Imagine being seated at your favorite restaurant for a long-awaited night out. Your food arrives and as your mouth begins to water, you notice a not so welcomed visitor on your $45 steak.
Flies have a way of finding themselves in the least tolerable place at the worst time. They are attracted to our food sources but their buzzing around dining patrons or even in the back kitchen of your busy restaurant is certainly not good for business. Restaurants spend thousands of dollars every year fighting off these pesky insects, but here lies the problem: more often than not, restaurants are fighting flies off once they are already inside the dining room or kitchen. The key is to prevent them from entering in the first place. But how do you go about accomplishing that in an effective and cost-efficient manner?
Adding an Air Curtain
Air curtains are highly effective in fly and insect control. An air curtain manufactured specifically for insect control can be mounted above exterior doors for a cost-effective means of keeping those disgusting creatures where they belong – outside of your restaurant. The way it works is simple: air curtains release a strong, engineered force of air in a downward motion along the threshold of a door. The force of the air stream is too strong for a fly to pass through, thus preventing them from entering. Many times, restaurants owners use devices that allow flies to enter the premises and then try to attack from there. Why allow them to come in the first place?
Using an air curtain to keep flies out can prevent a number of problems caused by these harassing insects.
Filthy Flies
According to the Consumerist, in a recent study done by pest-control company Orkin, “Orkin surveyed 300 people [PDF], with sixty-one-percent responding that they’d drop their forks on seeing a cockroach at a restaurant, while only three-percent would do so at the sight of a fly, reports USA Today.”
Orkin cautions that maybe we should be a bit more repelled by these filthy creatures.
“Many restaurant patrons may not be aware that houseflies are twice as filthy as cockroaches,” Orkin entomologist and Technical Services Director Ron Harrison, Ph.D., said in a press release about the survey. “It’s important that everyone understands the magnitude of the health threats flies pose so that they can help prevent the transmission of dangerous diseases and bacteria.”
Did you know?
Orkin points out that flies carry communicable disease around on their legs and mouths, after the females lay eggs on gross stuff like rotting food, feces and roadkill. With a single flight break, flies can land on your food dropping diseases from their legs and the little hairs on their bodies, straight to the food you consume, the utensil you use, or the glass from which you sip.
Why an air curtain?
Air curtains provide a valuable service to all businesses for a variety of reasons. Their functions, success rate and sheer ability to save money make these useful tools worth the small investment.
- Nip it in the bud. Sure, there are varying ways to fend off flies but majority of those options invite the flies inside before remedying the problem. But why would you invite these heinous, disease-carrying insects into your restaurant knowing what you now know about them? The force of air streamed from an air curtain is stronger than what a fly is capable of passing through. This prevents them from coming into your dining area in the first place. If, by chance, one or two happens to sneak by when the curtain is shut off, it makes ridding your restaurant of them far easier.
- Bonus Features. One great bonus of these air curtains designed to deter insects is that the force of air is often a huge turn-off for other rodents like rats and mice. These rodents simply do not like the force of air on their fur and will avoid putting themselves through it.
- Cost Savings. The great thing about an air curtain is that it is a one-time investment and, as long as the machine is properly maintained, these machines tend to have a long lifespan. Air curtains have the ability to save restaurant owners money on insect control because infestation is prevented. Air curtains offer a unique way to separate two environments, be it inside and outside or kitchen to dining room. This unique ability allows for a huge amount of energy savings as well. The air stream keeps the inside of your restaurant at a stable and constant temperature while forcing the outside air to stay outside. By separating these environments, your energy usage will drop resulting in a lower bill each month. This savings will quickly add up to the cost of your air curtain
Air curtains offer so many benefits to all business owners but they are highly successful in helping restaurants with pest control and the ability to keep flies out of their dining rooms.
Are you fighting flies or preventing the entry of flies in your restaurant? Consider adding an air curtain to help keep flies out of your dining room. Choosing the right machine is essential to successfully keeping flies at bay. The experts at Air Door Distributors are ready to assist you in determining the appropriate air curtain for your specific business and needs. Call today at 866-402-1642, click for a live chat or simply fill out our contact form and we will get you the air curtain to best fit your needs.