Berner International, New Castle, PA, has announced its recently-introduced Commercial High Performance 10 Series (CHD10) air curtain was certified for electric heat by the Air Movement & Control Association–International (AMCA).
The CHD10 Series joins Berner’s Architectural High Performance 10 and Architectural Recessed 12 air curtains in offering architects and engineers both AMCA-certified heated and unheated choices to supplant vestibules in building projects as per allowances by the International Energy Conservation Code’s (IECC) Section C402.4.7, under “Building Envelope Requirements.” The IECC’s air curtain allowance eliminates the construction costs and wasteful footprint of vestibules, while also providing equal or better energy efficiency.
The performance of the CHD10 Series’ AMCA-certified heat is partially due to Berner’s patented Venturi heater, the air curtain industry’s most efficient electric heater. Berner air curtains with the Venturi heaters outperform other air curtains with electric heaters due to more efficient design as well as the heater placement. The Venturi heater is mounted on the incoming airside of the blower wheel, warming the air without interfering with the air movement. Other manufacturers’ designs place the electric heater in the discharge airstream, which interrupts an air curtain’s laminar airflow and performance efficiency.
The AMCA certification on heated models gives designers more IECC building code compliant options when specifying air curtains in lieu of a vestibule. The CHD10 Series with electric heat is typically specified in healthcare, hospitality, restaurant, supermarket and other commercial facilities to provide additional comfort over seven to 10-foot-high front doors.
The CHD10 Series’ heat and airflow performance is comparable to Berner’s premium Architectural Category of heated high performance and in-ceiling mount air curtains. However, the CHD10 Series is an economical alternative for applications not requiring premium features, such as a higher level of aesthetics, Berner’s patented Intelliswitch™ microprocessor-based digital control package and access control via a smartphone.
The heated CHD10 Series does come with Berner’s Basic control package that can upgraded to the Deluxe for a time delay; or the Comfort Plus for time delay and thermostatically controlled air comfort even when the door is closed.
The CHD10 Series’ attractive CNC-cut decorative grille and aesthetic, pentagonal-shaped cabinet comes powder-coated in standard white or black. Due to Berner’s in-house powder coating capabilities, custom colors are also an option, as is stainless steel, grade 304 or better.
Other features of the CHD10 with electric heat are:
- effective prevention of flying insect infiltration and energy losses through open doorways;
- UL and cUL listed, USDA-compliant and FDA-recommended;
- No assembly required; units are manufactured in single construction lengths of up to 10-feet-long, and shipped fully assembled, which reduces installation time and labor;
- Five-year parts warranty for unheated models and a two-year parts warranty for heated models.
