How to choose a thermal curtain
What gives every home coziness and comfort? Of course - a warm hearth! To keep warm, be it a house or an apartment, various heating devices have been developed over the years, such as heating elements (tubular electric heaters), heat guns, and even attempts have been made to improve radiator batteries. Often on cold winter evenings, even a fireplace is not able to maintain sufficient heat in the house.
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Choosing the right thermal curtain
Today, the most advanced solution in the field of heat supply is a thermal curtain. It helps to maintain heat in any room, even in non-residential buildings, such as offices, shops and industrial enterprises.
Size
Thermal curtain is an electric air heater installed above the doorway. Therefore, an important factor when choosing this device is the size of a particular opening, or more precisely, its length. The line of models includes a variety of sizes, ranging from 70 cm to 2-meter curtains. If the length of the opening is much longer, then paired curtains are installed, as close to each other as possible, which prevents the “ajar window” effect.
Therefore, when choosing a device yourself, you need to remember 2 important nuances:
— the length of the device model must be greater than the width of the opening;
- if the dimensions of the opening significantly exceed the length of all existing curtain models, then 2 models are purchased to match the length of the opening, and they should be installed as close as possible so as not to create a source of “draft”.
Performance
A wide range of curtains also implies different performance, that is, the flow rate of heated air. The larger the dimensions of the door, gate or opening in production, and the higher the curtain is located, the greater its performance should be.
For a standard doorway, whose dimensions are usually 1m * 2m, it is necessary to choose models with a capacity of at least 900 cubic meters per hour. In this case, the force of the supplied warm air will be equal to 8-9 and 2-2.5 m/s at the top and bottom of the opening, respectively. This will block the entire doorway with warm flow.
Heating element type
After the choice of the required type of model has been made, it is worth learning about the difference in the type of heating element itself.
The function of the device is to separate warm air indoors from cold air outside. And even a flow of temperature-neutral air copes well with this. Its force is directed from top to bottom, all the way to the floor, which prevents cold air from entering, for example, from the street.
But if the curtain is installed in a store where the doors are constantly open, then in order to prevent the room temperature from decreasing, it is better to use a flow of hot air. Therefore, you need to know which heating element will be in the selected model and how it works.
All models are divided into only 2 types of heating device:
- Spiral
- heating element
Distinguishes between both types: model price and service life.
A spiral heater is a regular wire spiral, similar to a boiler. Therefore, it is not expensive, but it requires large amounts of electricity. And in terms of service life, it is not very durable.
The heating element is the opposite of a spiral heater. It is a steel tube with quartz sand and a graphite rod inside. Therefore, it is absolutely safe and will last a long time, compensating many times its high cost.
Coolant type
Thermal curtains are designed for various energy sources, therefore they are divided into 3 types:
- Gas
- Mermen
- Electrical
For large industrial premises, gas curtains are the best option. They are safe heat sources and have the highest efficiency (almost 100%). However, among all the models, they are the most expensive.
Which thermal curtain is best to install above the front door?
Water ones are also characterized by increased productivity. But their installation is complicated by the fact that there must be a water supply system nearby. If there are no interruptions to this energy source and it is necessary to maintain heat in a sufficiently large space, then this type of curtain will be a good help in saving electrical energy.
For small apartment and office doorways, windows, entrance doors not only to apartments, but also to houses, the best option would be an electric thermal curtain. If the performance and dimensions of the model are correctly selected, and the installation is carried out by professionals, then its operation will not pose any problems.
Selection by parameters
You can choose a device either with the help of a specialist or on your own.But at the same time, it is necessary to take into account all the parameters of the future curtain and its compliance with the dimensions of the doorway and the room that it will “protect” from the cold.
While it is more common to find horizontal curtains, there are other types of installation. Among them are distinguished:
- Horizontal
- Vertical
- Universal
Horizontal and vertical curtains must be installed in accordance with the requirements of the manufacturer. Horizontal ones are often bulky and must be mounted on brackets using threaded rods. Vertical - must be installed on the side of the doorway, and at the same time, for proper operation, they must also occupy almost its entire height - no less than ¾!
The most popular model design of a thermal curtain is universal! This model allows installation both horizontally above the front door or window, and vertically on one or both sides of the door.
For example, you need to choose a thermal curtain for a store that is small in size and well heated.
To begin with, the dimensions of the doorway are determined: height and width. Let's say they are 2.30 and 1 meter, respectively. There must be a place above the front door in order to properly secure the device, and in the future nothing will interfere with its stable operation.
A model that corresponds to these dimensions must be at least 1 meter in length, and the power of performance must provide a range of warm air flow of at least 2.5 meters. The power of the model is 6-9 kW. But since the given room ensures that the door is constantly open, it is better to choose a 9 kW model.When choosing from the types of curtains, you need to take into account what energy source is nearby, but in this case it is predetermined - electricity. Installation of the model can be either horizontal or vertical, if the dimensions of the model do not correspond to the space above the doorway. Also, based on the type of electric heater, it is worth giving preference to a heating element. Even though its price is high, its service life and degree of safety are at the same level!
The very last nuance in choosing a curtain will be its design and control methods. But here the buyer himself plays the main role!
In any case, you cannot neglect the help of sales floor specialists, who will not only select the necessary model of a thermal curtain, but also tell you about all types of models and the functionality of each of them.
