Which air curtain is the quietest?
Mars Air Systems' QuietPro 8 QP836-1UA-AL prints the lowest air curtain figure we found, 47 dBA at 10 ft in a free field. Berner's lowest, for its Architectural 8 in. units, is 49 dBA at minimum speed and 55 at maximum.
These are the single figures for 36 in. units from Mars and Powered Aire, all stated at 10 feet in a free field with no speed named:
- Mars QuietPro 8 QP836: 47 dBA
- Mars Phantom 8 PH836: 49 dBA
- Mars LoPro 2 LPV236: 49 dBA
- Mars QuietPro 10 QP1036: 53 dBA
- Powered Aire CED-1-36: 53 dBA
- Mars Standard 2 STD236: 66 dBA
Berner's one-motor figures, measured 10 feet from the unit in free field, by speed:
- Architectural Elite 8, Icon 8 and Contour 8: 49 minimum, 55 maximum
- Commercial Low Profile 8: 53 low, 54 high
- Architectural Elite 10: 53 minimum, 56 maximum
- Commercial High Performance 10: 64 low, 65 medium, 66 high
We keep the lists apart because a single figure with no speed could be either end of Berner's range.
How do air curtain makers rate noise?
All three makers with figures measure 10 feet from the unit in a free field and print dBA. None names a test standard, and only Berner says at what fan speed each figure was taken.
Berner: minimum and maximum speed
Each Berner data sheet carries a line such as "Sound level measured 10’ (3m) from the unit in free field: 1 motor: Min./Max. Speed: 49/55 dBA". Its two-speed and three-speed commercial units read "Low/High" or "Low/Medium/High" instead.
The newer Architectural sheets add "Sound data is not AMCA certified." The AMCA seal on those sheets covers airflow, velocity and power, not sound.
Mars and Powered Aire: one value per size
Mars's submittals say "Sound Levels (measured at 10’ in a free field)" and give one figure for each width or motor count. Its catalog says "measured at 10' in an open field" for the same numbers. Powered Aire's CED data table says "Measured 10 ft. from unit in a free field based on a 1 motor unit".
Both offer variable or dual speed motors and neither says which setting the figure reflects. Why an unnamed setting matters is set out in how to compare decibel ratings.
Does fan speed change how loud an air curtain is?
Yes. Berner's Architectural Elite 8 reads 49 dBA at minimum speed and 55 at maximum, a 6 dBA swing from one ten-speed motor, while its two-speed Commercial Low Profile 8 moves only from 53 to 54.
That gap changes which unit is quieter. At low speed the Elite 8 is 4 dBA below the Low Profile 8; at full speed it is 1 dBA above it. A unit that idles on a door switch most of the day favors the Elite 8, and one that runs flat out favors the Low Profile 8.
Berner's 10 in. Architectural units swing less, 53 to 56 dBA, and the Commercial High Performance 10 reads 64, 65 and 66 across its three speeds.
Does a wider air curtain make more noise?
Usually, yes. Wider air curtains carry more motors, and every maker's figures climb with them: Mars's QuietPro 8 goes from 47 dBA at 36 in. to 52 at 108 to 144 in.
Mars prints its 8 in. series by width: 47 for 25 to 36 in., 48 at 42 in., 50 at 48 in., 51 for 60 to 96 in. and 52 for 108 to 144 in. on the QuietPro 8. The Phantom 8 and LoPro 2 run 2 dBA higher at each step, from 49 to 54.
Berner and Mars's larger series print by motor count. Berner's Elite 8 reads 49/55 with one motor and 52/58 with two, which starts at 78 in. Mars's QuietPro 10 climbs from 53 dBA with one motor to 59 with four.
Why do air curtains with the same airflow read differently?
Mars prints identical airflow for some pairs and still rates them apart. The QP836 and PH836 both move 520 cfm at 1957 fpm, yet read 47 and 49 dBA; the QP1036 and STD236 both move 1379 cfm and read 53 and 66.
Mars gives no reason for either gap. The QuietPro 10 page claims "half the perceived noise output of traditional air curtains" without saying which units it means. A 13 dBA difference at the same airflow is the widest we found within one maker.
Berner works the other way: its Elite 8, Icon 8 and Contour 8 share 989 cfm and the same 49/55 dBA, despite three different cabinets.
How loud is an air curtain on a 10 ft door?
The quietest units for a 10 ft door read 53 dBA at 10 feet: Mars's QuietPro 10 and Berner's Architectural Elite 10 at minimum speed. Berner's Elite 10 reaches 56 at maximum.
Taller doors need more air speed. Mars rates the QuietPro 10 for environmental separation up to 12 ft and the QuietPro 8 to 8 ft. Berner rates its Elite 10 for the vestibule exception up to 14 ft and optimal separation to 10 ft, against 10 ft and 8 ft for the Elite 8.
Powered Aire's CED, at 53 dBA, is rated to 11 ft. At the loud end, Mars's Standard 2 reads 66 dBA for one motor and 73 with four, and Berner's Commercial High Performance 10 reaches 71 at high speed with three motors.
For a sense of what 50 against 66 dBA means in a room, our decibel chart sets those levels beside everyday sounds.
What do quiet claims on air curtain pages mean?
They are relative claims with no number behind them. Powered Aire calls its CED "one of the quietest air curtains in the industry", and Mars says the QuietPro 10 has "half the perceived noise output of traditional air curtains".
Neither claim names what it is compared with, so we quote them and rank only the printed dBA. Powered Aire's own figure for the CED, 53 dBA, sits 6 above Mars's QP836. Berner calls the Pro-V nozzle on its Architectural units "low noise" and leaves the numbers to its data sheets.
Marley's Qmark ZSS low profile specification gives only a ceiling: "Sound level measured 10 feet from unit shall not exceed 60dbA." A ceiling says nothing about how far below 60 the unit runs, so it is quoted and not ranked.
