Snake Tray has worked with several nationally acclaimed casinos across North America, installing our Snake Bus power distribution system and hand-bendable cable trays beneath the raised access floors (RAF) on which gaming tables and slot machines stand. This article explains why casinos favor RAFs and how Snake Tray solutions are a natural fit.
It’s All About the Air Flow
Casinos are notorious for their terrible air quality. Even those that have banned smoking are still concerned with air-borne contaminants spreading among gamblers and employees crowded around gaming tables and slot machines, especially post-pandemic.
Traditionally, the answer has been massive amounts of air conditioning and filtration using an overhead air delivery system. That helps circulate air and cool the space, but not before all the second-hand smoke and germs from coughs and sneezes are pushed down towards the floor for everyone to inhale.
Today, new build casinos are taking the opposite approach: blowing columns of chilled air from floor vents up towards the ceiling. This pushes cleaner, cooler air to the mixing zone and forces smoke, contaminants, and particulates directly into overhead filtration systems, creating a healthier environment. That’s where a raised access floor comes in.
What are Raised Access Floors?
Raised access floors use a grid of pedestals and panels to create a concealed interstitial space above the true floor, usually between six to 18 inches deep. RAFs promote better air quality by allowing the use of pressurized air systems to force filtered air under the entire space. Air flow is directed to exactly where needed simply by swapping out a solid floor panel for a vented one.
Plus, RAFs deliver improved air quality at a lower cost than conventional overhead air handling systems. Most casinos have very high ceilings. It takes more energy to further lower the air temperature so that it is still cool when it reaches the floor, as opposed to pumping cool air right into the breathing space and letting it warm as it rises.
So, let’s take full advantage of that space. In addition to supporting under-floor HVAC systems, RAFs create a protected space to run electrical, data, and telecommunications cables wherever needed, maintaining a clean appearance while providing easy access to critical building systems for reconfiguration and maintenance.
In fact, when integrated into initial structure planning and design, raised access floors can help reduce overall construction costs. Check out this article to learn how RAFs actually lower building height to save on materials while still providing the same square footage of climate-controlled space per floor.
Casinos and Snake Tray: A Natural Fit
Snake Tray offers a two-part solution for casinos to leverage their investment in raised access floors without impacting the performance of under-floor forced air systems.
Rather than crisscrossing the floor with fixed pipe and wire, Snake Tray’s prefabricated Snake Bus power distribution system answers the call for under raised access floor electrification with unmatched installation speed and flexibility for adds, changes, and to easily navigate around any obstacle.
Snake Bus tracks come in 4-foot and 8-foot modular segments that snap together in seconds to create an IP-addressable power distribution system for spaces up to 1,000,000 square feet. Snake Bus uses bus bar technology instead of copper wire inside conduit to route up 18 kW of power directly underneath slot machine pedestals and gaming tables, keeping cables safely out of sight. Adding or relocating a bank of slot machines?
Snake Bus tracks are movable and reusable with receptables positioned every twelve inches for convenient access to power. Further, Snake Bus is designed so that circuit breakers are integrated into the enclosure (floor box) for each device. Now, when a gambler spills a drink on their machine, only the breaker for that outlet is tripped, allowing others to play on unaffected.
Finally, at just 2.5 inches tall, the sleek Snake Bus is compatible with all raised access floor systems and will not impede air flow.
The second part of the Snake Tray casino solution is our hand-bendable cable trays like the 101 Series. They carry the telecommunication and data lines running to each machine and gaming table alongside the Snake Bus tracks.
In a modern casino every device and table is linked to the network for performance monitoring, analytics, and to capture data swiped from players’ club cards. The 101 Series mounts to the floor and easily bends around or over any obstruction.
It too has a low profile and will not restrict air flow while keeping data cables concealed, organized, and off the floor.
Bet On Snake Tray Installed Casino Raised Access Floors to Maximize Versatility
Casinos raised access floors installed for bottom-up air flow quality purposes can further leverage that interstitial space to run power and connectivity without impeding air circulation.
Snake Tray solutions dovetail perfectly with RAFs, delivering the versatility and accessibility casinos need to keep their gaming floors running smoothly as layouts and machine configurations change over time.
Building a new casino? Don’t gamble on your future flexibility, plan ahead with Snake Tray. Contact us today and let us show you how to maximize your investment in RAF.
