What Airborne Pollutants Are Lurking in Your Kitchen?

fanFrom restaurant kitchens to warehouses, we’ve learned how essential industrial exhaust fans are to the protection of air quality, safety, and integrity of a business’s products and food. The same ideas also apply in residential settings. Residential bathrooms, for example, should have at least one air duct in order to promote the circulation of quality air and to prevent mold spores and dust from accumulating and growing. People determine the fan size needed by taking the volume of their bathroom and dividing it by 5, and for bathrooms with ceilings higher than eight feet, residential homes will need two exhaust fans.

However, your bathroom isn’t the only place you need a fan. Did you know that another important place in your home requiring ventilation is your kitchen, which actually requires more than just a basic exhaust hood?

For many, the residential kitchen is a sanctuary. It is a place where we make multiple meals a day, feed our family, laugh, cry, and create a lifetime of memories. And while most respectable individuals take it upon themselves to clean their kitchens regularly, people hardly think about the potential gases, bacteria, and other residual molecules floating around the air.

Since there aren’t any formal environmental protection regulations presiding in home kitchens, our lungs, skin, and digestive system are exposed to many a noxious gas, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, fine and ultra fine particles, and many other pollutants that are a result of meal preparation. In commercial kitchens, exhaust systems are cleaned at least once every three months or more, but residential kitchens often go unchecked for far too long. Consequently, they become a breeding ground for unwanted and unhealthy pollutants.

If you have a gas stove, you need to get the right kitchen exhaust fan. It’s an essential part of keeping the air clean of harmful pollutants. As a rule of thumb, experts recommend that the hood of your kitchen exhaust system be wider than the stove by a few inches on either side. Additionally, the fan should be as close as possible. If it’s more than 30 inches away, you might be a bigger fan.

Is this talk of exhaust fans exhausting? Let us know what you think in the comments below.