IR Enclosure Heating

Sun-like warmth for zoos and animal enclosures

Far-infrared panels heat the animal, the ground and the structures inside the enclosure — not the air above them. It's the way the sun warms a rock, and it works for any animal that needs warmth. Silent, dust-free, no light, nothing glowing.

Request a quote Technical data

Ceiling-mounted infrared panels above a crocodile enclosure

Thermal view

Primate resting beside a suspended infrared panel

Primate house

Infrared heating panel mounted flush to the enclosure ceiling

Ceiling mount

Natural IR heat

FIR long-wave

250 – 1,350 W

ten panel sizes

90 – 100 °C

surface, no open element

IP 44 / IP 54

splash-protected

Easy installation

on wall or ceiling

Long service life

TÜV SÜD tested

In service

Already heating enclosures

The same range of panels is already in service above crocodiles, primates and tropical planting, where lamps glare and fans stir up dust. Three examples; the same principle applies wherever an animal needs a warm spot.

Crocodile house — ceiling panels over the sand bank

Primate house — panels suspended at branch height

Tropical house — heat placed over the planting, not the visitor walkway

The problem

How most enclosures are heated today

Heat lamps

Glare, heat you cannot switch on without light, bulbs that fail — and every replacement means a keeper entering the enclosure.

Warm-air blowers

Noise, draught, airborne dust and spores — in a space the animals cannot leave.

Gas and quartz radiators

Glowing surfaces above bedding — and with gas, combustion gases indoors.

Heating the whole hall

Heating the air of a tall building when only a few square metres need to be warm.

The solution

Radiant heat, aimed where the animal is

Warm and cool zones in one enclosure

Warm basking zone under the panel, cooler retreat a few metres away — a genuine thermal gradient, the same choice of temperature the animal would find outdoors.

Silent, still and dust-free

No fan, no moving parts, nothing stirred up. Nothing to disturb noise-sensitive species, and nothing to irritate sensitive airways.

No light, no visitor glare

Heat and lighting stay separate, so you can heat nocturnal species without lighting them, and the exhibit lighting can be designed on its own terms.

Out of reach, virtually maintenance-free

Flat panel above head height, no bulb to change, no glowing element in the enclosure. Fewer trips into the enclosure.

Keeps condensation down

Radiant heat keeps surfaces above the dew point — less condensation and mould in humid tropical houses, without drying out the air.

Built for

Reptile houses
Crocodiles, monitors, tortoises — basking zones with a defined gradient

Mammal enclosures
Warm resting spots for primates, small mammals and similar species

Aviaries & bird halls
Perch warmth without wind or noise

Tropical houses
Frost protection and surface warmth for planting and structures

Barns, quarantine & night quarters
Heated zones in off-show areas and holding pens

Another species? Same principle — ask us.

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The range

Heating solutions for every enclosure

Our panels fit every enclosure — from a single warm zone to a whole building: steel for compact zones, aluminium for large areas and humid houses. Two models are our standard recommendation:

Aluminium infrared panel mounted to an enclosure ceiling

Large enclosures

IV-TH-900

Aluminium-bodied panel, 100 × 80 cm. Our reference size for large houses and halls — enough output to keep a generous warm zone up to temperature from ceiling height.

Output: 900 W

Size: 100 × 80 cm

Coverage: 13 – 22 m²

Weight: 16.3 kg

Housing: Aluminium

Protection: IP 54

Also available: TH-750 · TH-1150

Suspended panel above a primate resting spot

Compact zones

ST-430

Powder-coated steel panel, 90 × 40 cm. The economical way to put a warm spot exactly over a perch, a nest box, a holding pen or a quarantine pen.

Output: 430 W

Size: 90 × 40 cm

Coverage: 6 – 11 m²

Weight: 8 kg

Housing: Steel, RAL 9016 white

Protection: IP 44

Also available: ST-250 … ST-1350

Sizing

Size the panel to the zone you need to keep warm

Coverage figures are for a heated room. In a tall building you are heating a basking zone rather than a volume, so we size from the target area and the mounting height — send us the details of one enclosure and we will size it with you.

Model	Size (cm)	Output	Coverage	Weight	Housing	IP
ST-250	70 × 30	250 W	3 – 6 m²	5 kg	Steel	IP 44
ST-430	90 × 40	430 W	6 – 11 m²	8 kg	Steel	IP 44
ST-560	120 × 40	560 W	8 – 13 m²	10 kg	Steel	IP 44
ST-680	100 × 60	680 W	10 – 16 m²	13 kg	Steel	IP 44
ST-860	105 × 70	860 W	13 – 20 m²	16 kg	Steel	IP 44
ST-1035	150 × 60	1,035 W	17 – 26 m²	19 kg	Steel	IP 44
ST-1350	170 × 70	1,350 W	18 – 32 m²	24 kg	Steel	IP 44
TH-750	90 × 70	750 W	11 – 18 m²	13.0 kg	Aluminium	IP 54
IV-TH-900	100 × 80	900 W	13 – 22 m²	16.3 kg	Aluminium	IP 54
TH-1150	120 × 80	1,150 W	17 – 29 m²	20.0 kg	Aluminium	IP 54

All models 230 V / 50 Hz, surface temperature approx. 90 – 100 °C, wall or ceiling mounting. Highlighted rows are our two standard models; the rest of the range is supplied to order.

Comparison

Compared with heat lamps, blowers and gas radiators

	IR enclosure panel	Heat lamp	Warm-air blower	Gas / quartz radiant heater
No light emitted
Silent, no draught
No dust stirred up
No glowing element within reach
Creates a defined basking zone
No bulbs or consumables to replace
Calculated service life over 125,000 h
Runs on your own solar power

Yes Partly No

How it works

Heating the animal, not the air above it

A convector warms air, the air rises, and the heat collects at the ceiling. In a building with a ten-metre roof, that is exactly where nothing lives.

Far-infrared radiation passes through the air almost unchanged and turns into heat where it lands: on sand, rock, bark, plumage and skin. Those warmed surfaces then release their heat slowly back into the enclosure, so the basking zone stays warm between heating cycles instead of dropping away the moment the panel switches off.

It is the same effect as a low autumn sun on a cold, clear day: the air is freezing, and you still feel warm the moment you turn to face the sun.

Animal welfare

Warmth the animal can choose

In the wild, animals manage their own temperature by moving — sun, warm rock, shade. A good enclosure gives the animal several microclimates to choose from.

A radiant panel brings that choice indoors: warm under the panel, cool a few metres away. Reptiles shuttle along the gradient, mammals and birds pick their spot — and when animals can choose, they behave as they would outdoors. Because the panel warms without light, this keeps working after dark.

TÜV-tested

TÜV SÜD ran the panel for a year to find out when it would fail

Two endurance programmes in parallel: heating cycles up to 90 °C surface and back down to around 50 °C, and switching cycles to one million. The panel survived both.

The result: an extremely long service life — 125,000 heating hours, with virtually no maintenance.

TÜV SÜD report no. 028-713123503, Rev. 00, 4 March 2019 — 25,788 heating cycles and 1,000,000 switching cycles. Basis of calculation: 200 heating days a year × 5 full-load hours a day.

125,000 h

Calculated service life

1,000,000

Switching cycles tested

5 years

Manufacturer's warranty

TÜV SÜD · GS — geprüfte Sicherheit · CE · RoHS · Made in Germany

Installation

Nothing to install but a power connection

No pipework, no plant room, no wet trades in the enclosure. Panels mount on the wall or ceiling directly above the zone they serve; the datasheet for each series states which mounting options it supports.

Describe the enclosure

Target zone, mounting height, species and the temperature the animals need.

Layout & quote

We propose model, count and positions — usually one panel per warm zone.

Mount & control

Wall or ceiling mounting, 230 V connection by your electrician, external thermostat in accordance with EU Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2015/1188.

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