1. www.ProContractorRentals.com20
S/O15
RENTAL
SOLUTION
RENTALSOLUTIO
P
ortable, indirect-fired heaters can
meet a range of job site demands,
from oil and gas production sites to
small residential construction proj-
ects, offering opportunities to rental
centers wherever temporary heat is required.
Traditionally, units in the 400,000 BTU
range, because they run off a 120V 15 amp
service, offer flexibility across a range of rental
applications and are relatively common in
most rental centers in locations where below-
freezing temperatures are common. Because
we only sell into the rental channel, over the
past few years, based on customer feedback,
Campo Equipment has worked to improve the
ROI potential for our customers. Our efforts
focused on reducing costs for the rental center
while improving performance and results for
contractors or other end-users by:
❚ Decreasing service calls
❚ Stabilizing the power draw
❚ Increasing the length of ducting the
heater will support
❚ Improving fuel efficiency
Common problems
For many years, indirect-fired heaters in
that 400,000 BTU range showed an inrush
on the motor on start-up, they were limited to
24 feet of ducting and were very noisy when
operating. On job sites, one of the biggest
problems with heaters is power supply. While
many models of heaters draw 12 amps or
14 amps while operating, inrush when the
fan starts could jump power draw up to, for
example, 20 amps. This spike could lead to
failures – tripped breakers – which increases
downtime and can increase service calls
back to the rental center for support.
Ducting can also create job site problems.
While a rental center may set up the heater
with the 24 feet of ducting it can adequately
handle, someone on the job site may decide
they need heat further into the building or up
onto the next floor of a building. They add
ductwork, they kink or bend the ducts, and
B Y D A N I E L C A M P O
CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
Design boosts heater performance,
adds value to rentals
Improving
Performance,
Reducing Costs
The Turbo design
was developed to
help improve heat-
er performance
on job sites. All
of the company’s
heaters are built to
meet rental market
demands.

2. www.ProContractorRentals.com22
S/O15
RENTAL
SOLUTION
create more static pressure. This
creates more stress on the heater
and on the fan. Hot air can back up
into the heater and, all of a sudden,
limit switches are going or the burner
coupler fails. Not only do you have an
immediate need for a service call, but
in critical applications – such as heat-
ing a space in preparation for pouring
concrete – a failure such as this can
shut down a project for hours.
Longer ducting, no inrush
On our company’s Turbo models,
we use a fan that provides a solution
to a couple of problems. Sourced
from Europe, the backward incline
fan we use has the motor mounted in
the center of the fan and uses an inlet
cone. The fan is more efficient than an
axial fan, with higher static pressure,
and will support longer ducting. The
motor has no inrush; it starts slowly
and builds to 8.5 amp draw.
This offers advantages to the
rental store. First, with no inrush and
a lower amp motor, there’s no spike
in power demand when the heater
starts up. This means fewer problems
with power supply and job site circuit
breakers and fewer calls back to the
rental store.
Second, longer ducting can increase
utilization for the rental store. The Turbo
models will support up to 150 feet of
ducting, more than six times the length
of other similar-size systems. This offers
flexibility in applications where the heat-
er might need to sit 30 or 40 feet away
from the area being heated or where
longer ducting is needed to move heat
into a building or other space.
The advantage of the backward
incline fan is the inherit design of the
inlet cone, which helps guide the
incoming air, and the small distance
between blades that helps support
the static pressure. Even if a contrac-
tor kinks the duct or adds more than
the recommended length, the inlet
cone helps keep hot air from backing
up into the heater and causing prob-
lems that result in service calls.
An additional feature of the model is
that it offers recirculating capabilities.
By drawing air out the space being
heated rather than cold outside air,
the heater can operate much more
efficiently. We estimate savings in the
30 percent or higher range.
Take a quick look at the potential
impact that can have. Operating
24/7, the 400 BTU Turbo model will
use about 2.85 gallons of fuel per
hour. Over the course of a week, it
consumes 480 gallons. Recirculating
the air can reduce that by 30 percent,
which means burning about 336 gal-
lons of fuel – a savings of more than
140 gallons. If you use $3/gallon just
for round numbers, that’s $420 you
helped a customer save.
A few other advantages that can
help you and your customers: We
include a remote thermostat. Either
on its own or combined with a recir-
culation system, this will help improve
efficiency.
We include a voltmeter on the
heater control panel because, when
we get calls about a heater being
down, in the great majority of cases,
it is power related. A contractor might
call and explain that the voltmeter is
showing 120, but the system isn’t
running. When we ask him to turn
on the manual fan override to see
the actual voltage the fan draws, it
could drop right out to 80 volts and
we know that’s the problem. They
can address the power issue on the
job site. Similarly, we fit the units
with pressure gauges for the burners
because this, too, can help provide
quick troubleshooting.
Finally, our Turbo model provides
what we call “whisper quiet operation.”
This adds to operator comfort, but it’s
also an advantage in securing rental
business where quiet operation may
have specific application value.
This could be in residential
construction, work in or near
office building or health care
facilities, and so forth.
Daniel Campo is president
of Campo Equipment, based in
Brampton, Ontario.
While the Turbo
models meet the
needs of many
job sites, the most
important step to
take is match-
ing the heater
to the project.
An 800,000 BTU/
hour unit was
needed to meet
the requirements
of this project.
One of our largest
units, the Blaze
Cube 1200 below,
can deliver up
to 11,000 CFM
heated air volume.

3. Full 120% spill containment on
the Blaze 400 & 600 Turbo
42 and 70 Gallon tanks
GROUND BREAKING FEATURES:
◆ 5,500 CFM highest in its class
◆ Ductability: 150 ft.
◆ Whisper quiet operation
◆ 220o
F temperature rise
◆ Recirculating capabilites
◆ Full load Amps: 8.5A(400),11.5(600)
Campo Equipment 1.866.323.0042 | www.campoequipment.com
6 Carson Court, Bramptom, Ontario, L6T 4P8
WELCOME to the 21st century of
SPACE HEATER ENGINEERING
GROUND BREAKING FEATURES:
ta
0
ta
ainment on
0 Turbo
anks