Air Curtains for insect control
Hi All,
We are installing an air curtain for insect control only for food defense of our SQF system. It is a receiving door that is actually inside. The hallway is common area to other tenants in the building. Any thoughts on inside or outside mounting? Outside would be easier and is ok with the building management. Also, the installer asked if we needed our curtain to be NSF (national Sanitation Foundation) certified (??) I had never even heard of NSF, so not sure at this time. Maybe that is a question for our local health dept?
If it is installed outside and there is no possibility of the unit creating insanitary conditions/chance for source of contamination inside your facility, I would not think it needs to be NSF (www.nsf.org) certified. If it is inside, then it is a question of risk, cleanability, etc., whether or not it is NSF certified. It's nice you have an installer thinking about such things!
Dear terris -
You will probably pay more for a NSF certified device. NSF is a testing, auditing, and certification organization - it can be found here www.nsf.org.
Proper sizing and installation are as important as anything else. Outside installations tend to need to be cleaned more often than inside installations. Outside installs are also more affected by environmental conditions, such as windy days. When installed properly, the air curtain should extend across the entirely of the opening and be useful all the way to the floor. You need to set up an inspection program by you and/or your PCO to check that the unit is working properly and the air control fins have not been 'adjusted' - intentionally or accidentally.
An important consideration is power. If just plugged in, people bothered by the air blowing on them (think a nice rainy day) reach up and unplug them. If direct wired, then have to consider what you're going to do in the depths of winter when air curtain is not needed, especially during an ice/snow event.
KTD
Thanks Dr Vu..this is an air curtain we are thinking of installing. We only need it for bug control as our receiving door is located inside: we are a tenant in a multi-use building. There is a common area loading dock on the main floor.We offload product, bring it up to the 3rd floor via a freight elevator and bring into our facility through our own receiving door (which opens to the common area 3rd floor hallway). My main question had been if it needed to be NSF certified. You bring up a good thought-I wonder if strip curtains or a bug screen would suffice since that is the only purpose for us (ie, nothing to do with temperature control). I will check that out! Thanks
What about using an air curtain fly fans instead of juz using air curtains. Which would be more better among the two?