I am located in Northern BC. I am putting in an arena and looking at info for heating the building. We won’t have horses in the building. I would ideally have a heating system that can be activated by my phone so u can preheat it. I will have some boarders and want them to either use a coin operated system or using a phone system that will somehow track their usage. Anyone do anything like this?
I’ve never heard of anything like that. Curious if others have. If we want the barn warmer here, we bring in more horses. 
I learned about infared heating from Bluey on here. IRRC, the infared lights heat bodies so it’s more targeted and efficient. Good luck!
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it can be done, but I would use a credit card system … but “preheating” an indoor might take a day or two due to volume of the structure… I would add video recording of who is actually using the arena to backup the charges
Whole thing can be done using toll tag type equipment (RFID transponder chips) if desired making it completely passive in nature…well until the bill comes in, and if that bill is going to the person’s money manager than it is still passive
Start by finding what businesses in your area do commercial access control work. What you a e looking is a variation of a parking garage application
You’ll probably find that the energy required to bring the indoor up to a warmer temp from ambient temp is greater, and therefore more expensive, than just constantly heating it to a temperature somewhere in the middle. Also depends heavily on your insulation.
I’d direct your boarders to where they can buy a battery heated jacket and a quarter sheet, myself. Trying to heat an indoor in Canada has to be the kind of expensive proposition I don’t even want to think about.
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I would also recommend infrared lights. They work instantly and work really well. I had them in my barn and when it was 30 degrees out I would take my jacket off because I would start sweating under the lights. They are also less of a fire hazard and can be put on a timer. It’s not going to feel like it’s 70 in there but it will make riding manageable.
Do speak to some professionals about what it will cost to keep the indoor heated over the winter. The cost is not insignificant.
The indoor will need to be insulated (adding to the cost of the structure), and will likely have lower ceilings and no windows, making for a “stuffier” indoor in the summer.
Keep in mind energy costs do move around a lot and be prepared to have a plan how you will pass along a spike in energy costs to boarders
We had overhead infrared gas heaters in our uninsulated indoor for a few years. They were great if you stood directly under them, less so if you were riding in the 90% of the arena where there weren’t heaters directly overhead. Despite using the heaters sparingly, the energy bill doubled or tripled in the winter and was more than a mortgage payment. Not worth the expense if the indoor in uninsulated IMO. We sold the heaters last year.
Insulate the heck out of it. Put fans in the ceiling.
There are quite a few around here as it’s really damn cold here in the winter so it’s a blessing to have a heated arena and barn. The one I board at has a high ceiling and high double-glazed windows, so it’s nice and bright. It’s also cool in the summer because of the insulation. We keep it at a constant 35 in the winter, sometimes gets turned up to 40 during the day if we are all there and riding, so it’s not toasty, but it is do-able. It costs an average of about $500 a month through the winter months to keep it that way. (10 stall barn with crappy insulation attached to indoor with pretty good insulation.) We reckon the extra $50 each is worth it to have a decent place to ride. The heating is provided by gas shop heaters, one at each corner of the indoor, and one in the barn aisle way. They are kept meticulously clean and serviced regularly.
If I were building one now, I’d seriously consider solar.
maybe here is some insight for OP since they appear to be in British Columbia
http://www.eforenergy.com/projects/hanger-heating-and-ddc-upgrade
Very much a comparable venue.
Cost is going to be directly related to temp. maintained. If all you want is above freezing that’s likely doable but if you want to replicate Ocala in the winter in BC you’d better have a LOT of money!!!
Solar assist would be an interesting area to explore. But you have explore carefully as there are a lot of “shenanigans” going on in the solar world (mostly promises of performances that are physically impossible or at least highly improbable). Even if you have a reliable, passive system its effectiveness will be determined by your average, daily sunlight number. An active system would be subject to the same inputs but at a much higher cost. The question then would be the delta between an active and passive system in terms of cost and performance. In the U.S. you an get sunlight data from NOAA, IIRC. I don’t know who in Canada might have that kind of data. Google would the place to start.
You have a challenging project. Good luck as you go forward.
G.
Solar assist would be an interesting area to explore.
and get a big broom to remove the snow/ice from the panels… maybe bury the arena and use a wind tribune to power a geothermal heat pump system?
Very possibly. Yet another reality of solar energy production!!!
G.
I would just keep it slightly above freezing all the time. The footing seemed to hold more moisture since the building was insulated and the one time someone accidentally turned the heaters off the footing froze so no one could use the arena for two days while it heated back up.
I boarded for a couple years near Edmonton. The heated indoor was nice, I was always able to strip down to a sweater or longsleeve, but it meant that every horse had to at least have a partial clip and you still had to wait for their heads and legs to dry before they could go back out.
Also the poster who said and insulated arena gets “stuffy” is mistaken. It’s much cooler, like a well insulated house.
Up here in the mountains, we have roof pitches that are compatible with snow sliding off our solar panels. It works very well. Or we have our panels pole mounted so we can adjust them to allow the snow to slide off or to follow the sun.
I ride at a barn that heats their 100 X 200 arena and attached barn with a giant wood stove. It’s often 50 there during the winter. It does get a bit humid.
is the arena already built? Our arena and barn is super cheap to heat, and even if the boiler breaks, it will maintain is warmth for days, even at -30C. (I am in Edmonton, Alberta).
The issue with a Pay for Heat system could be multiple riders riding at the same time. Who pays? Will people try to work it so someone else pays for the heat, but they enjoy the benefit? Having trouble figuring out how that will work. Or what if one person claims they didn’t want heat, but someone else did…do they both pay? Seems complicated.
This was my thought as well.
I’d rather have the indoor heated constantly as that is more efficient (unless something like infrared heaters are better at keeping occupants warm without the cost?) and just pay an expected monthly fee for the heat. December through March, board has an additional $50-$100 fee attached for the heat, to be adjusted as necessary (with notice). Or increase board year-round. Something clear so there are no surprises.
