Winter weather is tough on outdoor kiosks like ATMs, transit kiosks, and self-serve drive-thru screens. An outdoor kiosk doesn’t just save banks labor costs, they’re also effectively used to replace location costs as well. It’s worth maintaining them through the winter, and worth building them to withstand the climate, but they don’t come without their challenges:
#1 Freezing and Melting Cycles
Precipitation like snow and hail are bad enough – your kiosk needs to be waterproof and the touch screen needs to be durable enough to withstand hail storms. But those warm winter days when snow and ice melt only to refreeze at night can degrade the welding in your kiosk. Kiosks need to be properly welded to resist the expansion and contraction of any water that seeps in.
#2 Solar Loading
It’s not just cold that can do a number on your kiosk, so can heat, even in the winter. Solar loading is where a structure suffers thermal stress in a local area, such as a kiosk. Direct sunlight can be a major issue that affects kiosks and causes them to overheat.
#3 Heating and Weather stripping
Heating is one option for touch screens that can’t operate in extreme cold, and even the toughest touch screens may not be able to handle -40°C days. Substrate heaters or heaters for the enclosure can help, but too much heat will also have an adverse effect.
#4 Touch Screen Technology
Everything that your kiosk faces is even harder on touch screens, which can often struggle in the cold and are particularly vulnerable to weather and vandalism. Take some time to learn about the latest touch screen technology that can make outdoor kiosks tough enough to face the weather in any season. Weatherproof and weather-resistant touch screens that operate in extreme cold and heat are available from touch screen manufacturers. One touch screen technology option is the ULTRA resistive touch screen, which operates in extreme cold (down to -35°C), operates even if it’s wet or contaminated by dust (because you can’t control when construction happens around your kiosk), and provides water-proof durability. The ULTRA resistive touch screen is built by A D Metro, a touch screen manufacturer that serves a wide range of sectors and applications from gaming and retail kiosks to industrial applications and even applications in aerospace and military equipment.
Whatever application you’re building, you need technology that fits the conditions under which it’s going to be used by your customers. Do your research into touch screen suppliers and find the company that can provide superior, more durable technology for outdoor kiosks at a lower price. Find out if potential touch screen suppliers like A D Metro can also provide borosilicate glass for additional thickness, anti-reflective and anti-glare coatings, and polycarbonate substrates. Touch screens are evolving and capable of handling tougher environments while providing superior user experiences. Get the latest technology to weather the conditions kiosks face every day.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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