Unique Needs, Smart Implementation – We Visited the Equestrian Theatre!

In early May 2022 we heated the auditorium of the National Equestrian Theatre's tent with heating film: we built the film into the floor under the auditorium seats and finished it with parquet. Radiant heat from below warms the audience directly, so in the tent, more than 60 metres long with a high ceiling, the whole volume of air does not have to be heated to keep the audience from being cold during the performance.

The starting situation: shivering audiences in a giant tent

We like tasks that depart from routine, where a real problem has to be solved and at the end we can enjoy the result together with the client. This job was like that too. The operators of the National Equestrian Theatre approached us because the audience was very cold during performances – and if the audience is to enjoy coming in the long run, the space has to be heated.

The difficulty of the task was given by the building itself. The theatre is a tent of huge floor area: the auditorium is more than 60 metres long, and the high ceiling does not make things easier either.

What they had tried before

• Radiant heaters above the rows of seats: they started with these, but they did not warm the audience through.
• Hot air blowing: later they tried warm air blown from the side of the tent and from the auditorium, which also did not give enough warmth.

Both solutions came with a high heating bill: during an average 3-hour performance heating cost on average HUF 200,000. The operators set two goals – the audience should not be cold during the performance, and the heating cost should fall.

The solution: heating film under the seats

After learning about the problem we surveyed the site and calculated where and how much heating film we would propose. We recommended that the film go directly under the seats, where the audience sits. The installation process:

1. we removed the auditorium seats;
2. we laid the heating film sheets in the floor, in place of the seats;
3. we commissioned the system;
4. we closed the surface with parquet, then the seats went back.

This way the audience sees no heater and no warm air has to be blown on them: the warmth reaches them unnoticed from the floor.

Why does this work in a tent?

Systems that heat the air struggle in a tent because warm air rises under the tent roof, and at open entrances it simply escapes. Radiant infrared heating warms surfaces and people, so it gives pleasant warmth even if

• the ceiling is high,
• the tent is not fully enclosed,
• the seat itself is not heated.

More generally, we wrote about the methods and sizing of tent heating in our tent heating guide, about our experiment in an uninsulated, open-sided event tent in the report from the Zamat festival, and about growing structures in the article on heating polytunnels. This piece presents one specific site: heating built into the auditorium floor in a permanent theatre tent.

What does the heating cost?

For the partner, cost was the most important argument in the decision. According to the calculation we prepared at the time of installation, heating a 3-hour performance costs roughly HUF 5,000 instead of the earlier average of HUF 200,000. This is a 2022 planning estimate, not operating data measured afterwards: the actual cost depends on the length of the performance, the outside temperature, the settings and the price of electricity. For your own site you can make a preliminary calculation of reduced heating costs with our calculator.

Video from the site

If you are planning to heat a similar event venue, theatre or tent with a large volume of air, contact us and, once we know the site, we will prepare our proposal.