air are then pushed down the tube. The flame and hot air heat the metal tube to a temperature between 1,000oF and 400oF which then radiates heat to the floor. The air then is typically exhausted from the opposite end of the tube into the house, but can be piped outside to rid the house of combustion gases.