With a wide choice of heating solutions for entrances and doorways, it can be difficult to know which is best for your needs. Overdoor heaters, air curtains and industrial air barriers give a whole spectrum of options for every organisation, helping to improve efficiency and reduce overall energy bills.
Phil Chilton, commercial products manager for Dimplex, considers some common situations faced in a variety of sectors – and suggests the best heating solutions for each requirement.
“I like to leave the main doors open to provide a more welcoming entrance but in winter I feel like my heating bills are going straight out the door.”
In this situation, which is extremely common in the retail industry, air curtains are undoubtedly the best solution. Air curtains work by use a fast-moving airstream to ‘seal the gap’ created by open doorways, allow buildings to hold on to treated air and ultimately reduce overall energy consumption.
They can reduce heat loss through doorways and service entrances whilst preventing cold air, insects, pollution and odours from entering the building. They can even be used in summer too, maximising the performance of air conditioning systems by keeping treated, cooled air inside.
“We have considered air curtains but our entrance doorway is nearly four metres high. Will I be left with a gap at the bottom?”
Not if you specify the correct product. You’ll need a high performance air curtain like the Dimplex DAB range, which offers a maximum mounting height of four metres and can even be recessed into the ceiling. Make sure you check the mounting height of the product before you install it because any gaps will result in lost energy and reduced performance.
“We don’t get the footfall to justify leaving the door open all day, but we’re still keen to replace lost heat when the front door is used.”
In these situations we would recommend overdoor heaters like the Dimplex AC range, which are available for single or double doorways and offer a ‘warm welcome’. Whilst they do not provide the ‘seal’ offered by an air curtain, overdoor heaters provide multi-directional, powerful and effective heating above the entrance to shops, offices and almost any small doorway.
“We already have an air curtain because the doors are left open for safety in peak times but when the doors are shut it’s often working unnecessarily because nobody turns it off. Can we link the air curtain to a sensor so we don’t have to manually switch it on and off?”
Air curtains can be linked to a range of additional controls to optimise performance and help reduce running costs. Auto energy control, such as a door contacts, PIR sensors, weather compensation or a product which is linked to the Building Management System will offer the best performance, while simple time or temperature controls can also offer improved efficiency.
“We have a number of large entrances in the warehouse which are often left open for forklifts or for lorries to back up for loading/unloading. The gap is too big for an air curtain but is there another solution?”
At this end of the scale you would need an industrial air barrier, which delivers a super high output airstream for doors up to six metres high. Often found in large warehouses, factories and distribution centres, these super high power air curtains can cut the running costs of a busy facility, whilst improving the working environment too.
