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NOVEMBER 2013 PRO INSTALLER
PRO PRODUCTS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
LOW ENERGY
SWING DOORS VS
FULLY AUTOMATIC
SWING DOORS
For many reasons often the type of swing door
installed is not suitable for the intended use. Low
energy doors are often installed on entranceways that
are not suitable due to volumes or types of traffic.
This is mainly because when the end
user/customer looks at comparison
estimates, these low energy swing
systems often look more favourable.
Cost is important yes, but it is important to remember automatic doors
are being installed in the first place,
to help customers access premises
easier, unaided entry for all users,
DDA requirements. Whatever the reason, you would not want to install a
door set that essentially compounds
to these problems.
The NSG Group has
unveiled Pilkington
Optitherm™ S1 Plus;
a brand new low-emissivity glass optimised
to achieve Ug values
of 1.0 in an insulating
glass unit (IGU). Its innovative coating offers
superior strength and
durability, giving customers a single stock
product that can be
used in both annealed
and toughened forms.
Pilkington Optitherm™
S1 Plus is the first and only
single stock 1.0 Ug-value
product currently available
on the market. It offers
excellent thermal insulation performance for any
situation where excessive
heat loss is a concern, and
combines superior light
transmittance with a neutral
colour.
‘First and only’
“We based Pilkington
Optitherm™ S1 Plus on
our successful Pilkington K
Glass™ S single stock glass
coating platform, which is
WER-optimised,” explained
Monica Hughes, Senior Offline Coating Technologist,
NSG Group. “Like Pilkington
K Glass™ S, Pilkington Optitherm™ S1 Plus has been
found to be more robust
than similar products on the
market, and achieves the required toughening standard
using shorter cycle times.
This is great news for our
customers, as they continue to benefit from industry-leading product developments that help them to
create better end products,
sell more glass, and reduce
storage costs.”
No need to panic for
composite customers!
LOW ENERGY
A low energy swing door requires no
safety sensors to be installed as it moves
so slowly that if it ever had an impact on a
person or object, the force would be so low
it would not hurt them (less than 67 newton
meters of force). This often equates into
hundreds of pounds worth of savings not
fitting safety sensors, but this should not
be the main reason you should choose this
system.
Low energy doors are suitable for low
traffic door systems that only get used a
few times a day and not by any vulnerable
people. For example, the minimum opening
time is 4.5 second and the minimum hold
open time is 5 seconds. This makes for a
very slow door. Any door with higher traffic
requirements should be fully automatic so it
can open faster, so not to inhibit the users
passing through the doors.
Now that’s a plus! Setting
new standards
Force8 has had its range of composite panic
doors independently assessed and certified.
FULLY AUTOMATIC
Fully automatic doors work at a faster
speed, hence they have a larger pushing
force (up to 150n). They have safety sensors
mounted to the top of each door leaf, which
effectively scan the area in front of the door
looking for oncoming obstructions. These
sensors will be mounted across the width of
the length at the top or mid height. These
in turn will stop the door before the leaf
has a chance to impact. Most fully automatic swing door operators are also rated for
constant usage, suitable for high volume
traffic sites like shopping centres, hospitals
and supermarkets.
The news from Force8 comes as the
latest report from Palmer Market
Research announces that composite doors have taken the lead over
PVC-U panel doors in the domestic
entrance door market.
MD Dennis Sumner and the entire Force8
team consistently strive to stay one step
ahead, and the certification of the company’s composite panic doors demonstrates
a determination to offer a high spec safety
option for every sector as composite doors
continue to grow in popularity.
The Stockport-based fabricator is one of
the first companies in the industry to have
undergone stringent, independent testing
and had its doors officially certified by
BuildCheck.
Dennis Sumner explains: “With the added
safety features of a Panic Door, it is necessary for them to be independently audited
and separately accredited to ensure the
highest safety standards are adhered to.
“All the Panic Doors we supply have their
DoP (Declaration of Performance) and have
passed the numerous inspections required
by law. Here at Force8, we have been providing Panic Doors for more than five years
now and we use the best quality VEKA
materials.”
Learn more about Panic Doors, Fire
Doors and more at www.force8.co.uk.
VEKA plc, 01282 716611, www.vekauk.
com, [email protected]