How Do You Heat a Warehouse or Distribution Center?
Heating a warehouse or distribution center is very different from conditioning an office or small retail space. High ceilings, large volumes of air, frequent door openings, and changing occupancy all make it harder to keep people comfortable and protect inventory without driving up energy costs. Choosing the right heating approach for your facility starts with understanding the building’s needs, how air moves through the space, and the importance of indoor air quality—not just temperature.
The impact of your choice has a real human cost. Employees are more productive when they are working in comfortable conditions. Additionally, better temperature-controlled spaces increase worker retention rates. Both of these factors affect your employees and your bottom line.
In this guide, Cambridge Air Solutions takes a comprehensive look at some of the main challenges faced when heating a warehouse or distribution center, some of the heating options available, and tips for choosing the right option.
What Are Some Common Challenges of Heating Large Industrial Spaces?
Both warehouses and distribution centers have several aspects in common that make heating those spaces particularly difficult.
- High ceilings and large cubic volume: Warm air naturally rises, so traditional systems can send most of the heat to the roof instead of the occupied floor level.
- Frequent door openings and infiltration: Loading docks and overhead doors allow cold outside air to rush in, forcing heating systems to work harder to keep up.
- Mixed-use spaces: You may have different zones with different needs (loading docks, pick aisles, offices, and staging areas).
- Indoor air quality concerns: Forklifts, packaging materials, and process equipment can all impact air quality. Simply recirculating indoor air may trap contaminants inside the building.
Many of these aspects are just part of the nature of operating a warehouse or distribution center, and can’t be mitigated past a certain point. The best heating strategies are crafted to specifically address the unique challenges of particular warehouses and distribution centers, so there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution. However, there are some basic heating options that can be modified to suit your specific needs.
What Sorts of Heating Systems Are Available for Warehouses or Distribution Centers?
There are several heating approaches commonly used in warehouses and distribution centers. Each has strengths and tradeoffs:
1. Unit Heaters:
Suspended gas-fired or electric unit heaters are widely used because they are familiar and simple to install. They work best in smaller, lower-bay areas or as supplemental heat. However, in large, high-bay spaces, unit heaters can contribute to significant temperature stratification, with hot air at the ceiling and cooler air at the floor, which drives up energy use.
2. Infrared (Radiant) Heaters:
Infrared heaters warm people and surfaces directly instead of heating the air. They can be a good fit for specific task areas or docks where workers are stationary. In some facilities, however, radiant-only systems may leave other areas cooler and do not address overall air quality or ventilation needs.
3. Make-Up Air and Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems:
Make-up air units and dedicated outdoor air systems are designed to replace air exhausted by process equipment or general ventilation. In some buildings, these systems also provide space heating. When configured for recirculation, they can be efficient, but they may recirculate contaminants unless carefully designed with filtration and ventilation in mind.
4. High-Temperature Heating and Ventilation (HTHV):
High Temperature Heating & Ventilation (HTHV) systems were developed specifically for large industrial and commercial spaces. By heating 100% outside air to a high discharge temperature and delivering it at high velocity, HTHV units can both heat and ventilate the facility while reducing stratification and improving comfort on the floor.
What Are Some Tips for Heating Warehouses and Distribution Centers?
Regardless of the equipment you choose, a few best practices can help your system perform better:
- Address stratification: Use systems that actively mix the air column from floor to ceiling. High-velocity discharge, destratification fans, or HTHV technology can reduce temperature differences between the roof and the occupied zone, lowering energy waste and improving comfort.
- Design for zoning and control: Not every part of a warehouse has the same heating needs. Zoning by use (loading dock, storage aisles, office mezzanines) and using appropriate controls can reduce over-heating in low-use areas and improve comfort where people spend the most time.
- Consider infiltration and door activity: Loading docks, drive-in doors, and high-traffic openings are major sources of heat loss. Locating heating units to “wash” these areas with warm air and using vestibules, dock seals, or fast-acting doors can help reduce the load on your system.
- Prioritize indoor air quality, not just temperature: A system that only recirculates indoor air may maintain temperature, but can allow contaminants and odors to build up. Incorporating adequate outside air, or selecting a system that uses 100% outside air, can greatly improve indoor air quality and support worker health.
- Evaluate lifecycle energy costs: Initial equipment cost is only one part of the decision. For large spaces, systems with higher efficiency and better destratification can save 20–70% in energy use compared to conventional options, depending on the building and climate.
The Ultimate Warehouse and Distribution Center Heating Solution: The Cambridge S-Series
For many warehouses and distribution centers, Cambridge Air Solutions’ S-Series High Temperature Heating & Ventilation (HTHV) heaters provide an efficient way to address both space heating and ventilation needs in a single system.
S-Series heaters use a patented Blow-Thru® design that heats 100% outside air and delivers it into the building at a high discharge temperature and velocity. This high-velocity discharge inducts large volumes of room air into the supply stream, creating a “plug” of fresh, warm air that mixes throughout the space. The result is more even temperatures from floor to ceiling and reduced stratification, even in high-bay warehouses.
Because S-Series units are non-recirculating and rely entirely on outside air, they also help dilute and remove contaminants generated inside the building. This approach improves indoor air quality compared to many conventional recirculating systems and can mitigate issues often associated with infrared heaters or unit heaters that simply reheat the same indoor air.
In independent studies and field installations, HTHV technology like the S-Series has been shown to deliver significant energy savings—often 20–70% compared to traditional boilers, unit heaters, air turnover, and other direct- or indirect-fired systems used to heat large industrial buildings.
For building owners and facility managers asking how to heat a warehouse or distribution center efficiently, the combination of high-temperature heating, destratification, and 100% outside air makes Cambridge S-Series HTHV heaters a strong option. They are designed to meet your building’s heat and air load requirements, help control operating costs, and support a healthier, more comfortable environment for the people who work there.
Ready to rethink how you heat your warehouse or distribution center? Contact Cambridge Air Solutions today to talk with an engineer about designing an HTHV system that fits your building, your budget, and your people.
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