Heating for Space Ships

Heating for Space Ships

It is a rare day when we are asked to provide heating for space ships.

Futuro House landed on Central St Martins near Kings Cross, London (photo credit: John Sturrock)

The space ship in question, and the idea surrounding heating for space ships, is in fact a futuristic construction from the 1970s, designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen. The aptly named Futuro House was discovered by its current owner Craig Barnes, in South Africa over 3 decades ago but it has only recently been disassembled, moved to the UK, completely refurbished and reconstructed on the roof of Central Saint Martins near Kings Cross in London.

Made from insulated GRP segments and mounted on a tubular steel base frame, and complete with drop down staircase for the aliens to come marching down, it is an extraordinary bit of design from any angle and by any measure.

With very limited hidden space and with barely any flat surfaces in the structure the options for providing heating solutions was very limited. Of course with a free hand you could just plug in a standard fan heater, but one look at the inside of the building and you can tell that a plug-in solution is not an option.

Ceiling mounted radiant heaters? Nope, that's not an option either, the walls merge with the ceiling in a continuous curve and these type of heaters would visually stick out a mile.

Convectors? Nope, again, not an option. They are just too square, and besides there is seating round the majority of the inner circumference.

After much deliberation with Craig Barnes, we opted to use a combination of Frico Thermoplus radiant heaters on two of the radial flat walls in the structure and a heated air supply using a Frico CAT fan heater and recirculation plenum mounted in the central under floor void and supplying via floor vents.

Still waiting for the lunar heating enquiries to come in. Watch this space!

Spot the Heater. The uncompromising stylish interior of the Futuro House does not lend itself to easy heating. But there is a heater in the picture. (photo credit: John Sturrock)

Heat Load	Watts	BTU
Average The Room Is A Normal Residential Room, Office, Reception Area Or Similar, Where There Is Not Overly Crowded With People, Computer And Office Equipment.
Above Average There Are Factors That Contribute To Additional Heat Being Generated In The Room E.G. Strong Lighting, Overcrowding With People And Office Equipment, Conservatory Type Room, Or Flat Roofed Room.
High There Are Factors That Contribute To A High Heat Load In The Room. E.G. Commercial Cooking, Much Computer And Server Equipment, Switchgear, Temporary Building With Thin Walls And Flat Room, Plain Glass Conservatory.

Variable	Units	Notes/Guidance
System Airflow	M3/Hr	If you have it in cfm then multiply your cfm value by 1.7 to get m3/hr
Average Combined Pressure Drop Of Filters Of Higher Than F6 Efficiency	Pascals	F8 bag filters pressure drop - typical clean clean to dirty, 160 - 250 Pascals F9 compact filters pressure drop - typical clean to dirty, 160 - 350 Pascals H10 HEPA filter pressure drop - typical clean to dirty, 250 - 600 Pascals 9.8 Pascals = 1 mm wg, & 249 Pascals = 1 inch wg
Carbon Filters Pressure Drop	Pascals	For compact type carbons pressure drop between 100 - 150 Pa Bonded carbon panels typically 150 - 170 Pa Loose granular carbon panels typically 130 Pa
Annual Operational Hours	Hrs/Annum	8760 hours in a year If operating for 5 days a week, excluding public holidays, for 12 hrs/day = 3000 hrs
Cost Of Power	Pence Per Kwh	Huge variance in what different companies pay. heck your last bill to be sure, otherwise put in 10p
Fan Efficiency	(As Decimal Value, Eg 100%=1)	Would typically be around 60%, so if you don’t have specific information use 0.6
Fan Motor Efficiency	(As Decimal Value, Eg 100%=1)	Larger motors should be around 90%, so if you don’t have specific information use 0.9

The Total Average Pressure Drop Over Your Higher Efficiency Filters And/Or Carbon Filters Is;		Pascals
This Pressure Drop Is Costing In Energy Alone	£	Per year
It Is Probable That A Sanuvox In-Duct System Could Break Down The Biological, Chemical And Odourous Contaminants On This Air Flow For Between 16 And 25% Of This Running Cost	£	Lower energy cost estimate of an equivalent Sanuvox system (16%)
	£	Higher energy cost estimate of an equivalent Sanuvox system (25%)

Type Of Building	Kw Range		BTU Range
Sports Centres
Retail Premises
Office Premises
Small Industrial Unit
Medium Industrial Units
Larger Industrial Buildings
School/Community Halls
Churches

Room/building volume	m3
Temperature differential (deltaT °C)	°C

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