One topic that isn’t often discussed is bed installation—there seems to be a gray area in regard to proper installation practices, despite the fact that the performance and reliability of your equipment depend greatly on this process.
Room Size and Means of Entry
This is often overlooked, as many salon owners will simply try to “shoehorn” a bed into a space that barely meets the size requirements of the unit. But, there are many things that should be considered before attempting to squeeze a tanning bed into a closet-size area.
For example, when a bed is in a room that is too small, cleaning and maintenance become a chore because there isn’t enough room to move—and, more often than not, those duties eventually become neglected. That allows dust and garbage to build up around the bed, decreasing airflow. So, when looking at equipment and your room dimensions, plan to allow at least one foot on each side of the bed and three feet in front of the bed. This will provide better airflow for the unit and make it easier to clean, maintain and service the bed.
Next, if you are planning to purchase a bed with a large frame, consider investing in a double door so that there is a large opening to fit the bed through. Many of the new, high-power beds weigh 1,500 pounds or more and require a wide opening to physically get them into the room. It is nearly impossible—not to mention a huge headache—to try to fit a large bed through a 30-inch door in a three-foot hallway. Be realistic about providing adequate space for installation.
Power, Voltage and Connection
Beyond space requirements, another important piece of the installation puzzle is power. Many large units require 60 amps or more of three-phase power. If your salon has a 200-amp three-phase panel, you are in serious need of a service upgrade. Two hundred amps is simply not enough to run a tanning salon. Frankly, 400 amps is the bare minimum required and 600 amps or more is really needed if you plan on running a lot of high-end equipment.
In addition, proper voltage is extremely important. Most commercial buildings have electrical services that provide 120/208 WYE and most beds on the market incorporate choke ballasts which require 230 to 240 volts—which means you should plan to install buck/boost auto transformers. These devices will adjust the voltage to the proper setting that the bed requires to run and perform at optimum output.
Trust me, if you have 208 WYE, you need a booster—it is necessary, not an option. Don’t skimp here. That few hundred dollars you think you are saving will cost you more in the long run between to the diminished performance of your beds and the customers who do not get the results that they are paying for. Low voltage makes a big difference regarding how a bed tans.
The connection of a bed is a commonly argued-about issue. Wire size must be adequate for the breaker size that is installed in the electrical panel and there must be a means of disconnect in the room, and that means of disconnect must either be a plug or switch disconnect. Simply hard-wiring a bed to a junction box in the room without a local means of disconnecting it is a violation of National Electrical Code. For safety reasons, you must be able to disconnect the bed from the service in the room by either unplugging it or switching off the disconnect. Don’t leave this part out.
Cooling and Venting
Cooling is another important component of installation. Proper cooling comes from the correct amounts of air conditioning (A/C), and the amount of A/C that you need depends on the size of your space, the size of your beds and the climate that you live in. And, let’s be clear: A/C and fans are not the same thing. Fans move the air around; they do not cool the air as A/C does. (Well, to be completely accurate, A/C actually removes heat from the building through a heat-exchange process, but for sake of this discussion we will simplify things and say that it cools the air.)
The amount of A/C you have is very important. You will commonly hear it referred to as “tons of air.” A ton of air is equivalent to 12,000 BTU. The minimum requirements for A/C in a salon are as follows: You will need one ton of air for every 400 square feet of space in your salon. Generally, the A/C unit that is supplied with your building is sized for that space—but that only means that it is sufficient for cooling the space without equipment (unless you are taking over an existing salon). Once you start adding beds, you will need to add A/C.
The rule of thumb is that, for every standard 100-watt bed with an average of 30 lamps, you will need a half-ton of air per bed. For every higher-power bed that incorporates 160-watt lamps, you will need one ton of air per bed, and two to three tons for every high-pressure bed. (As you can see, A/C requires a lot of power, which is the other reason that you cannot properly run a salon with a 200-amp panel.)
Like boosters, A/C is an aspect of installation in which you do not want to be cheap. Cooling is very important in regard to the performance and reliability of the equipment, the lamp life, component life and, of course, the comfort of your clients. A salon running at 95 degrees is not safe for the equipment or the occupants. Would you drain the anti-freeze out of your car and then continue to drive it until it overheats? Of course not. So, think of A/C as the anti-freeze for your salon. And, as mentioned before, fans will not do the trick—machines are not affected by wind-chill factor; only A/C will counteract the heat load.
Another important part of installation is proper venting. There are a few different ways to handle this, and there are pros and cons for each type of ventilation setup. If you live in a humid climate, it is recommended that you vent the beds into a drop ceiling, and then indirectly vent the heat by means of an exhaust fan controlled by an automatic thermostat and an override switch. This will allow you to occasionally remove excess heat from the drop-ceiling area without constantly reintroducing humid air back inside the building.
(The reason that you don’t want to reintroduce humid air inside the building is because it forces A/C to do two things: first, it has to dry the air and second, it has to cool it. If the A/C has to continually remove moisture from the air, it has to work harder to also cool it than it would if it were dealing with hot, dry air.)
The other venting method—good for non-humid climates—is to directly vent the beds to the outside. This will require you to provide return air back into the building; otherwise, the beds will create a vacuum in the building and will not have enough airflow. To see what I mean by “vacuum,” take a vacuum cleaner and, while it is running, place your hand at the motor. You will feel the hot air being exhausted from the back of the vacuum.
Then, take your hand, place it over the hose and feel the back of the vacuum. What do you feel? Well, the motor is still running—but there isn’t any air moving through the vacuum anymore. Also, the motor is beginning to get hot. This is exactly what would happen to the beds in your salon if they were all running and drawing the air out of the salon, and there wasn’t any return air.
So, even though the fans are running, air is not moving through the bed and it begins to overheat. (Note: This venting method can be used in a humid climate; just be aware that you would need to add extra A/C to dry the incoming air so the main system could continue to work efficiently.)
All in all, equipment that is properly installed is much more reliable, performs better, looks newer longer and lasts longer than equipment that isn’t. Use the guidance above to help you in the proper setup and operation of your tanning beds, and to identify the hidden necessities required for your salon to perform at its best.
Brian Oshman is a TanToday moderator and owner of New Jersey-based The Sun Doctor, which specializes in equipment installation, repair and sales. For more information, call 908.797.0716 or e-mail brianoshman@aol.com.
