With the gift-giving holidays right around the corner, the malls and big box retail stores will soon have floods of potential customers looking for that perfect gift. I know, I know…Thanksgiving isn’t here yet, but no one shops for gifts for that holiday. And, let’s be real: Black Friday is one of the most popular shopping days of the year.

Many of these stores use automatic door operators and, while they’re great for certain aspects (reducing the spread of germs, easier on shoppers with their arms filled with bags), they require a bit more maintenance. It’s important to  do regular checks of your doors and their operators.

However, if automatic door operators are something you’re interested in, this post will help you decide what will work best for you.

Automatic Door Operators: What’s Best?

You have a few options when it comes to automatic door operators so you can weigh out what works best for your facility. You can choose from low-energy, full-energy, and power-assist operators.

The ADA code for each type of operator varies, which means each type comes with its own set of rules. The best way to figure out which works best for you is to match your facility’s needs with the different door operators.

Low-Energy Operators

Low-energy door operators are two-fold in their function because  they can either be  automatically or manually opened. When a person manually opens the door, the low-energy operator gives them a little bit of help with the weight of the door. The added factor of extra weight from the human opening the door  means there are limitations on opening speed and force.

However, because of these limits, low-energy operators don’t have requirements pertaining to sensors, guide rails, or control mats.

Full-Energy Operators

Full-energy operators are what you think of when you think of automatic door openers. These are perfect in facilities that deal with a lot of foot traffic. These doors have restrictions regarding speed and force, though. They require operator sensors, guide rails, and control mats and all of that is to help protect the customer. Those extra requirements help prevent the doors from opening if someone is standing in the path of the door.

Power-Assist Operators

These operators are very similar to low-energy and, because of this, fall under a lot of the same guidelines. Power-assist operators help reduce the force required to open the door so it can be opened more easily. It’s important to note, though, that these doors do not open on their own and at least some manual force is required.

We have a few different automatic door operators in place throughout the office and all of them work great. If you think they  are something that could work for your facility, give us a call today. We’d love to help you out!