For many, the kitchen is the complicated palace where beautiful meals and great conversations take place. But this fantastic process has some downsides: odor, moisture, and grease.
The ideal kitchen ventilation system can work wonders on those fat drops and get rid of smells throughout your home.
Its the glamorous part of redoing your kitchen, but should be one of the central decisions to make. Before your explore what type of kitchen vent ducting to go for and what a hood fan looks like, take a step back.
Look over the technical considerations.
An island fan makes quite a statement in the core of the space but could draw attention away from from the chandeliers and pendants. On the other side, a downdraft fan system allows you install a cooktop in front of a window.
So here’s a guide to help you find the perfect hood fan for you.
The Ideal Kitchen Ventilation: Cubic Feet Per Minute
The first thing to think about is how much power you want your kitchen exhaust system to have. A hood’s range performance is in cubic feet per minute (CFM). The higher the CFM number, the more air the range hood can take away at a moment’s notice.
Your CFM depends on the size and kind of range top or range as well as how often your cook in the kitchen. For instance, an extensive six burner gas range needs more CFMs then a 30-inch wide electric cooktop.
The specifications for an electric stove is 300-450 CFMS, where a gas range depends on 600-1,200. This number was put together by the name of BTUs (British Thermal Units aka the gas appliance performance measurement.) divided by 100.
The Cooking Vent: Sones
Kitchen fans can be noisy, and many people don’t use them because of that fact. Don’t let that be a reason for you as you design your ideal kitchen. A fan’s sound is by sones aka an internationally recognized loudness measurement heard by the human ear.
Some manufacturers give you that information in decibels (dB) instead of in sones. Kitchen exhaust systems usually have 3-6 speeds. The low setting is often around the number 3 about the same as the noise of the refrigerator running. The highest setting goes to 7 sones equal to traffic noise on the road.
Use seven only for short, extreme periods of cooking. A fan’s soles are hard to find as many American manufacturers don’t have rules as to the distance measurement of the source of the noise. Instead of entirely relying on the written test result, you could be in better shape standing next to the appliance and turning on the stove.
The filter is another crucial element in your kitchen vent ducting that creates noise. Vent-A-Hood a company behind the Magic Lung, a system that uses centrifugal action instead of filters each has a unit of 300 CFM rating. This power can be put together to obtain the correct classification for your house.
Exhaust Hood System: Blower Options
Here is another way to knock out that fan noise. The blower aspect of the fan is in 3 separate areas. It can sit on the body or the actual carcass of the appliance itself and is the version that allows for the most noise.
Also, there is also an inline blower that sits halfway in the duct run. The inline is located either in the ceiling joists or the attic of the fan and if your duct installation is involved, either because it has a lot of turns or is long.
You can also add an inline blower to the main blower to increase its power. If you have the budget for a more pricey product, then look over an external fan. This device will cut down big time on potential noise.
External blowers combine the compatible fan product to create a total custom kitchen ventilation system. Think about the location of the exterior blower. You can mount the unit of any roof or exterior wall, you don’t want it to be close to living spaces or often-used pathways.
Exhaust Hood System: Make-Up Air
Don’t understate the value for a make-up system in your HVAC system, especially if you go with the active hood fan. High-powered hood fans use large volumes of air. If the wind is not filling at the rate, it’s lost, this results in more substantial air pressure outside than inside.
A make-up air system fills the air that’s missing by building the kitchen exhaust system, making sure it works well and supplies the conditioning replacement air.
The air can be dehumidified, humified, cooled and heated to suit your ideal living space. Based on your local building codes, your municipality could insist on the installation of a make-up air device. This type of setup could add more zeros to your construction budget.
Make sure to keep that in mind especially if your a renovator as new builds include a budget for an HVAC system.
Kitchen Ventilation Ideas: Mounting Height
Mounting Height is the term for the height of the appliance aka the distance between the range hood and the filter and the burners on the range below.
The usual gap between a hood and a countertop is 30-36 inches. Some of the microwave/hood combinations and undercabinet models are put together at a lower height.
The further away the fan is from the wall, the more it will be right in your face. Not mention the downsides to being tall and hitting your head. In other words, always remember to design the kitchen unit to you.
But also know that the venting power goes down as the hood is installed higher up the wall. Pick a fan with the ideal control and mull over the noise it will make and if its worth it.
Get That Kitchen Going!
Finding the ideal kitchen ventilation system can be a hassle. But with this information and a more thorough understanding what you want in in a kitchen exhaust system and your kitchen, you should be in good shape.
For more information, check out this article here.