sara Loading Bay - Choosing the Right Door for a Warehouse
October 2020

The best type of industrial door for a warehouse depends on a number of different factors, including what’s being stored inside, and how people will be gaining access during a typical working day. Let’s take some time and run through some of these factors and help guide you through the process of selecting the perfect door solution for your warehouse.

OPERATIONAL NEEDS

As we know, warehouses typically host a wide range of items and each item can need a different door environment. For example, in sensitive environments, like food storage, an insulated door that takes longer to open and close multiple times a day could offer worse protection than an uninsulated high-speed door that ensures open and closing times are as short as possible.

Let’s look at the maths – if you need a door to open and close 100 times in a typical working day, and the door takes two minutes to open or close, a warehouse will be exposed to the outside temperature for 400 extra minutes, on top of the time needed for a vehicle to enter or leave – that’s a lot of time to be exposed to the elements. High speed doors, on the other hand, have opening speeds as fast as one metre per second, so you dramatically reduce this exposure time.

Of course, it’s also possible for high speed doors to be insulated, providing the best of both worlds – something to keep in mind if multiple doors are needed for a site.

LOCATION & WEATHER

For obvious reasons, warehouses can also be noisy environments, and insulated doors can serve another useful purpose in these cases, helping to reduce the amount of noise pollution from a building. This is particularly useful for sites surrounded by residential areas, for example.

Weather seals and insulation prevent heat loss – and this is useful not just for storing items that need to be kept at a certain temperature. In colder areas of the country, this can also be essential for maintaining a comfortable working temperature for staff, without relying on heaters and the horrendous heating bills they often carry.

WHAT YOU’RE STORING

If you’re storing goods that need to be kept at a certain temperature level – usually liquids, or perishable goods which are at risk of freezing, or natural products that are at risk of spoiling – the right door is absolutely essential.

Industrial warehouse doors are usually very large, providing an equally large opportunity for heat loss, unless they are designed to reduce heat loss. For example, insulated roller shutters feature twin-ribbed curtains and weather seals to keep heat in.

ACCESS

High speed doors are also valuable for warehouses where regular, secure access is needed. Fast-moving businesses with multiple collections and deliveries every day, the time spent waiting for doors to open and close can build up, wasting hours over the course of a working day. High speed doors dramatically reduce the time wasted.

Pedestrian access is also important – high security doors prevent unwanted access and keep you safe knowing that only those with authorised access are able to use the doors.

To find out more, please call us on 01442 245577 or visit our contact page.
WHO ARE SARA LBS?

sara Loading Bay Specialists supply, install and maintain loading bay equipment for manufacturing, warehouse loading and distribution networks, also high speed doors and roller shutter doors for industrial, production line, cleanroom and food processing applications. Its high speed range of ‘Sprint’ fast action doors offer quick opening speeds and improved safety for internal and external applications.

sara LBS have been supplying, installing and maintaining high speed doors for over 30 years, priding themselves on their quality of workmanship, dedication to customer service and reliability of installation. If you’d like to get in touch to discuss our High Speed Doors, please contact us or call us on 01442 245577