Radiant Tube Heater Servicing for Warehouses and Workshops

Radiant tube heater servicing should happen at least once a year, carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer qualified for commercial appliances, and more often if the building is dusty or dirty. The service cleans and inspects the burner, fan, tubes, reflectors and flue, checks the safety controls and confirms the heater is burning correctly. For employers it is not optional: the law requires gas appliances, pipework and flues in a workplace to be kept in a safe condition, and regular servicing is how you show you have done that.

This guide is for warehouse, workshop and unit managers who have overhead gas radiant heaters and want to know what the service involves, how plaque heaters differ from tube heaters, and what to keep an eye on between visits.

What is a radiant tube heater, and how is it different from a plaque heater?

Overhead radiant heaters warm people, floors and objects directly, rather than heating all the air in a tall building. That makes them popular in warehouses, workshops, garages, loading bays and sports halls where warm air would simply rise to the roof. There are two main types.

Both types of overhead radiant heaters are installed to BS 6896:2011, the British Standard for gas-fired overhead radiant heaters in non-domestic premises, which covers natural gas and LPG appliances. If your building uses warm air heaters instead, our guide to warm air heater servicing covers those.

Is radiant heater servicing a legal requirement for businesses?

Yes, in effect. Regulation 35 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 says every employer or self-employed person must make sure any gas appliance, installation pipework or flue at a workplace they control is maintained in a safe condition to prevent risk of injury. The regulation does not set a fixed interval, but the HSE’s guidance for employers says maintenance should follow the manufacturers’ instructions and the relevant standards. For radiant heaters, manufacturers’ instructions specify an annual service.

Who can do the work depends on the premises. HSE says that in workplaces such as shops, restaurants, schools and hospitals, only a Gas Safe registered engineer qualified for that type of work may carry it out. In certain premises, including factories and agricultural buildings, a competent person may do it, but any part used as sleeping or residential accommodation needs a Gas Safe registered engineer. In practice, most warehouse and unit owners use a Gas Safe engineer with commercial qualifications for overhead heaters, which you can check on the engineer’s Gas Safe ID card. Our guide to checking an engineer on the Gas Safe Register shows how.

Insurers and landlords of commercial units also commonly ask for evidence of servicing, and many businesses keep it alongside a commercial gas safety record. Our page on the CP42 commercial gas certificate in Stoke-on-Trent explains how inspection records work for commercial premises.

What does a radiant tube heater service include?

The exact checklist comes from the manufacturer’s manual for your heater, so it varies by brand and model. As an example, the installation and servicing manual for Reznor’s NRV-M tube heaters lists servicing of the vacuum fan, radiant tubes and tube couplers, reflectors, flue condensate trap, burner electrode assembly and burner head, filter, combustion chamber viewing window and flue assembly. A typical service runs along these lines:

1. Isolate safely. Electrical isolation and gas isolation at the heater, with access equipment such as a mobile tower or MEWP where the heater is high up.
2. Burner and ignition. Remove, inspect and clean the burner head and injector; check the ignition and flame sensing electrodes and their gap.
3. Fan and air path. Clean the fan and any air inlet filter. Dust and debris here are a common cause of nuisance lockouts.
4. Tubes, couplers and reflectors. Check for distortion, corrosion, cracked couplers and loose fixings. Clean reflectors so heat is directed where it should be.
5. Flue and condensate trap. Confirm the flue is sound, sealed and terminates correctly, and that any condensate trap is clear.
6. Safety controls. Prove the air pressure switch, flame failure device and controls work correctly.
7. Gas checks. Check the burner pressure against the data plate and carry out a combustion check where the manufacturer specifies one; confirm gas tightness of the installation pipework.
8. Clearances and fixings. Confirm the suspension chains or brackets are secure and that clearances to combustible materials, racking and roof materials are maintained.
9. Report. Record findings, readings and any defects, with clear advice on anything that must be put right.

Servicing plaque heaters

For luminous plaque heaters, the manufacturer’s manual for Reznor’s AmbiRad DR range lists cleaning dirt and deposits from heater surfaces, checking the ceramic plaques for cracks or damage, cleaning the injectors where needed, confirming fixings are sound, confirming the flue outlet is clear, and checking clearances to combustible materials. Because many plaque heaters release combustion products into the building, the engineer should also check that the ventilation provision is still adequate, especially if the building has been altered or doors that used to stay open are now kept shut.

How often should warehouse heating be serviced?

Annually is the starting point. Both of the Reznor manuals referenced above say yearly maintenance is normally enough under normal conditions and recommend more frequent servicing in dusty or dirty environments. Sites that might need a shorter interval include:

• Woodworking and joinery workshops, where fine dust builds up on fans and burners.
• Agricultural buildings and feed stores.
• Vehicle workshops and bodyshops with spray mist or exhaust fumes.
• Distribution warehouses with heavy forklift traffic and doors open to the yard.

The best time to service is late summer or early autumn, before the heaters run every day. If yours have not been serviced this season and are struggling in January, a mid-winter service is still far better than waiting.

Workshop gas heater safety checks between services

Site managers can make simple visual checks from the floor without touching the heaters. Report anything unusual to your gas engineer rather than attempting a fix.

• Clearance to stock. Is anything stacked closer to the heaters than it used to be? Racking changes and higher pallet stacks are a common way clearances get lost.
• Impact damage. Look for bent tubes, displaced reflectors or swinging chains, often caused by forklift masts or high loads.
• Light-up problems. Heaters that fail to light, light then go out, or show a lockout light need checking.
• Soot or discolouration around burners, couplers or the flue, or an unusual smell when heaters run.
• Ventilation. Are air vents blocked or covered, particularly in buildings with unflued plaque heaters?
• Flue terminals outside: are they damaged, blocked or obstructed by new structures?

If you smell gas, turn off the supply at the emergency control valve if you can do so safely, ventilate, evacuate people, and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.

Keeping service records

Keep each service report with your wider gas safety paperwork. A good record shows the heater location and model, what was checked, readings taken, defects found and what was done about them. It helps when an insurer, landlord or HSE inspector asks how you meet your duty under regulation 35, and it helps the next engineer spot recurring problems. If your site also has a boiler plant room, our commercial plant room maintenance checklist covers the rest of the system.

Book radiant heater servicing in Staffordshire and Cheshire

Gasmaster’s commercial gas engineers service overhead radiant tube and plaque heaters, warm air heaters and commercial boilers for warehouses, workshops and units across Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Crewe, Burton and the surrounding area. Contact Gasmaster to arrange a service or inspection, and plan it around your quieter periods so heating is not lost when you need it most.

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