Thursday, July 12, 2012

Door Closers For Fire Safety


As the very name implies, door closers are mechanical devices that help in shutting the doors in the event of safety. It is necessary to take up preventive measures in the event of an emergency, and thus door closers is one such device that helps to do so. Mechanical door closers are devices that help to close doors automatically if someone opens it or even if it was automatically opened. Door closers, in general, fit in a different kind of criteria for varied performance and features, but the main key feature of its performance lies in the event of a fire accident, where automatic door closers play an important part.

How can the door closer help in the event of a fire or a mishap? Unlike normal doors, there are fire doors that resist or prevent fire from setting in. These doors feature fire resistance ratings and are thus categorized and sold based on their performance and the price ranges depending on the level of safety provided. Although using a fire resistant door might not serve as a strong means of protecting the room from fire, it is a passive measure that helps to keep away fire for a certain period of time. If the door is closed manually, the mechanism works by storing the energy that is required in the opening of the door so that it is spent by the door closer in closing it.

If the fire should try to set in, these door closers at least prevent the escape of the smoke from one room to another. In that way, the chances of the fire spreading is prevented to a certain extent. This is extremely important because, the smoke that escapes triggers the event of another hazard by the electrical installation in the room. Thus, it leads to a chain of events that lead to a massive fire attack, leading to total destruction and unwanted hassle. These fire doors are usually in conjunction with fire dampers that help to wade off and dampen the fire. Thus, they can be separated from these dampers with ease, if they are not an integral part of the wall or do not separate the rooms.

These fire doors are made of a combination of timber, gypsum, steel, and thus can help in the prevention of fire. Moreover, the addition of automatic door closers tends to enhance the level of safety by automatic closure of these doors in the event of a fire mishap. These door closers tend to close the door immediately after opening them, and thus the spread of smoke and fire is prevented even before it gets out of hand. Besides the safety features, these doors also help to prevent the leakage of cool air and thus, help to maintain the temperature at an even pace.

These door closers for fire safety can be either open or concealed. However, despite the type of door closer used, it is important that the door closer features a long life and act well in the event of a fire mishap.