Adding Add Heat and Brake Capabilities to a Non-Heated Paint Booth
Selecting the right spray paint booth is not always easy. The term is too broad and may cover anything, from just space and fan to state-of-the-art booth with sophisticated features and systems, Of course, you will have to choose depending on your needs.
If you’ve been reading about spray paint booths, you may have learned that they come in different types, such as crossdraft, downdraft, semi-downdraft and side-draft. However, if you’re planning to add heat and brake capabilities to a non-heated spray paint booth, that is something that you have to seriously consider, especially the cost.
Custom shops may not require upgrades, but if volume will be part of your business model, you probably will. While adding heat to your booth, make it a point to recycle it so you can save thousands of dollars a year.
The cheaper the spray paint booth, the most expensive it usually is to retrofit. For example, you cannot supply heat to a cross-draft booth through its doors. Major alterations will be needed and the costs can be prohibitively high. In a similar way,installing a heat recycle in specific cross-draft booths can be done, but the cost will be through the roof.
Semi-downdraft booths are relatively simpler to retrofit when you want to add heat. You will need very little metal customization or on-site work, which means installation and labor costs will be minimal.
It would be difficult and pricey to add heat recycle because of the location of the exhaust, which is at the back of the booth. Most certainly, the project will require significant amounts of ductwork. As the ducts of side downdraft booths run along the sidewalls, retrofitting with heat is easy. As the heater can be connected to the exhaust duct at any location, adding heat recycling is equally easy. Downdraft booths are also easy to add heat and heat recycling to, and the level of difficulty will of course depend on the layout. Installation and labor costs will be minimal as changes to the cabin will be unnecessary.
In any case, make sure there’s adequate room around the booth where you decide to add heat in the future. Your building should have the right electric load, and be aware of where the power will be run so you can come up with an accurate estimate of your costs. Also determine whether the fuel to run the booth will actually be available and can reach the heater. Finally, ensure that adding a heater is allowed by your city even if you have no such plans yet. If you take time to consider all of these details, you can save time and money into the future.