For over a year, B-TEC Systems has been evaluating the potential cost-savings of using their shortwave infrared automotive paint drying equipment. This means looking at both the time-saving and energy-saving aspects of using the equipment.
One customer in the test program was Steve Farris, who has a body shop in Northern Arkansas. Farris had been using propane to fire up his booth, which was costing $20.25 per bake cycle. He utilized the B-TEC System two times a day on average, instead of using the booth for smaller jobs. The cost of running the B-TEC Systems infrared unit IR-B03 per bake cycle was only $0.10 per bake. Based on a five-day week/50-week working year, that was 500 bake cycles. At $20.25 per bake cycle using propane, that equated to $10,125 in yearly energy costs. Those same 500 jobs using the B-TEC Systems infrared unit cost only $50. That’s a savings of $10,075 per year.
The time savings were also significant. The booth bake cycle took one hour with propone, which included warm-up time. That’s 500 hours. The average B-TEC Systems infrared bake cycle was only 12 minutes, totaling just 100 hours for a savings of 400 hours.
“The evaluation produced some impressive results, and while doing this, we produced paint curing data on the leading automotive brands,” said Peter Phillipson, B-TEC Systems technical sales and marketing manager. “This way, the body shops could see exactly what the reduced dry times would be for their paint brand. The times were super quick, with one primer being ready to sand in only six minutes.”
To find out more about B-TEC Systems shortwave infrared, contact B-TEC Systems at (480) 621-5304 or [email protected], or visit www.bteccleaners.com.
