Defined as simply and clearly as possible, air curtains are barriers. They are there to prevent certain elements from getting into or out of your building. They play this role in a different way than a door does, though. For many commercial buildings—from office buildings to retail stores to restaurants—doors can’t play the barrier role for one reason or another. Retail shops, for instance, often prefer to leave doors propped open in the summertime to invite passerby inside. Other businesses face issues where people are constantly going in and out. In these situations, and more, air curtains are necessary, thanks to the three advantages discussed below:
1. They save energy
One of the most significant problems with busy commercial operations where the door is always or often open is temperature transfer. During the peak of summer, businesses like to provide an interior temperature that is much cooler and more comfortable than it is outside. In the winter, the situation is the opposite: companies want to offer a warm and inviting spot for guests to escape from the cold. These businesses are okay with the costs that come with heating and cooling because they are necessary for creature comfort. However, a frequently open door can cause most of that heated or cooled air to escape outside. When this temperature exchange happens, the HVAC system must work even harder to maintain a comfortable interior temperature. The results are higher energy use and cost. An air curtain stops this transfer from happening, reducing the strain on your HVAC system and saving you money.
2. Creature comfort
Speaking of creature comfort, an air curtain can help protect that, too. There is something about walking into a heated business in the winter (or an air-conditioned interior during summer) that is highly inviting. An air curtain helps customers feel that blast of a heated or cold space sooner, drawing them inside. The air curtain also prevents cold or hot drafts of air from making their way indoors. Take a restaurant, where the people sitting near the door in the wintertime are always getting blasted with cold drafts. A heated air curtain could prevent that discomfort, thereby providing a superior guest experience.
3. Insect, dust and fume control
Flies, gnats, and other pests flying around your place of business can ruin the atmosphere and annoy guests. In restaurants or food service businesses, those pests can also contaminate food or ruin wine. Air curtains produce potent streams of air that are impossible for flies or other flying insects to evade. And if they are powerful enough to stop flying insects, you can bet that they also prevent dust and fumes. If your business operates on a busy, smoggy street, or if construction or street cleaning is going on outside, then an air curtain is essential to keeping those unwanted impurities out of your business. Interior air quality matters! Protect it with an air curtain.
Are you interesting in adding an air curtain to the front or back door of your business? Air Door Distributors can help you find the right air curtain for any commercial door. Call us today at 866-402-1642 to learn more.