How can I save energy when using my spray booth?

Every business on the planet wants to find new ways to save energy and reduce costs, and that certainly includes those using spray booths. With any significant piece of machinery, there is always a focus on harnessing the potential energy efficiency so that you can get the best out of the technology with minimal waste and maximum productivity.

There’s a balance to strike, and the key is having strategies and tools that help you save energy and drive productivity. Without further ado, here are some paint booth efficiency tips to help you do just that. Here’s to sustainability in the workplace!

Air recirculation can reduce running costs

For bodyshops, a spray booth is usually up there with the biggest energy consumers. While the same can be said for those not in the collision repair industry, if you have a small-to-medium sized bodyshop then a spray booth naturally uses the most energy.

There are, however, things you can do to better harness that energy. One such strategy has to do with air recirculation. The addition of an automatic air recirculation system can lead to further energy savings. Take the Fuel Saver Mode, for example. This bit of kit determines when a spray booth requires full fresh air intake (e.g in the paint application process) – it automatically switches to recirculation mode for idle periods, loading/unloading, cleaning/final masking, flash off and bake.

Fresh air drawn externally has to be heated before it’s supplied to the cabin (as it will need to reach the required temperature). The more heated air that can be recirculated, the more savings you could make. With Fuel Saver Mode, 10-20% fresh air is used with 80-90% being filtered and then recirculated through the cabin. Again, this could mean significant savings for your business.

Consider a direct-fire heating system

For natural gas or LPG users, you will have the choice of indirect or direct-fire spray booths. We recommend that you consider direct-fire over indirect, especially if you’re looking to save energy. In indirect-fire systems, the hot combustion gasses pass through the heat exchanger and are then discharged through a flue straight up into the atmosphere. Essentially, all this fuel is lost up the chimney.

Direct-fire systems do away with the heat exchange completely, and instead of going to waste the combustion gases are used in the heating process. This is designed in a way to save you significant amounts of energy which, in turn, saves you money.

QADs is a perfect energy saver

We can’t talk about energy-saving without mentioning QADs. Auxiliary air movement is one of the most vital advances in spray booth technology and it has revolutionised paint booth efficiency.

Here are just some of the benefits to be had from QADs:

• QADs can save you up to 40% of your energy cost
• It provides faster and more thorough curing of low VOC top coats
• Air is filtered to just 10 microns
• Completely automatic operation for time saving

Variable speed drives are your energy-saving friend

Most bodyshop spray booths run all day long (or at least for prolonged periods of time) it can sometimes feel like a hassle to even momentarily power down when not in use. Junair variable speed drives will automatically change the air flow needed in your spray booth to suit the process; this action, over the course of a day can lead to impressive savings. You’ll help reduce energy waste which is good for your bottom line and for the environment.

One step closer to maximum spray booth efficiency

Just a brief conversation with our sales team will give you many more energy saving methods, so it’s important that we stay in touch. You can reach our team by email or, alternatively, filling out an enquiry form here.

In the meantime, you’re sure to find more similar resources over on our blog – take a look. Our range of energy efficient spray booth technology can help you make significant savings, from our QADs technology to the Fuel Saver Mode and Variable Airflow Technology.

Written by