The kitchen has become the gathering place and center of entertainment over the past twenty years. Not only families but invited guests will gather around the kitchen table to just talk with the cook, or peek just to see what is for dinner. This is why cooking ventilation has become a major aspect in the building of a new house or the complete remodeling of a kitchen.
The Home Ventilation Institute has stated that the main source of pollution in the home is produced in the kitchen and this why good proper ventilation is a necessity.
Grease is a main contaminate. A family of four will produce a gallon of grease per year because of improper ventilation. The spatter left around the cooktop or left in the filters is about 15 percent and the rest is vaporized grease. A small amount of vaporized grease is some of the reasons why there are odors in the home.
Most grease particles are three microns, and a micron is a millionth of a meter. For example a human hair is 100 microns. A grease particle could float in a home up to three days. Controlling grease would also control moisture, heat, and odors.
There are some common rules of thumb for choosing proper ventilation, including the canopy and the motor system. The height of the hood should generally be about 30 to 36 inches from the cooking surface or maximum 72 inches from the floor. The width of the hood should match the width of the cooking surface. The width of the hood can also be larger for more efficient canopy collection of heat and steam, but never smaller.
The ventilator, some call it the blower should match the customer’s cooking styles and the amount of heat and steam that needs to be removed.
To determine the proper ventilator there are two facts to consider. First if the total btu is less than 60,000 then the unit should be 100 cfm per linear foot, for example a 36 inch cooktop would require 300 cfm, and when the btu’s is greater than 60,000 btu then the it is 1 cfm per 100 btu, which could equal 600 cfm.
The final consideration of proper ventilation is the size of the duct used and how far it will need to be run. You can connect 8 inch pipe to 10, but never 10 inch pipe to 8, this would not allow proper exhaust and cause a restriction of air flow.
Always try to minimize the number of elbows (4 max.), and finally always try to separate each elbow or transition by at least 2 feet. Subtract 10 feet for each 90 degree elbow and 5 feet for each 45 degree transition. The maximum recommendation is to not exceed 50 feet, and that could change with the number of elbows or transitions.
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