News Article

How to Heat an Aircraft Hangar Without Interrupting Operations

Written By

Powrmatic

16 July 2025

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How to Heat an Aircraft Hangar isn’t just a question of temperature—it’s about maintaining continuous operation, ensuring safety, and avoiding disruption in a complex, high-demand environment. From maintenance and logistics to airside movements, hangars must support constant activity. A heating system must deliver effective warmth without interfering with operations, creating safety risks, or requiring downtime for servicing.

This is where Powrmatic’s Tub-One gas-fired radiant strip heating system stands out. Uniquely designed with all combustion and burner components located outside the building, it removes many of the risks and interruptions associated with traditional heating systems. Read on to find out how.


 

External Combustion: The Key to Uninterrupted Operations

At the heart of the Tub-One system is a significant design advantage: the burner module and all combustion-related components are installed externally to the hangar.

This single feature delivers a range of critical operational benefits:

  • No internal servicing requirements – all maintenance takes place outside the facility.
  • No disruption to airside activities during inspections, diagnostics, or repairs.
  • No combustion gases, ignition systems, or burner noise inside the workspace.
  • Reduced regulatory burden by eliminating indoor flame sources and internal gas infrastructure.

For aircraft operators, MRO providers, or defence contractors working within time-critical environments, this means heating infrastructure can be maintained and repaired without impacting aircraft movement, ground crew activity, or scheduled maintenance tasks.

 

 


 

Built for Real-World Hangar Conditions

Hangars—especially those built during or after World War II—present major heating challenges. With minimal insulation, high ceilings, and vast door openings, they are inherently inefficient to heat using conventional air-based systems. Add to that the fact that doors are often left open for extended periods to move aircraft or allow ventilation, and it’s easy to see why forced-air systems fall short.

Powrmatic’s Tub-One system addresses these challenges head-on:

  • Radiant heat delivery warms people, tools, and surfaces—not the air—so the heating effect is not lost when doors are open.
  • Radiant tube lengths of up to 130 meters can be configured to match large-span hangars, ensuring consistent coverage.
  • High-output options up to 300 kW support both small workshops and full-scale aircraft hangars.

This performance translates into comfortable working conditions, lower fuel consumption, and better thermal control—without needing to modify the building envelope or invest in expensive insulation upgrades.

 

 


 

Safety and Maintenance by Design

In aviation environments, safety is paramount—and heating systems must follow suit. With Tub-One, all fuel combustion occurs in a sealed external unit, with flue systems and air supply kept entirely outside the hangar envelope. This reduces fire risk, eliminates indoor gas piping, and ensures there are no open flames or ignition systems inside the building.

From a maintenance perspective, the benefits are equally clear. Because technicians never need to enter the hangar to access serviceable components, the risk of disrupting scheduled aircraft maintenance or breaching secure zones is greatly reduced. Servicing can be planned independently of hangar use, and even emergency repairs can be conducted without pausing internal work.

 

 


 

Summary: A Smarter Way to Heat Hangars

The Powrmatic Tub-One system offers a simple but powerful proposition: efficient radiant heating, combined with external combustion and outside-only maintenance access. For aircraft hangars—especially those with legacy infrastructure or 24/7 operations—it’s a system that works with your facility, not against it.

Whether you’re responsible for a civilian maintenance facility, military airfield, or a general aviation hangar, Tub-One provides:

  • Reliable, even heat—without wasting energy on air volume
  • Minimal operational disruption—no internal servicing required
  • Improved safety—no indoor combustion or gas pipework
  • Scalable performance—for both modern and historic buildings

If you’re planning a new installation or upgrading your existing heating infrastructure, Powrmatic Tub-One should be your first consideration. It’s a system built around the realities of hangar operation—and designed to keep you flying, uninterrupted.

 

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