There are a variety of good reasons you might consider installing an impact door on the interior of your business. An impact door is a door, single or double, that swings open in either direction and is opened essentially by bumping into it – hence the word “impact” in the designation. These types of doors are also referred to by various other names, including traffic doors, bump doors and double-acting doors.
Impact doors are a common sight in high-traffic, high-activity workplaces. They’re used frequently in hospitals and restaurants. In these dynamic environments, where every moment counts, the efficiency offered by commercial impact doors is invaluable.
These doors find their place in scenarios where employees are constantly on the move. Consider a restaurant setting, where a server might be carrying four plates while exiting a bustling commercial kitchen. In healthcare settings, professionals need to enter an operating room without the use of their hands they’ve just washed. In both commercial settings doors are a common obstacle that need to be dealt with accordingly. In these cases, and many more, commercial impact doors play a pivotal role in maintaining smooth and efficient operations.
Commercial Impact Doors are More Efficient
One of the primary reasons businesses opt for the installation of impact doors is to enhance productivity. These doors enable employees to move swiftly and seamlessly between different areas of the facility. This is true whether they are on foot or operating vehicles like forklifts or palette trucks. The ingenious design of impact doors allows people to effortlessly push through, eliminating the need to turn a knob or lever to open the door. Once they are in or out, the door automatically swings back into a closed position. There’s little to no hassle and it ensures that the workspace remains secure and efficient.
This convenience, combined with enhanced safety and durability, makes commercial impact doors an essential feature in many spaces. They’re perfect for workplaces that demand rapid and uninterrupted movement.
Commercial Impact Doors Provide a Visual & Physical Barrier
Impact doors can be a smart choice for any access points where you want to conceal the clutter or noise in one room from the people in the adjoining room, such as the passage leading from a front office into a warehouse. An impact door offers many of the same types of efficient traffic-flow benefits as a plastic strip curtain, but without the same visual transparency.
Also like a strip curtain, an impact door can be used to help to seal off a climate-controlled area that gets a lot of traffic in and out, because it closes automatically, cutting down on how long a time the entrance to the room is left open. This saves you money on energy bills by increasing the efficiency of your HVAC system, or the chilling equipment in a freezer or cooler. It will also help keep dirt, dust, fumes, and other contaminants from getting through the doorway – especially if the door you choose has a gasket all the way around the inside of the frame, that creates a seal when it’s closed.
An impact door is easier and less expensive to install, use and maintain than a door that opens automatically, because instead of an electrically powered motor, it relies on the push of a person’s hand to open it – or in some cases a foot. An impact door can be equipped with a bumper at the part of the door that will be getting the most impact. The practicality and cost-effectiveness of impact doors make them an ideal choice for businesses seeking to streamline operations. By choosing impact doors, you not only save on expenses but also invest in a solution that is built to last.
Choosing the Right Commercial Impact Door & Hardware
Before choosing an impact door, think about what it is you want it to accomplish for you. Consult with a commercial door installer and consider questions like:
- Are you mainly interested in temperature and/or humidity control?
- Do you want to create a barrier to block off the view of the room it opens?
- Do you need to have a durable door that stands up well to heavy, door-banging traffic?
If you want your impact door to prevent heat or cold from escaping, for example, you may want a model that features a gasket around the door jamb. If it’s going to be opened often by elbows, held objects or a person’s back, adding reinforced commercial door hardware like plates will extend the life of the door and make it easier to sanitize, which is especially important in restaurant and medical environments.
Commercial Door Frames Need to Be Reinforced or Sturdy Enough for Impact Doors
You should also bear in mind that when a traffic door opens on impact, some of that impact is absorbed by the door frame. So based on how much and what type of traffic your door will be handling, you’ll want to make sure the frame and material it’s made of are of a sturdiness to match the door.
Reinforced commercial doors and hardware, like impact doors, can make a huge difference in the operational and energy efficiency of your enterprise; business owners who want to reduce overhead costs and improve productivity should consider impact doors, and maybe even supplemental air curtains. Talk to a local commercial door expert to design the right door system for your business.