White Rhino House Heating - Whipsnade Zoo

Zoo Animal Enclosure Heating Solution



In partnership with HEVAC Services Ltd of Kings Langley, Powrmatic was approached to develop a heating solution for the White Rhino’s House at Whipsnade Zoo, which saw the installation of an overhead gas-fired (LPG) continuous radiant heating system, as the previous electric heating system inside their indoor habitat was not efficient enough and heat was escaping through the timber structure

Project Background

The White Rhino house at Whipsnade Zoo is the home to a herd (also known as a “crash”) of seven southern white rhinos, Sizzle being the only male – the six females are; Mikumi, Bertha, Tuli, Jaseera, Fahari, and Nandi. Sizzle and Tuli are the parents of the latest baby rhino Nandi born in August 2021.

The heating inside their indoor habitat at Whipsnade was not efficient enough. Localised electric heaters were spread around the large space to create coverage, but the heat was escaping through the timber structure. It was decided to upgrade the structure by foam insulation to the internals of the asbestos roof and to provide a new continuous gas-fired overhead radiant heating system providing blanket heat coverage to the complete floor area of the house.

Project Solution

HEVAC Services Ltd of Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, who undertake servicing of HVAC equipment at Whipsnade Zoo on behalf of Pareto FM for the end client ZSL (Zoological Society of London), approached Powrmatic to develop a heating solution for the rhino’s house. The brief was to provide an overhead gas-fired (LPG) radiant heating system to blanket cover the complete floor area of the rhino house, but also design it so that it could be zone controlled, should one of the herd have a need to be in an area of a higher or lower temperature.

The LPG propane tanks for the heating system needed to be sunk into the earth at the edge of the rhino house to avoid having to remove any trees, thus maintaining the conservation ethos of ZSL. For a structure such as the rhino house, being the size of a large sports hall, a Powrmatic SRP-PCV+ continuous gas-fired radiant tube system comprising; 4 x 73kW burners was the proposed solution, arranged in 4 temperature zones, with the new MC400/C controller and just the one flue discharge to atmosphere.

Project Result

The installation of the new PCV+ continuous overhead radiant heating system was skilfully undertaken by HEVAC Services Ltd, with the contract programme being driven by the daily habits of the rhino herd! Whether they wanted to be in their house or out on the field. Thus, the logistics of undertaking the heating installation were unique compared to working in a standard commercial/industrial environment.

The White Rhinos now have a refurbished home and a heating system that delivers radiant heat in exactly the same way that we (and the rhinos) receive energy in the form of heat from the sun. Radiant heating systems efficiently radiate infrared radiation, which is the transfer of energy in waveform from a hot surface to a relatively cooler surface without heating the medium between. Thus, the rhinos can bask under the radiant heat, whether indoors or outside under the sun.

The ZSL Whipsnade Zoo White Rhino Enclosure now benefits from a highly energy-efficient Powrmatic SRP-PCV+ system, listed on the Carbon Trust Energy Technology List (ETL), endorsing the Seasonal Space Heating Energy Efficiency of; 92.1%, and thus delivering low; energy usage, fuel bills and carbon emissions minimising their impact on the environment.