Warning: array_search() expects parameter 2 to be array, bool given in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/advanced-excerpt/class/advanced-excerpt.php on line 192
Air Door Distributors - Page 9 of 10 -

Choosing the Right Air Curtain: Insect Control vs. Climate Control

  air curtains for insect control vs climate controlHow to decide if your air curtain should assist with insect control or climate control

The addition of an air curtain is a great benefit to any business. With an effective means to control temperatures and fight insects, it is no wonder why the popularity of air curtains is ever increasing. Depending on the type of business you run and the needs you may face, the type of air curtain you will best benefit from may vary.

One of the first steps to selecting an air curtain is deciding which application best fits your business. Are you looking mainly for climate control or for insect control? These are the two main functions provided by an air curtain and knowing your main goals will help you and your sales consultant determine exactly which type of air curtain is best suited to fit that specific need.

Air Curtains for Insect Control

The use of an air curtain for insect control is highly beneficial and just as successful. The way it works is simple: a strong force of engineered air is drawn from the interior air and released from the air curtain, which is placed above the threshold of your entry, in a downward motion. That force of air is too strong for the majority of flying insects to pass through. It is said that of all the insects that approach an air curtain, less than .01-percent will find a point of successful entry.

Did you know?

The California Health and Safety Code has mandated air curtains for more than 15 years on back doors and receiving doors of all food-service establishments. This is not limited to just restaurants but also to hotels, convenient stores and any other facility that serves or packages food.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also encourages the use of air curtains for meat and poultry establishments.

Who can benefit from insect control?

While most companies don’t want flying insects in their workspace, there is definitely a group who would benefit greater than the average business establishment.

  • Fast Food Companies
  • Sport Stadium Concessions
  • Restaurant Receiving Doors
  • Food Service Warehouses

Climate Control

The second function available in air curtains is used in helping business owners gain a full grasp of climate control on their interior spaces.

The way it works is similar to the way an air curtain designed for insect control will work, however the force of air is not as strong. Air curtains are known to greatly assist in maintaining a controlled interior environment by pulling interior air through the air curtain and releasing it into a strong force of air from the threshold of a door, forcing the outside air and its contaminants to stay where they belong – outside of your establishment.

Adequately maintaining interior temperatures is highly valuable to employees, customers and your bottom line. When interior air is forced to constantly battle outside air, this forces your air conditioner or heater to work in overdrive, thus resulting in higher energy usage and costs. Air curtains stop the transfer or air, be it hot or cold, to keep your desired temperature steady throughout your interior space. A steady temperature leads to lower energy usage and lower costs.

When the desired temperature is maintained throughout your business, it also helps keep your employees, customers and visitors warm and comfortable by using an air curtain to keep the outdoor air from invading your interior space.

Who can benefit from climate controlled air curtains?

Air curtains used for climate control are relatively quiet and can often even be hidden.

  • Warehouses
  • Building Lobbies
  • Restaurants
  • Coffee Houses
  • Hospitals

air curtain purchasing criteria

Know the Difference

When deciding on an air curtain for your facility, it is important to know your needs but it is also equally important to be versed in the capabilities of the air curtain you are considering. Air curtains are highly beneficial but they come in a range of options, applications and functions – it’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of purchase.

  • Insect control curtains will require a stronger force of air than a curtain used to maintain climate control. Flying insects can be harder to fight off forcing a stronger application of air to be necessary.
  • An air curtain used for climate control will not release a force strong enough to fight off as many insects as one made specifically for that task. However, these are often fairly quite devices that can be added to a variety of thresholds without being noticed.

The truth is, no matter your place of business, the use of an air curtain is always beneficial. Fighting mother nature to her pesky insects is only the beginning of the long list of benefits air curtains can provide for your business.

Have you decided which type of air curtain will best fit your needs? If you are looking to fight off flying insects or to maintain better temperature control in your place of business, the experts at Air Door Distributors are ready to assist you in determining the appropriate air curtain for your specific business and its needs, whatever they may be. Call today at 866-402-1642 or fill our contact form.

Low-Profile Air Curtains for Small Business

Low-profile air curtains offer added benefits to traditional air curtains for small businesses.

Low-profile air curtains are the perfect solution for businesses operating in small spaces.

Any brick-and-mortar with doors and windows will face many of the same obstacles no matter the size of the facility. From keeping outdoor temps from creeping in, to keeping pests at bay, air curtains run a long list of benefits that appeal that will help combat those year-round issues and keep both customers and business owners happy and comfortable. But let’s face it, most business owners don’t want a noisy, intrusive piece of metal hanging in the center of their small brick-and-mortar and that’s definitely not something that customers want to look at during a quiet outing. This is where low-profile air curtain units come in. These air curtains, which are available in several models, come in a variety of sizes and installation options that make it easy to fit the needs of any business. Low-profile units are made specifically to fit in small spaces without being intrusive to customers while serving the same useful purpose as a standard air curtain.

Manufactured by top-of-the-line brands like Mars Air and Berner, low-profile units are available in unheated, electric, steam and hot water. These customer-facing, sleek devices are made to fit a range of needs all while fulfilling the many benefits air curtains are known for.

Low-profile air curtains are designed to meet the needs that business owners and customers desire from traditional air curtains, but they also serve the functional needs of smaller businesses that operate in tighter workspaces.

Benefits of a Low-Profile Air Curtain

  • Noise Reduction. Often times when we think of air curtains we imagine the sound that often accompanies large pieces of equipment. However, low profile air curtains are made to be just that — discreet. Small business spaces, like art galleries and coffee houses, often seek to offer customers a quiet ambience but can still benefit from the use of an air curtain. Advanced technology in low-profile units help offer the same useful benefits of a traditional air curtain with a quieter output making it the perfect option for smaller spaces.
  • More Aesthetically Pleasing. If you are inviting customers into your place of business for the last thing you want is a large obstruction hanging from your door. Air curtains that are designed specifically for these tight spaces are more aesthetically pleasing simply because they are made to fit these spaces and they offer a more inviting and cozy environment both aesthetically and environmentally. If you have low ceilings or clearance areas, these can be placed in a manner that is nearly unnoticeable.
  • Eliminate Door Obstructions. No matter what type of business you are running or what sort of facility you are operating out of, it is always important to keep doors free of obstruction for safety purposes and often for visual aesthetic purposes as well. Low-profile air curtains are rarely seen by the unknowing eye and are placed to be completely out of the way. They can help maintain a specified temperature even when doors are left open allowing your passageways to be completely unobstructed.

Did you know?

The benefits of a traditional door curtain hold true with even low-profile units. These units put off a stream of engineered air that creates a seal between two different areas offering a unique way to maintain two separate environments while keeping doors open.

Why is an air curtain a smart choice?

  • Reduce energy cost and consumption. The engineered seal created by air curtains will help separate outside and inside air, thus reducing the amount of energy used to maintain desired temperatures.
  • Keep bugs out. Air curtains are known for their unique ability to keep bugs from entering through the air stream and forcing them to stay out of areas where customers gather.

Low-profile air curtains are an excellent addition to any coffee house, gallery, small restaurant, deli or other businesses that occupy small spaces. These devices are essential in preventing temperature fluctuations, repelling insects and increasing energy savings.

Are you looking to improve the quality of your business? Adding a low-profile air curtain to your small business will help keep employees and customers comfortable all while keeping your workspace clean and bug-free. 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 or fill our contact form.

Keep Your Restaurant Contaminant Free With Air Doors For Fly Prevention

Don’t let those pesky insects ruin the atmosphere of your restaurant

air doors can help keep your restaurant contamnant freeYour patrons are your best form of advertisement. Whether they post a review online about their experience at your eatery, write comments accompanied with pics on their social media platforms regarding their visit to your restaurant, or simply phone a friend, what actual customers share about your establishment can make or break your business. As a restaurateur, you count on repeat business. Unlike a vacuum repair company or a tuxedo shop where a customer may visit maybe once in a number of years (or once in a lifetime!), your local café, pub, family restaurant, or national food chain depends on your patrons not only returning frequently, but also bringing friends, family, and colleagues with them each time they do. The surest way to stop a new customer from writing a rave review or a loyal one from returning is to allow flies, dust, pesticides, and other potentially-toxic contaminants into your establishment.

The Problem: Flies

Of all the bothersome irritants that currently find their way inside your restaurant every time a patron, employee, or vendor enters or leaves, it is the fly that is the most worrisome. Before they enter your place, flies have already landed on and eaten lots of disgusting, unsanitary things, including: the fecal matter of animals, discharges from an animal’s wounds, carcasses, and other decaying matter. In addition, their own fecal matter can quickly litter your tables and floor surfaces.  As a result, they spread germs and bacteria that are easily and quickly transferred to humans. What makes it worse is that once they are inside your eatery, it is more difficult to control them and stop them. You certainly don’t want your customers seeing gross sticky fly strips hanging in your restaurant’s kitchen or dead, swatted flies on windowsills. Need another reason to keep these flies at bay? How about the fact that they can not only stop you from getting an “A+” rating from your local health inspector, but also cause you to close your doors temporarily (or permanently) depending on the size and scope of infestation! If an inspector enters your establishment and is constantly shooing away flies or observing them travel from your kitchen’s dishware to its cutting boards and its raw meat, you can count on getting a poor rating.

The Solution: Air Curtains

The good news is – all of this is avoidable. When you invest in quality air curtains for all of your entranceways (backdoors, receiving doors, front entrances, and drive-thru windows), you can rest assured:

  • your patrons will come back (and bring their friends),
  • you’ll get great reviews on the cleanliness of your restaurant, and
  • your inspector will have no cause to write about contaminants in his report.

Air curtains are mounted above your doors’ openings and release a high-velocity stream of air barrier – invisible to the human eye — that stops flies and other bugs with wings from entering your establishment. They enhance sanitation and prevent fly infiltration. High-quality air curtains are tested and certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), the independent, not-for-profit organization that developed standards to address and resolve the problem of flies in food establishments.

Top Manufacturers: Mars Air and Berner International

Both Mars Air and Berner International’s air curtains meet the (high) bar set by NSF International in all facets of their products — from the materials used, the design of the air curtains, and how they are manufactured, to their performance in food establishments. Investing in the best air curtains from the get-go will save you the headache and hassle of having to replace them, regularly request service calls on them, or wonder why you are still seeing lots of flies zooming over the heads of your patrons and walking across the tables. Two manufacturers, in particular, offer the ultimate in fly prevention and extermination – Mars Air and Berner International. If your establishment also includes a drive-thru service, both Mars and Berner have designed air curtains specifically for drive-thru windows – not only eliminating insect ingress, but also reducing the amount of air conditioned or heated air from escaping every time your employees open the window. While the ultimate goal may be to eliminate the visits from unwanted flies, air curtains typically pay for themselves in less than 24 months by preventing 75 percent of your restaurant’s cool or warm air to escape.

The most longstanding and successful restaurants in the hospitality industry have leaders at the helm who are proactive-thinking. Just because you don’t have a fly problem today does not mean your location will never have to deal with construction dust, insects, or pesticides from neighboring businesses or homes. It takes just one fly landing on a sandwich or a straw to stop a patron from ever returning. You can easily eliminate the potential for the problem with air curtains.

If you are considering using air doors as insect control for your business, the experts at Air Door Distributors are ready to help. We can assist you in determining the right air curtain for your restaurant. For more information, call us today at 866-402-1642 or fill out our online contact form.

Air Curtains for Loading Dock Doors

Air Curtains at loading docks can increase savings and productivity!

Using air curtains help business owners to reduce dramatic temperature changes on their loading docks while increasing productivity.

air curtains for loading docLoading docks equate to hard work and long days filled with heavy, physical labor that can wear out the most fit and dedicated employees. Keeping your employees comfortable and team morale high during these coming winter months can be grueling but it is something that many employers strive to do. Warehouse and loading dock doors are often left open, increasing dramatic temperature changes and allowing insects and unwanted contaminants in. One of the best things loading dock employers can do to keep their employees comfortable and productive is add an air curtain – also referred to as an air door – to those large loading dock doors.

How does an air curtain work?

Air curtains offer businesses a unique way to gain control of air flow. When placed over a loading dock door, air curtains create a strong engineered stream of air that helps to create a seal or barrier between two different environments. This barrier seals in the inside air and prevents the outside air, as well as contaminants and insects, from entering.

The use of an air curtain offers many benefits to both employers, employees and customers. Air curtains have been around for many years but they are growing in popularity thanks to their cost affordability, the savings generated and the overall success of these products.

If you are considering going this route to improve working conditions and savings for your loading dock, consider these benefits:

Improve Hazardous Working Conditions

Cold weather often brings with it hazardous working conditions, including snow, sleet, ice and rain. These conditions can make loading docks a dangerous place to work if they are not properly maintained and managed. By installing a heated air curtain at loading dock doors, those areas will remain ice free and provide a safer transition as workers move from indoors to out. Heated air curtains can also help keep pipes from freezing when temperatures take a rapid fall.

Keep Employees Warm and Healthy

Fall and winter are not only the seasons for cooler weather, falling leaves and some of our favorite holidays, these seasons also bring on a lot of sickness; and we all know sickness means missed work days. As employees pass from indoors to the outdoors to load and unload materials, they are more susceptible to winter colds because colds tend to replicate in the cooler weather. By keeping the area as regulated as possible it will keep employees healthy, thus resulting in less sick days and steady production.

Keep Momentum Moving

Cold weather slows us all down and that is the last thing a busy loading dock needs. Adding a heated air curtain during these colder months will allow employees to keep the momentum moving in a productive manner by helping to regulate their body temperature and prevent them from getting too cold. When employees are comfortable, they will not lose time trying to warm up or, in the hotter months, cool down.

air curtain purchasing criteria

Unobstructed Flow

Loading docks can be dangerous places when proper care isn’t taken. The ability to move about while handling large loads is essential to maintaining good work flow as well as safety. Air curtains are added above doorways in a way that leaves the area free for traffic flow.

Save Energy

One of the greatest benefits for any business to add an air curtain is the added energy savings. Loading docks tend to have large bay doors that remain open during loading and unloading times, thus releasing large amounts of indoor air. This creates a battle of temperature control where the indoor air is released and the outdoor air enters and energy is kicked into high gear to maintain the desired temperature. Adding an air curtain will help keep you in control and will put the battle victory in your hands. The strong force of air put out by the air curtain will create a seal or barrier of sorts that will block the outside air from entering and will keep the inside air in, helping to maintain a steady temperature.

Choosing an air curtain for your loading dock doors can only offer positive results. You will want to make sure you are choosing the correct make, model and performance type to fit the door you will be servicing.

Are you ready to improve air quality, steady production through the winter months, and increase energy savings in your loading dock? Call today to speak to one of the experts at Air Door Distributors who is waiting to assist you in determining the appropriate air curtain for your loading dock doors.

For more information or for help selecting the ideal curtain for your business, call today at 866-402-1642 or please complete our contact form.

Overhead Air Curtains for Climate Control

Gain control of your indoor climate with the use of an overhead air curtain.

Stop fighting outside temperatures and add an overhead air curtain to your brick-and-mortar.

overdoor air curtains can help businesses with climate control and maintain the balance between too hot and too coldHave you ever walked into a building from the freezing cold and felt a blast of warm air? That defining line from where the cold air ends and the warm air begins is drawn by the use of an air curtain. Winter is just around the corner and businesses will soon be faced with the challenge of keeping their environment comfortable as the outside temperatures begin to plummet. While there are various options to consider when it comes to climate control, the addition of an overhead air curtain simply makes the most sense.

Why use an overhead air curtain to help with climate control?

Overhead air curtains are typically installed horizontally, across the opening of a doorway. They are uniquely designed to send a constant flow of air from an overhead space to create a seal or barrier as a means to separate two spaces from each other. This seal of separation provides many benefits to business owners and other users ranging from climate and insect control to employee and customer comfort. The most commonly used type of air curtain is an overhead air curtain. These remain extremely popular because they can be placed in just about any place of business.

Did you know?

All casinos located in Las Vegas are equipped with air curtains to increase energy savings and climate control. If you’ve ever been, you know that Vegas is hot but the casinos are not!

Air Curtains as an Alternative to Vestibules for Climate Control

According to Consulting-Specifying Engineering Magazine, “Air Movement and Control Association International Inc. (AMCA International) announced that the 2015 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) will contain a provision enabling air curtains to be considered as an alternative to vestibules. For compliance, air curtains have to be tested in accordance with ANSI/AMCA Standard 220, and be installed in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.”

Other Benefits of Adding an Overhead Air Curtain

One of the biggest benefits to adding an overhead air curtain to your business or building is the ability to increase climate control. With climate control comes comfort for your customers and employees, but this small addition can benefit other areas of your business as well.

  • Comfort Control. Nobody wants to be forced to wear a coat while enjoying a nice dinner. Air curtains release a strong, engineered force of air that prevents cold air from entering and warm air from exiting. According to Total Home Supply, “depending on weather conditions, the blast of air is forced either straight down, or in the case of strong wind conditions, at a slightly outward angle.” This separation will help keep customers in your establishment comfortable.
  • Options. Air curtains are available in both heated and unheated options, giving business owners the option to create the ideal environment. Choosing an overhead air curtain also gives business owners the opportunity to choose a product that is unseen by the masses. From color options to the Phantom Series, there are many overhead options to choose from.
  • Cost Control. Adding an air curtain to your overhead doors can help dramatically decrease energy costs associated with heating and cooling. By using an engineered force of air, this barrier-creating mechanism keeps unwanted air, either hot or cold, outside and helps maintain the desired air temperature inside. This helps maintain a desired temperature and keeps your air conditioner or heater from working overtime and fighting the outside temperature.
  • Less Expensive than Alternatives. Across the country, many building codes require business and building owners to install vestibules in their brick-and-mortars to assist with climate control, but vestibules come a hefty price tag. Air curtains, which are significantly less expensive, offer the same function and also meets many of the same qualifications. This option will save money and meet requirements that building owners are looking to meet.
  • Ease. When compared to alternative routes, like vestibules, that assist with climate control, overhead air doors are quite simple. After a simple consultation to ensure you are selecting the correct product, installation is done for you. From there, they work with the flip of a switch. This is much easier than undergoing the construction associated with a vestibule addition and it is significantly simpler than having to worry about adjusting the thermostat constantly when battling outdoor weather.

Are you considering adding an air door to your overhead doors? The benefits of an air curtain are great and the ability to control the interior climate of your business make this the perfect addition to any brick-and-mortar business. The experts at Air Door Distributors are waiting to assist you in determining the appropriate air curtain for your warehouse.

For more information, call today at 866-402-1642 or fill our contact form.

How Your Warehouse Can Benefit from An Air Curtain

The use of an air curtain in any operating warehouse offers many benefits from air quality control to an increase in productivity.

Choosing an air curtain for your warehouse from Air Door Distributors will create a seal of air that will block contaminants and insects from entering your workspace.

While all businesses are different in services and challenges, many businesses will find benefits in the same places and adding an air curtain to your warehouse is a smart way to gain control over various aspects of your business no matter what your business may be. Warehouses are places of hard work and long days with employees often working long shifts in all season. It is important to regulate and control as much of the environment as possible, especially when working with products that require extra precautions like food or pharmaceuticals.

What is an air curtain?

An air door, or often referred to as an air curtain, is a device most often hung above doorways that produces a controlled, engineered stream of air across an opening to create a seal thus blocking out dust, contaminants, and insects. Air curtains also have the ability to lock in cool air and keep out hot air and vice versa. Air curtains are a staple for most commercial businesses looking to protect the inside environment, products and employees from outside contaminants, insects and in general, for good business practice.

Benefits of adding an air curtain

The benefits to adding an air curtain are great! The option to create a barrier of sorts between the outside and inside of your warehouse offers many advances in savings, environmental control and increase of productivity.

Energy Savings

One of the greatest benefits to adding an air curtain to any business, including over the large bay doors of warehouse facilities, is the device’s ability to be an energy saver for warehouse operators. When warehouse workers are loading and unloading materials, a great deal of the environment is let inside. If the summer months have you working in an air-conditioned environment, the heat entering is inevitable. However, if you are working in a warehouse in the winter months, adding a heated air curtain to your warehouse doors will help keep the heat inside and cold outside, resulting in a great deal of energy savings.

Increase Employee Moral

Winter work in a warehouse can leave employees in a less-than-desirable working environment. When the temperatures drop to freezing, productivity is also known to take a dip. Creating a comfortable working environment for employees can increase productivity and moral. Heated air curtains placed at warehouse doors will work to keep the cold air outside and the warm air outside. Employees are less likely to miss work when they feel valued. Employees are unlikely to remain in the heat during an entire warehouse shift and will inevitably be subject to constant temperature change which can lead to both unwanted health and mood shifts. Ensuring your employees, a comfortable work environment will increase moral

Climate Control

If you are running a warehouse where climate control is essential, an air curtain is a simple solution that will help prevent and eliminate air temperature from drastically fluctuating. For warehouses operating in warmer climates but needing cooler temperatures for certain products, an air curtain is a necessity to help keep the inside air cool without letting in the humid or hot air from outside.

Allows Easy Access for Employees

Warehouse workers often spend large parts of their day loading and unloading trucks into the warehouse. We all know that time is money and time is greatly wasted when employees are fussing over details that are both seemingly insignificant yet necessary, like worrying about the doors during loading and unloading periods. Adding an air curtain to your warehouse will allow employees to move throughout their workspace with ease by allowing doors to be left open without damaging the indoor air quality. This will increase both productivity and safety.

Insect and Debris Control

Warehouses operate under many umbrellas. From meat packing to pharmaceuticals, much of what is handled inside warehouses needs to be treated with care. Adding a simple air door can to warehouse doors will work to keep insects and debris from entering the warehouse in the first place. For companies packaging certain products like medication, there are many rules and regulations to keep them in compliance and to be sure that products are packaged without dust, debris and, obviously, insect-free. Air curtains are often used for energy savings but with a slightly more powerful curtain that creates an engineered force of air strong enough to keep outside dirt and debris as well as insects out of any warehouse or packaging facility.

Are you ready to improve air quality and energy savings in your warehouse? The experts at Air Door Distributors are waiting to assist you in determining the appropriate air curtain for your warehouse.

For more information, call today at 866-402-1642 or fill our contact form.

Stainless-Steel Air Curtains for Meat Processing Facilities

Stainless-steel air curtains can be used inside meat processing facilities to provide insect and air quality control.

Stainless-steel air curtains offer meat processing facilities with benefits beyond just temperature control, one being easy clean-up.

stainless steel air curtains for meat processing factories can improve sanitationWhile the majority of businesses can benefit from the use of an air curtain, meat processing facilities face a unique set of challenges. With a number of regulations and requirements set before them, these facilities face the daily task of keeping certain areas cool and insect-free in order to meet those standards set by various organizations, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Keeping in compliance with regulations is vitally important to the success of any meat processing facility and the implementation of a stainless-steel air curtain is ideal for the job!

Provides Insect Control

The last thing a meat processing facility needs is an invasion of bugs and insects in the area where food is being processed. Flying insects are naturally drawn to food and a meat processing facility can potentially be easily susceptible to a flood of insects if it leaves itself open to invasion. Stainless-steel air curtains are an ideal solution for keeping pesky insects away from the meat that will eventually wind up on our plates. Like in all air curtains, the steady stream of air put out from the stainless-steel air curtain prevents the entry of bugs into processing facilities and, therefore, away from meat.

Provides Temperature Control

Every business owner with a brick-and-mortar will fight the same battle when it comes to keeping the outside temps out and the inside temps in. One of the biggest benefits of an air curtain is its ability to keep the inside temperatures cool and at the appropriate levels to maintain quality and control inside the meat processing facility. Even with workers passing from inside to outside of the refrigerated areas, the engineered force of air creates a powerful enough seal to keep the outside temps from intruding. Nothing can ruin a quality piece of meat like the hot summer sun, so it is important for quality control that temperatures inside of meat processing facilities be closely regulated.

Helps Meet FDA and USDA Requirements

Thanks to their ability to keep pests at bay, stainless-steel air curtains can help meat processing facilities meet the requirements set forth by the FDA and the USDA. According to fesmag.com, the FDA specifically recommends air curtains be put to use at loading docks and delivery doors to repel insects. More specifically, a number of states actually require air curtains in certain areas of food processing facilities.

Reduces the Risk of Sanitation Issues

Americans are growing more and more concerned about how our food is grown, what our food is fed and how it is processed. By incorporating the use of a stainless-steel air curtain inside of your meat processing facility, the risk of sanitation issues can be significantly lowered because this product will help keep out insects that carry food-borne illnesses.

Easy to Keep Clean

There is nothing quite as potentially unsanitary as a meat processing facility that is left unclean. The ability to keep processing areas clean and sanitized is important to keeping in compliance with FDA and USDA regulations, as well as for maintaining both a quality environment and product. Stainless Steel Wash-Down Duty Air Curtains provide business owners and workers with a simplified clean-up process as this product can be easily be freed of bacteria without running the risk of corrosion. The stainless-steel air curtain can often be cleaned in the same manner as the rest of the equipment that can be found in a meat processing facility.

Reduction of Energy Usage and Costs

While the needs of meat processing facilities may vary from other businesses, there are benefits of adding a stainless-steel air curtain that remain universal no matter what business you are in and the reduction of energy usage and costs is among the top benefits of any kind of air curtain. Due to their ability to help maintain temperature control, stainless-steel air curtains help meat processing plants and other businesses alike save in terms of energy usage and the costs associated with it.

Are you ready to improve sanitation, air quality and energy savings in your meat processing facility or business? Consider the use of a stainless-steel air curtain and its benefits. Air Door Distributors is ready to assist you in determining the appropriate air curtain for your specific business and needs. Call today at 866-402-1642 or fill our contact form.

Recessed Air Curtains for Businesses

Air Door Distributors’ recessed air curtains offer many aesthetic advantages for businesses

Air Door Distributors recessed air curtains offer many advantages

If you are looking for a way to maintain a comfortable temperature at your business but are concerned about aesthetics, a recessed air curtain is the ideal solution. Air curtains are a popular way to create an air seal in doorways that keep contaminates from moving from one space to another and serve as a way to control temperature inside of a residence or business. Air curtains are often found in place of vestibules and are found inside grocery stores, condos, hospitals and retail businesses. In short, they create an engineered stream of air that seals one environment from another.

Air curtains have proven to be a less expensive way to maintain air control than vestibules but they are often thought to be intrusive and unappealing. Enter the recessed air curtain. Recessed air curtains are simply a mechanism that allows for a more aesthetically pleasing way to reap all of the benefits of an air curtain. The recessed air curtain is placed into ceiling tiles so it is completely invisible to the unknowing eye and out of the way offering a completely unobstructed and unintrusive view.

When it comes to choosing the right air door curtain, there are things to consider but when searching for something that will allow businesses to operate in an undisturbed environment, the recessed air curtain offers many advantages leading it to be the ideal solution.

So, what are the aesthetic benefits of recessed air door curtains?

  • Recessed air curtains provide an unobstructed view without impacting aesthetics. Businesses are drawn to the use of recessed air curtains because they provide all of the benefits of an air curtain without interfering with the ambiance and atmosphere they are trying to create for customers. We all know how annoying it can be to be seated near a restaurant door when the temps are below freezing. A recessed air curtain allows for business owners to keep outside elements – like freezing air – out.
  • Recessed air curtains are a space saver. Not only does this type of air curtain provide an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere to remain intact, the actual placement of the air curtain in the ceiling tiles allows for them to be placed over any and every door. One of the biggest appeals to air curtains is the ability to completely seal off outside air from inside air without taking up the valuable space of what a vestibule would take.
  • Recessed air curtains offer a cleaner indoor air environment. Businesses like restaurants and condos are afforded the ability to open their doors and windows to the outside while keeping air contaminates and bugs on the outside. Mosquitos and flies are known to swarm and annoy but with the help of a recessed air curtain those pesky bugs are kept outside where they belong.
  • Recessed air curtains are more economical and aesthetically pleasing than vestibules. Recessed air curtains were approved as an alternative to vestibules in the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and the 2015 International Green Code Construction (IgCC) in large part to the air curtains ability to provide an unobstructed emergency exit as well as a providing a quicker way for traffic to pass through. Recessed air curtains are also a better solution to vestibules because of their energy saving abilities in the heating and cooling season. Vestibules still allow unwanted air and contaminates to enter and circulate through a building while the powerful winds of an air curtain prevent the unwanted air from entering at all.
  • Recessed air curtains can be used in abundance. Thanks to the size and placement of recessed air curtains, they can be placed over every door. Restaurant owners, for instance, can place them in the ceiling tiles over the front door to keep cold air from entering in the winter months, while also having them over the doors to the patio area to prevent hot air from entering during the summer patio season.

Recessed air curtains allow the aesthetics of a building to remain unhindered and can truly help set the tone of a building. The ability to maintain appealing temperature levels, reduce contaminates and bug intrusion, and to be completely hidden offer a unique and easy way to maintain an appealing interior. While the benefits to your customers may be unseen, they do not go unfelt.

Recessed air curtains provide ample benefits to business owners alike, and thanks to the energy saving abilities, recessed air curtains are also a green product that qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

Are you ready to improve air quality and energy savings in your business? Consider a recessed air curtain above your doors. Air Door Distributors is ready to assist you in determining the appropriate Phantom Air Curtain for your business. Call today at 866-402-1642 or fill our contact form.

Stop Cold Drafts in Your Warehouse with Overdoor Heaters

overdoor heaters are an affordable solution to prevent cold drafts in warehousesWhile every brick-and-mortar business is occasionally faced with trying to keep warm air in their facility and cold air out at some point during the cooler months and colder seasons, warehouses, in particular, are regularly presented with this annoying challenge. With numerous entryways and lots of docks and bays for loading/unloading their trucks, it’s no surprise that most warehouses struggle not only to run energy efficiently, but also to stop those cold drafts from seeping in on a daily basis. Fortunately, there’s an affordable, energy-efficient, and viable solution – over the door heaters also known as heated air curtains.

Cold drafts lead to downtime

Whether cold drafts are accepted as the norm at your warehouse and your employees are used to the winter drafts when your staff walk or work near your facility’s entranceways, that does not mean they are immuned to the repercussions that cold drafts can cause. Spending 8+ hours a day in an environment where the indoor temperature constantly changes from warm and comfortable to cold and drafty (depending upon the area of the warehouse where a worker travels) can often lead to the onslaught of winter colds, fevers, and migraines. Even if your warehouse workers sport gloves, jackets, and hats to deal with the cold drafts, every time they go to the breakroom, washroom, or any other part of the building that is warmer, they are still susceptible to dealing with the frequent changes in the air temperature and in their body temperature. Your staff should not have to constantly be putting on and taking off layers of clothes to be comfortable throughout any given winter’s work day.

Cold drafts create wasted user space

No warehouse employee wants to set up a workstation or an office near a drafty doorway. The constant cold air that seeps through frequently-opened doors is distracting and uncomfortable. Purposefully ignoring prime and convenient work space where drafty doors are situated wastes that work space and increases the time it takes for workers to return to that space to do what they need to do – whether that is welcoming visitors, checking-in products, running out for a delivery, or reviewing the paperwork on inventory. The square footage around the cold doorways could be easily transformed into useable, easily accessible, and comfortable designated work areas with the proper over the door systems set up. By using these once-avoided drafty areas, the other work spaces in your warehouse can then be better utilized for more inventory or to clear pathways to make the flow of the warehouse safer and easier to access.

Overdoor heaters lower energy bills

While the primary and ultimate goal for installing high-quality over the door heaters in your warehouse may be to stop the cold drafts from entering your warehouse, they do offer other benefits as well. Overdoor heaters also provide energy savings. By stopping the cold drafts from starting at your doorways and permeating throughout your warehouse, your energy bill will be considerably lower than what you paid the same months in previous years prior to installing the over door heaters. You’ll notice that difference immediately. That savings can be budgeted for additional energy-efficient improvement throughout your warehouse.

Overdoor heaters are environmentally friendly

It’s not necessary to do a complete overhaul and go 100 percent green overnight. Being environmentally friendly starts with small changes that make big differences. Identifying areas in your warehouse where you are losing heat, wasting space, not operating efficiently, and not contributing to an environment that may be as healthy as it could be for your staff is a start. Once the issues have been identified, finding and implementing solutions speaks volumes about you, your brand, and how much you care about your staff, your customers, and the environment. Selecting environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient systems and processes — like over door heaters – are good for both your company your company’s brand.

Quality overdoor heaters eliminate cold drafts

As with any investment you make for your company, you want the equipment to last, to work well, and to be hassle-free. Berner Door Heaters are one such product. Known for tempering the cold air that rushes through a warehouse’s open doors, Berner Door Heaters are able to mix that cold air with high-velocity heated air. As a result, the indoor temperature of your warehouse instantly becomes more comfortable and more inviting for your company employees, visitors, vendors, and customers. With the Berner Door Heaters, they can be easily mounted at any angle, they’re factory assembled, and they can be connected to either electric power or natural gas.

Finding and implementing ways to make your warehouse more employee-friendly, energy-efficient, and safe demonstrates that you truly value your team. Installing over the door heaters to address and solve the very real daily challenge of cold drafts is an easy, quick, and big fix at an affordable price.

National Sanitation Foundation and Commercial Fly Control

air curtains are the perfect commercial fly control solution for restaurantsWhile you can certainly expect to encounter some flies when enjoying food outside during warm temperatures, no one welcomes the sight of those annoying and elusive insects indoors. It’s unnerving, unhealthy, and irritating. If you run any kind of commercial business where customers and vendors frequent and employees regularly work – whether a local eatery, a national food chain, a warehouse, or an office building – you do not want your business to be rumored as being an unsanitary, fly-infested facility. And it doesn’t take an army of flies to turn customers away; one or two of these relentless insects zooming around a diner’s table all evening is enough to stop the patrons from coming back or referring anyone to your establishment. Fortunately, there is a solution and it’s recommended by an industry watchdog.

The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF International) — an independent, not-for-profit organization founded in the mid-1940s, has developed standards to address and resolve the problem of flies in food service establishments. Committed to being the world’s provider of public health and safety-based risk management solutions, NSF International set the bar for the materials, the design, the construction, and the performance required for approval of air curtains placed in food establishments. The Mars line of air curtains that are designed for commercial businesses meet NSF International’s criteria for approval in eateries and other food service establishments; Mars’ products do a phenomenal job of keeping patrons, employees, and business owners comfortable inside while keeping flies out. Here’s why every food and food service establishment must be a no-fly zone:

Flies explore and eat gross things.

Flies walk on, explore, and eat the fecal matter of deer, dogs, cattle, raccoons, squirrels, and all of the other creatures — great and small — that defecate outdoors. They dine on discharges from an animal’s open wounds and sores. They feast on carcasses, rotting fruit, and other decaying organic matter.

Flies hang out in bad neighborhoods.

Anywhere garbage, filth, and decay exist, you’ll find flies. From atop the belly of a roadkill to your big trash dumpsters behind your restaurant and the garbage cans inside your kitchen (when the back door is left open), flies are attracted to smelly, rotting matter.

Flies spread germs and bacteria.

It should be no surprise that flies spread the germs they carry from one landing spot to another. As a result, they easily transmit many diseases to human beings; these include everything from typhoid fever, dysentery, and cholera, to leprosy and tuberculosis.

Flies fly.

If these incessant flies got around by crawling, perhaps what they ate and where they hung out wouldn’t be so unnerving. The fact is, however, that they are quick, and fast, and fly – thus making it highly probably that they’ll eventually land on a customer’s silverware, plate, table, and menu. They’ll quickly find their way around your kitchen, including landing in sauces, soups, and salads without notice. Once a fly’s filth-covered feet land on something one of your customer’s is eating, you can count on a call from that client the next day, a bad review, or never seeing that customer again because they got a foodborne illness hours after eating your establishment’s fly-tainted food.

Flies first “throw up” on the “food” they are about to eat.

Since their stomach acids break down food matter to make it viable for them to suck up their feasts through their straw-like mouths, flies first regurgitate their stomach contents onto whatever “food” they are about to eat.

Flies can make your establishment fail its inspection.

While a few flies alone may not cause your eatery to get an “F” from the local health inspector, the sight of the insects will lower your overall grade – potentially damaging the chance of repeat business and/or brand new patrons. If your restaurant is already insect-free, the health inspector will look closely to see how you are able to accomplish that feat. Are you using dangerous pesticides? Do you have unsightly sticky strips hanging on your doorways? Or do you have a NSF International-approved Mars Air Curtain discreetly and properly installed in your restaurant?

NSF International-approved Mars Air Curtains have adjustable louvers at the air intake component. This feature enables them to provide optimum operating efficiency 24/7 at your food service establishment. In fact, when the Air Curtains are positioned over refrigeration doors, they can be adjusted to regulate both the velocity and the volume of air — right at the air outlet. As a result, this forms an air “barrier” and instantly balances the cold air inside the refrigerator with the warm air outside. When used as a barrier to keep flies and other insects out of your kitchen’s refrigerators, the louvers can be set at the maximum open position; the full volume of air will create a colder and stronger barrier.

If you have any additional questions about air curtains and commercial fly control, feel free to reach out to us at 866-402-1642 or fill out our online contact form.