Infrared heating in the Midlands
The Midlands is the densest commercial heating market in Britain: industrial estates, distribution sheds, workshops and a very large stock of historic churches and community buildings. Those buildings, not houses, are where radiant heating earns its money here.
Where does infrared heating make sense in the Midlands?
In tall, leaky or intermittently used buildings: workshops, industrial units, warehouses, churches, village halls and sports pavilions. Warming the full air volume in a building used six hours a week is wasteful, while radiant heat aimed at the occupied zone can be switched on shortly before use. In a gas-connected, continuously heated home, gas central heating is still cheaper.
Industrial and workshop space
From the Black Country and Birmingham out to Coventry, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and the Golden Triangle logistics belt, the region is full of units between 4 and 14 metres tall. Heat rises, so a warm-air system spends much of its output above head height while the people underneath stay cold.
Radiant systems, whether electric or gas-fired, address that directly by heating the working zone. Which of the two wins depends on gas availability, operating hours and electrical supply capacity, and we compare both rather than assuming one.
Churches, halls and community buildings
Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire hold a very large stock of medieval and Victorian churches, chapels and village halls. These buildings are used for a few hours a week, cannot be insulated conventionally, and often have faculty or listed-building constraints on visible pipework.
Pew-level and zone-targeted radiant heating is a standard specification for these buildings precisely because it heats people rather than a vast cold volume of air. Faculty permission, cabling routes and electrical capacity are the three things that decide feasibility.
What a Midlands commercial assessment covers
Heated area and ceiling height, occupancy hours, insulation condition, electrical supply capacity, and then a genuine comparison of radiant electric, gas radiant, warm air, boiler replacement and a heat pump on capital cost, running cost and disruption.
We do not install. We assess, compare and route the enquiry to installers with coverage and relevant building-type experience, which is why the comparison can be impartial.
A sensible shortlist
- Get a radiant output calculation for the working or seating zone, not the whole volume.
- Check the incoming electrical supply capacity before comparing electric options.
- For listed churches and halls, confirm faculty or consent requirements early.
- Ask for running costs based on your real operating hours, not continuous use.
- Confirm NICEIC or NAPIT registration and certification on completion.
Frequently asked questions
Reviewed by the Infrared Heat Solutions technical team · Last updated July 2026 · Data sources: Ofgem price cap, Energy Saving Trust, first-party running-cost model