Portland kennel uses infrared technology to warm pets

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Jan 6, 2005 by Justin Stranzl

Looking to distinguish his new Northeast Portland kennel from its competitors, Airpet Hotel co-owner Chong Jones came up with a creature comfort that not only keeps his animals happier but also reduces his operating costs.

Infrared radiant heat, a technology often used to heat portions of automotive shops and distribution facilities, is keeping Jones' hotel guests warm - at least the ones that want to be - while saving him and co-owner Geoff Wittreich money on their utility bills, Jones said.

Jones and Wittreich opened Airpet Hotel last year as a joint venture without kennel-operating experience. In a cold, wet March, the co-owners opened inside a 10,000-square-foot warehouse - including 5,000 square feet dedicated to animal housing - and realized their guests weren't warm enough.

We'd walk out there (where the animals slept) and you could see your breath, Jones said. We had to put individual space heaters in front of the dogs.

Jones and Wittreich tried using electric heat immediately upon opening Airpet Hotel. But with a high ceiling, their electric bill was mind-boggling, Jones said. And depending on their size, some of the dogs didn't like the fact that the entire building was the same temperature.

The big dogs, you put them out to play and they're just running and running, Jones said. And they come back in and they're panting and panting. They don't want it hot - We find that the Labradors like it about between 60 and 65 degrees (Fahrenheit). But the smaller dogs want it around 70 degrees. Without a lot of hair, smaller dogs need to be kept comfortable (via higher temperatures).

As spring 2004 progressed, warmer temperatures arrived, giving Jones and Wittreich all summer to come up with a solution to their heating problems.

Fellow business owners suggested infrared radiant heaters: When hung from a ceiling, those heaters emit high levels of heat directly down to the floor, ensuring that heat isn't wasted on the empty air near the ceiling.

You heat the infrared radiant heater to about 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it emits infrared radiation - in all directions, said Jerry Hansen, owner of American Heating, a wholesaler that provided the infrared heating system to Airpet Hotel. We put a reflector over top of it and reflect it down where we want it to go. It heats up the floor, and then the floor touches the air, and it heats (the air) through conduction.

The biggest downside to the technology, Hansen said, is that the heat is aimed directly at the ground, which doesn't effectively heat an entire building.

But the unique thing about the Airpet Hotel is that we're taking advantage of something that's normally a disadvantage, he said.

At Airpet, the smallest dogs, like Pugs and Chihuahuas, are situated directly under the infrared radiant heater, hung 18 feet above the floor, which keeps their pens at a consistent 70 degrees, Jones said. Bigger dogs, like Huskies and Labradors, are kept a few feet away, where they can enjoy a 65 degree temperature.

It's comfortable for all of them, Jones said. The animals are having a good time.

The purchase and installation, which was performed by Portland- based American Heating Inc., of the infrared heating system cost Jones and Wittreich about $7,500, Jones said.

But that cost was reduced after American Heating's Robert Smitty Smith pointed the Airpet Hotel owners in the direction of the Energy Trust of Oregon Inc., which granted Airpet Hotel $1,137 through its Building Efficiency program.

Now that the system is installed, Airpet Hotel can conservatively expect to save about 35 percent, or $800 per year, on its utility bills, Smith said.

As the cost of using electricity rises, more and more warehouse owners are embracing the gasoline-powered infrared radiant heaters, Smith said.

It's been around for a long time, he said. But it's getting more popular simply because of the energy cost, the rising cost of utility bills. Everybody's looking to maintain low overhead and high profits, so that's where infrared heaters come in.

Jones, who's now had the system installed at his kennel for two months, couldn't be happier.

The timing was perfect because it just started getting cold, Jones said. The last couple days, when it's been really cold, it's been comfortable back there with the dogs.