Drums that are used to hold products can be very large indeed, meaning that the amount of product that can be held in them can be worth a fairly large amount of money. If a drum is being stored or used outside to hold products, then it is, of course, going to be open to the elements and the corresponding damage from the elements.
Over the years, there have been a number of different methods implemented to keep products warm inside barrels, the most common of which being band heaters. Band heaters are rings of metal that heat up. They have an element inside that creates the heat, and are made of metal so that they can conduct this heat onto the barrel that they are keeping warm. However, there are a huge number of downsides to band heaters when using them to keep a barrel warm. A few of these include the following:
Uneven Heat Distribution – since band heaters are simply one ring of metal, they place a great amount of heat on the area that they are physically in contact with, but not as much anywhere else. What this means is that the barrel can often suffer from having hot spots – those parts of the product being kept warm that are much hotter than other parts.
Low Life Length – band heaters are not particularly durable and do not last for a long time as a result
Poor Usability – due to the nature of band heaters, the outside of them can become very hot to the touch. This can easily result in injury when trying to install or remove the heater and is far from ideal. Even though some are insulated on the outside, they are still very hot to the touch and not particularly useful.
Bad Thermometers – thermometers and thermostats that are used in band heaters are notoriously bad. They are known to be inaccurate, and very poor when it comes to adjusting the temperature that they should be operating at
They’re Unreliable – band heaters are not a reliable source of heat. They are known to commonly fail. To put this into perspective, if you had a band heater on a large drum of an expensive product and that band heater were to fail, that expensive product could very quickly become frozen and subject to the elements and resultantly spoiled. This is most certainly not cost-effective, in the slightest.
What Is A Drum Heater and What Are The Advantages That They Bring?
A drum heater/warmer is essentially a heat blanket that can be wrapped around various sizes of barrel. For example, the drum heaters that are made by Powerblanket come in sizes of 15 gallons, 30 gallons, and 55 gallons. Each blanket is just as capable of providing heat as the other, and all boast extremely good insulating properties in addition to their supreme heat giving abilities.
One of the major downsides of band heaters is that they cannot provide an even spread of heat. This is due to the fact that they are simply metal rings and one area of the barrel will inevitably always be hotter than another since it is in contact with the heat band. Drum heaters and barrel warmers eliminate this downside completely – since they provide heat evenly all throughout the blanket to the drum or barrel that is enveloped within, the entire drum or barrel can be kept at the same temperature. This is a massive advantage over band heaters. This exceptionally even distribution of heat will allow whatever material is been kept inside the drum to be in its optimum condition at all times.
Powerblanket drum heaters boast the latest in drum heating technology. If you have ever been through the hardship of using a band, you will be able to fully appreciate how well Powerblanket drum heaters perform. Not only do Powerblanket deliver the very best performance in the industry in order to keep your valuable products at the correct temperature, but they also offer the best value.
Powerblanket, in addition to the bucket heater range, offers three different types of drum heater. Each product is rated to different temperatures and has different capabilities in terms of how much heat do they can produce and retain for the drum that they are protecting. Powerblanket has on offer the Powerblanket Lite, the Powerblanket, and the Powerblanket XTREME. Let’s take a brief look at each of these as well as the key points and capabilities that each has to offer.
The Powerblanket Lite – The Powerblanket Lite is the ideal Powerblanket for heating smaller drums. With a relatively low power density, it is both efficient and effective. It’s best used in normal consumer situations and minor industrial applications.
The Powerblanket – The Powerblanket is the perfect middle ground for all drum heating tasks. It can be used in temperatures as low as -29c, as and is ideal for the vast majority of temperature retention tasks. It is very heavy duty and durable, being encased in a hard-wearing vinyl.
The Powerblanket Xtreme – The Powerblanket Xtreme is truly a beast of a drum heater, there is no other way to put it. It can be used in temperatures right down to -40c and is unbelievably durable. If you’re looking for a drum heater that will protect your product and the safe to use in that just about any climate on Earth, the Powerblanket Xtreme is the only option.
If you’re still looking for further information on drum heaters and what they have to offer, there is a vast amount available here on https://www.powerblanket.com/products/drum-heaters/.
We hope that you feel a lot more informed on drum heaters, including what they are, as well as their advantages over band heaters.
