The Halo can be used to heat people effectively and comfortably regardless of the duration the warmth is required for. Feedback from an installation of Halo heaters at St Matthew’s Church, based in the UK, is that the Halo provides very good levels of comfort which St Matthew’s characterize as ‘better than we ever had from the radiators’ and they describe the actual effect to feeling like a ‘bubble of heat’ – to the point that they note it ‘doesn’t feel like it’s actually coming from the heaters themselves’.
Halo will work very well for churches that are in regular use. As an example, St Matthew’s is in regular, daily use and they run the Halo heating in exactly the same way as one would turn on the lighting. They have confirmed that Halo is switched on only as and when required, and when the use is occurring. Within 10 minutes they have their required comfort – with no need for background heating at other times. This is completely different to alternative systems which require low background convective heat to be kept on for long periods and this subsequently requires boosting to heat services and events. This is not required when using Halo and this is why Halo is such an efficient system for providing comfort.

Yes the Halo heaters will work well in providing comfortable warmth during cold winters and the Herschel Heritage team will ensure the required number of heaters are specified in accordance with your requirements. In the installation at St Matthew’s, the Halo heater specification totals 31.2 kW (on full power). This compares to their existing central heating (at St Matthew’s) of 186kW. So far (during October/ November 2022) the results show that Halo is providing comfort at 1/3 of the total power, and therefore we do not anticipate any problems in dealing with colder temperatures at full power for St Matthew’s or any other church or heritage property.

No they will not. The Halo emitters are completely different to the old quartz ray emitters that were previously common for this type of application. The effect felt is more of a space heating, gentle comfort and this was specifically tested with occupiers at St Matthew’s – no frazzle of heads or cold feet was detected.

The way the Halo is typically expected to be specified and installed is to heat targeted space and this is where the energy efficiencies are so significant. Using St Matthew’s as an example, the heat effect from the 4 Halo heaters that are installed, actually covers around 90% of the space that is used for worship. There will be some spaces that are only occasionally used (such as they vestry) and which will be cold in mid winter without any heating – St Matthew’s will be exploring local heating solutions for these spaces with Herschel. This enables a more controllable solution to be in place, saving on energy consumption by avoiding the requirement for a fully functioning, ineffective central heating system. In most churches, the heat ultimately disappears into the high void, out of windows etc so heating in this zoned manner, using Halo, is a much more efficient and effective method.

The technology used within the Halo heater is far infrared. This is different from the technology used by other more ‘traditional radiant heaters’ from other providers, which have typically used shortwave infrared technology and the feeling of comfort from far infrared is a much more gentle feeling of warmth, ideal for the heating of people. We use the analogy of watering a tender plant with a hose. The old technology is akin to the hose being on ‘jet’, highly targeted, whereas the technology in Halo is akin to the hose being on ‘fine mist’ – everything gets gently wetted (or gently and comfortably heated).

No, there is no risk of damage from the Halo. The radiant wavelength is similar to that which humans radiate, and the measurable surface temperatures are no greater than they would be through human contact. The feeling of heat is similar to that of the heat of the sun through a window and there is no additional risk of differential expansion than that. (Conversely, this has previously been a risk from using quartz ray/near IR type heaters and is also true of radiators).

No, not at all, in fact the design of the Halo has been specially developed to complement interiors and also comes with the option to add dimmable LED lighting and bespoke décor/colours to the finish. Traditional radiant solutions have emitted a strong red, intrusive glow from the heating element however Halo emitters do not glow, they emit zero light heat. We fully expect the aesthetic design of the Halo to be very well received and another one of the benefits from installing the Halo.

The Halo presents a hugely efficient solution for churches and hard to heat listed properties as it directly heats people and buildings, rather than wasting energy heating the air. After the initial trial at St Matthew’s the treasurer is predicting (via monitoring use so far) that the energy use of Halo for a typical service is less than 1/9th of the existing use via the central heating. This is a huge saving on energy consumption and as the cost per unit of electricity comes more into line with the unit cost of gas, this saving will become greater still. In addition, when the electricity is powered by renewables, this is a hugely sustainable heating solution.

The Halo heater can be installed by qualified electricians, providing a non-intrusive installation for building managers with no skills shortage issues.

The Halo has no moving parts and requires no servicing, unlike heat pumps and boilers. This represents a significant cost saving over the lifetime of the heating system. Halo has been designed so that all parts have long lifetimes and are easily replaceable.