Door Closers – Why Do I Need Them?
A door closer is a device that enables a door to close whenever someone opens it or if is automatically opened. These are commonly seen in lots of commercial buildings.
Are there different types of door closers? Yes, there are different types of door closers. They can be concealed in frame and concealed in floor or surface mounted. Closers that are surface mounted have four different types. These include the regular arm, top jamb mounted, slide track arm and the parallel arm. Overhead type closers are mostly surface mounted, even though there are a lot of manufacturers that offers concealed models also like Norton 7900 overhead concealed and the Rixson 27 series. These are mounted inside of a pocket of the door frame though sometimes they can also be mounted in the floor under the pivot area directly and are concealed completely. The surface mounted ones are those with the small boxes attached on the door’s top corner. The arms that are jointed are the ones extended from the top level of the box on to the frame where this is bolted in.
You may also choose if you want it to be automatic or manual. The ones that we mostly see and are more common are the manual type door closers. Actually, there are over 70% of commercial building in North America that uses this type of door closer. This may be because manual types of closers are much cheaper compared to automatic ones.
How do they work? For manual door closer, either the jamb mounted or the overhead works on the air pressure principle and stored energy. This device is storing the energy that is being generated whenever somebody pushes the door open. After the energy has been generated, it will then use the stored energy to close the door automatically even without someone applying any force to close it. You can control and adjust how much closing speed you want by using hydraulic dampers or spring mechanisms on this device.
Automatic closers on the other hand use electrical power instead of the energy given by man. This kind of door closer is usually more expensive. This most of the time comes with a remote control for the device and a security alarm that you can turn on whenever you need it.
What are the advantages of having a door closer? There are a lot of advantages of having a door closer. Door closers are important because it helps contain sounds from outside of the door, closes the door for security purposes and privacy. Whenever the temperature changes, wind or gusts a door may swing out of control and may be very injurious to very old and very young people. That is why the door closer can also be a safety device that can protect or reduce a potential injury to someone. Also a door closer is very important for fire doors because fire doors must always be latched and closed in a period of time to prevent fire from escaping and spreading.
Doors are as important as any parts of the house. This is where you come in and out of your homes or offices. That is why it is suggested to add door closers so you can freely move in and out without having to worry that it is left open. Or you may want to try combination lock box.