When it comes to operating a professional workshop, especially one that involves spray painting, safety, efficiency, and quality control are critical. Whether you’re working with cars, industrial machinery, or furniture, spray painting produces hazardous fumes, overspray, and particulates that can harm workers’ health, compromise air quality, and affect the finish of your products. That’s where having the right spray paint hood becomes essential.
At Egmont Air, we understand the importance of choosing the right equipment to protect your workers and improve workflow. Spray paint hoods are a crucial investment for any workshop involved in painting, as they create a controlled environment that extracts hazardous particles and provides proper ventilation. In this guide, we’ll explain the key considerations when selecting a spray paint hood for your workshop and highlight several top products from Egmont Air’s range that are designed to enhance safety, productivity, and paint quality.
Why Your Workshop Needs a Spray Paint Hood
Spray paint hoods, also known as spray booths, spray, bake ovens or paint extraction hoods, provide a designated space for painting tasks while effectively removing overspray, fumes, and dust from the work environment. These systems help ensure:
- Worker Safety: Paints often contain harmful chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can cause respiratory issues or long-term health problems if inhaled. A properly installed spray paint hood filters out these harmful particles and maintains safe air quality.
- Superior Paint Finish: By creating a controlled, dust-free environment, spray paint hoods help achieve a smooth, professional-grade finish without contamination from dust or particles.
- Compliance with Regulations: In New Zealand, there are strict regulations governing air quality and safety in spray painting operations. A well-chosen spray paint hood will help your workshop meet compliance standards, reducing the risk of fines or legal action.
- Enhanced Productivity: With a properly functioning spray paint hood, you can reduce rework caused by poor finishes, improve drying times, and streamline the painting process.
Key Considerations for Choosing the Right Spray Paint Hood
When selecting a spray paint hood for your workshop, several factors need to be taken into account to ensure you choose the right solution for your needs. Here are the key aspects to consider:
1. Type of Paint Used and Application rate.
Different types of paints produce varying levels of fumes, overspray, and particulate matter. For instance, solvent-based paints release more VOCs and require more powerful ventilation than water-based paints. The ‘maximum paint solvent application rate’ must also be considered to ensure there is enough dilution to provide ‘protection by ventilation’ for compliance with standards AS1482 or AS/NZS60079.13. Choosing a spray paint hood with the appropriate extraction and airflow system is critical to ensure adequate protection and air quality control.
2. Size and Layout of Your Workshop
The size of your spray paint hood should correspond to the volume of work and the size of the items being painted. If you’re painting large items such as vehicles or industrial equipment, you’ll need a larger booth with greater airflow capacity or even a ‘Designated Spray Area’ for extra-large equipment like bridges, aeroplanes, trains, structures and the like. An Open-Faced Spray Booth is usually the best choice for smaller items and machinery. Additionally, smaller consider the layout of your workshop to ensure the spray paint hood fits well and allows for smooth workflow and equipment placement.
3. Airflow and Filtration System
Proper ventilation and filtration are the most important features of any spray paint hood. Look for systems that offer efficient airflow to prevent the buildup of hazardous fumes and overspray. The airflow should be powerful enough to draw contaminants away from the work area without disturbing the paint application. Additionally, the extraction system should be capable of capturing both particulate matter and VOCs to ensure a clean working environment.
4. Ease of Maintenance
Your spray paint hood will require regular maintenance to ensure it continues to operate effectively. Choose a system with easily replaceable filters and accessible components to minimise downtime and maintenance costs.
5. Compliance with New Zealand Regulations
Make sure the spray paint hood you select meets the safety and environmental regulations. Egmont Air offers a range of compliant spray booths and extraction hoods that meet New Zealand’s strict standards for workplace safety and air quality. For a complete overview of regulations see our article “Understanding Spray Booth Compliance in New Zealand: A Guide to Keeping Your Workplace Safe and Compliant”.
For advice on choosing the right spray paint hood for your workplace feel free to give us a call, we’re happy to chat through your options.
Egmont Air’s Range of Spray Paint Hoods
Egmont Air Mini Spray Paint Extractors
The Mini Spray Paint Extractor is perfect for small-scale applications, such as painting small pieces, conducting test batches, or for use in school workshops. This stand-alone unit offers efficient extraction with a compact footprint, requiring no building fixture, making it ideal for spaces where flexibility is key.
Key Features:
- Dry media filtration with optional 2-stage filtration for enhanced performance
- Centrifugal fan that maintains optimal airflow, even under heavy load
- Stand-alone design, requiring no permanent fixture
- Spraying area of 1000mm (width) x 1000mm (height)
This mini spray paint extractor is highly recommended for smaller workshops or educational settings where ease of use and efficient paint extraction are essential.
Egmont Air Open-Faced Spray Booth
The Open-Faced Spray Booth is specifically designed for painting and gluing applications, providing effective extraction and filtration in a versatile, stand-alone unit. With dry media filtration and optional 2-stage filtration available, this booth is perfect for workshops that require reliable performance without the need for permanent fixtures.
Key Features:
- Dry media filtration with optional 2-stage filtration for improved extraction
- Centrifugal fan ensures optimum airflow under heavy load
- Stand-alone unit, no building fixture required
- Available in modular sizes ranging from 2m to 8m in width for flexible installation
This open-faced spray booth is an excellent choice for workshops handling a variety of painting and gluing tasks, offering efficiency and scalability to meet your specific needs.
Egmont Air Bake Ovens and Designated Spray Paint Areas
Enclosed Spray-paint bake ovens offer a clinical and pristine environment for the highest quality paint finish. Most commonly used for painting vehicles (cars, trucks, camper-vans) where the paint process requires a low-bake or high-bake at temperatures of up to 60 degrees celsius.
- Key Features:
- Completely enclosed booth environment for painting
- Supply-air filtration and dust-free environment for high-quality paint finish
- Heating and baking cycle typically using electric, diesel, LPG or natural-gas to provide constant and regulated temperatures during all seasons.
- Suitable for environments handling potentially flammable or explosive materials
Designated Spray Paint Areas
Painting extra-large items such as aircraft, bridges, trains, ships, and large structures can be challenging as these do not fit in regular spray booth enclosures. A designated spray paint area may either be a three dimensional zone within a large room where spray painting may occur or designated area external to a room. These applications require custom design and specification to ensure compliance with relevant explosive atmosphere standards.
- Key Features:
- Flexibility for painting large items such as aircraft, bridges, trains, ships, etc
- High ventilation rates to ensure ‘protection by ventilation’ compliance.
- Custom design and specification for compliance with AS/NZS standards.
- Suitable for environments handling potentially flammable or explosive materials
Egmont Air Water Wash Spray Booth
The Water Wash Spray Booth is an excellent choice for workshops where hazardous or flammable materials such as spray paint are in use, as it provides an additional layer of safety. This system uses water curtains to capture overspray, significantly reducing the risk of fire and explosion and a saving on consumable cost of dry-filter-media replacement.
- Key Features:
- Water curtain filtration for capturing fine particles
- High-efficiency extraction fans to maintain air quality
- Flameproof construction for safe operation with solvent-based paints
- Suitable for environments handling potentially flammable or explosive materials
This spray booth is highly recommended for workshops dealing with solvent-based paints, where safety is a top priority.
Maintaining Your Spray Paint Hood
Once you’ve selected the right spray paint hood for your workshop, proper maintenance is essential to ensure it continues to operate at peak performance. Regularly checking and replacing filters, cleaning exhaust ducts, and inspecting the airflow system will help prevent issues such as poor ventilation, buildup of hazardous particles, and decreased efficiency.
At Egmont Air, we offer a range of filter replacements and maintenance services to help you keep your spray paint hood in top condition. Our team of experts can also provide guidance on maintenance schedules and best practices to ensure your equipment operates safely and efficiently.
Investing in the Right Spray Paint Hood
Choosing the right spray paint hood is crucial for maintaining a safe, efficient, and productive workshop. With so many options available, it’s important to assess your specific needs—considering factors such as paint type, workshop size, and regulatory requirements—to make the best decision.
Egmont Air offers a range of high-quality spray paint hoods designed to meet the needs of various industries and applications. Whether you’re a small workshop or a large-scale industrial operation, we have a solution to enhance your safety, improve paint quality, and ensure regulatory compliance.
Ready to find the right spray paint hood for your workshop? Contact Todd, Cameron or Richard at Egmont Air today, and let our team of experts help you choose the best solution for your needs. We’re committed to providing you with reliable, efficient equipment that will protect your workers and ensure the highest standards of quality in your painting operations.