Sports Hall Heating

Our specialists the AmbiRad Group have a reputation for delivering sports hall heating solutions for all levels of sports facilities and has completed a considerable portfolio of sports projects.

Requirements of the sports hall

The ways in which sports halls are utilised, often intermittently and at irregular time intervals, make the efficient use of energy extremely difficult.

Therefore consideration must be given to selecting a sports hall heating system that offers flexibility of operation at optimum efficiency.

The following represent some of the prime considerations when assessing the impact of any heating solution on a sports environment:

• The aim is to create an environment without stuffiness, where occupants can exercise vigorously in complete comfort. In larger premises this also may include spectator or other ancillary areas with different operating requirements
• An overall minimum air temperature of 12°C to 16°C is adequate for active sports, whereas 20°C may be more appropriate for social use or more sedentary activity
• The intermittent use of sports halls requires a system that can rapidly respond to changed conditions –  a short response time to achieve comfort conditions
• Condensation on walls or floors should always be eliminated, as this can be dangerous and poses a threat to player safety
• In some cases presence of air movement is inadvisable as this may detrimentally affect flight of shuttlecocks or table tennis balls, but also may create a feeling of discomfort for active occupants, as well as being noisy
• Sports halls usually have high ceilings and often, it is only the lowest two metres of the building which require heating. Therefore it becomes very wasteful and costly to heat the entire volume of the building, especially when the facility requires flexible use

Sport England specification

Sport England identifies AmbiRad continuous black tube gas-fired radiant heating, such as the Nor-Ray-Vac ‘LR’ system as a cost effective easy to operate and maintain option for multi-use sports halls.

As a result, Sport England has included continuous radiant tube heating for its specification in sports halls.