Door closers are excellent devices for the automatic closing of doors and can come in handy when your rooms have climate control, or you need to keep the cold out, the pets and small children in, and other reasons. They need to be extremely durable and well suited to the traffic that they have to cater to.
Door closers can be mounted overhead, a type that is common for closers that have to deal with medium to heavy traffic. You can get it that suit doors in the inside of a building, or for main doors and entrance doors that see the most usage. It can also be floor mounted and are ideal for very heavy traffic and are mostly used in public buildings, where doors can swing in or out. These closers are not visible as are other door closers that are mounted overhead. For interior doors and those that have less traffic, use is also made of door closers that are mounted in the frame and are therefore concealed from view.
To decide on the right door closer for your doors, you must understand how the various types of closers work, and what benefits each of them has. Closers must be matched to the door on which they are to be mounted and the number of operations it would normally have to carry out every day. Heavier doors require durable and strong door closers, especially if they have heavy traffic. Building codes grade door closers for performance, with the best grade (Grade 1) requiring to perform 2,000,000 cycles at an efficiency of 60%. Lower-grade closers, (Grade 3) require to perform 500,000 cycles at 50% efficiency. Office buildings or establishments like shopping malls will require a Grade 1 door closer, while homes can use Grade 3 closers. They also need to be easy to operate for people who are disabled and must not require more than 5 lbs of force to operate. They should close not faster than 5 seconds and must have latching speeds that are quick enough without giving the impression of a door slamming.
When you need to choose a door closer, you need to know the size and weight of the door, its location, the frequency of opening and closing, mounting location, backswing requirements, and above all costs. Floor mounted door closers will need to be sunk into floors and covered so that they are not visible. This can require a redoing of the floor and whatever tiling it is covered with. Door closers can have adjustable strengths that take into account the size and weight of doors. When a door is closed and the rooms have windows and other openings that are closed, this can increase the air pressure and require it to be adjusted to higher strengths.
The most commonly used door closers have a slide arm, or a surface mounted regular arm, a surface mounted parallel-arm, or can be transom-mounted. Concealed door closers, even those mounted overhead can be concealed in the door itself, the door jamb, or the transom, if that is part of the door architecture. Door closers that are concealed are aesthetically pleasing. Floor springs are the most durable and long-lasting and you will find them in most public buildings. It can also have hold-open functions that allow the door to be kept open for a long time and can be of great help when you need the door open while you move things in an out or when you are having a party and require people to move freely between rooms. It can play an important part in the control of smoke during fires, and such closers must have a proper fire rating. These doors, like exit doors, are better fixed without a hold-open function.
Door closers must have an option that allows them to remain open for a specified time, so that it makes it easy for people who need to carry bulky items in or out, or for those using wheelchairs. Most door closers have closing speeds that are different for the main closing and the last few inches.
Choose your door closer after taking into consideration all the various factors enlisted here and the particular situation your doors need to function in. Always buy products that are branded and reliable manufacturer.