How Air Curtains Work
Air curtains are often misunderstood. At first glance, they appear simple—but in reality they are a highly engineered solution designed to control airflow, temperature separation, and environmental conditions.
At their core, air curtains create a high-velocity stream of air across an opening. This acts as an invisible barrier, helping to reduce the exchange of internal and external air without physically closing off the space.
This makes them particularly valuable where access needs to remain open, but environmental control is still important.
Where Air Curtains Are Used
Because of their flexibility, air curtains are used across a wide range of sectors. Broadly speaking, they fall into two distinct markets:
Industrial Applications
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Warehouses and distribution centres
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Manufacturing facilities
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Loading bays and goods-in/out areas
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Areas requiring control of dust, fumes, or temperature
Commercial & Public-Facing Applications
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Retail stores and supermarkets
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Offices and commercial buildings
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Restaurants, cafés, and hospitality venues
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Hotels, receptions, and public entrances
The requirements in these environments differ significantly—both in terms of performance and presentation—which is why selecting the correct type of air curtain is critical. We would strongly recommend a site survey.
Air Curtains vs High Speed Doors
One of the most common questions is whether an air curtain is the right solution—or whether a high speed door would be more appropriate.
While both are designed to improve environmental control and reduce energy loss, they perform very different roles:
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Air Curtains are ideal where openings need to remain open for convenience, traffic flow, or customer access
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High Speed Doors provide a physical barrier and are better suited where separation, security, or tighter environmental control is required
In many cases, the correct solution depends on how the opening is used on a day-to-day basis.
Air Curtain Installation In Action
The effectiveness of an air curtain is heavily dependent on correct specification and installation.
The examples below show a typical industrial installation, highlighting the scale, build quality, and positioning required to achieve optimal performance.
Factors such as mounting height, air velocity, doorway size, and surrounding conditions all play a critical role—this is not a one-size-fits-all product.
Choosing the Right Air Curtain
Air curtains can deliver excellent results—but only when correctly specified for the application.
With two very different markets—industrial and commercial—and a wide range of performance requirements, selecting the right system is essential to achieving the desired outcome.
For this reason, we strongly recommend a site survey.
This allows us to assess:
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Opening size and mounting position
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Internal and external conditions
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Traffic flow and usage patterns
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Performance expectations
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From this, we can provide a tailored recommendation that ensures the system performs exactly as required.
Request a free site survey or speak to our team to discuss the most suitable solution for your premises.
Energy Saving Doors
25 Britannia Square
Worcester
Worcestershire
WR1 3DH
United Kingdom
+44 1905 317878