As we shall soon be able to supply a fantastic range of commercial kitchen hoods we wanted to share with you some of the requirements when selecting the right hood for the catering environment you are working in or supplying.
Commercial kitchen ventilation includes both extraction as well as providing replacement air. So input and exhaust are important. Most major appliances, including ranges, deep fryers, grills, pizza ovens, dishwashers and steamers need extraction. You can place multiple appliances under a single extraction unit or hood.
Overall design, construction, installation coordination, and maintenance are required to get the best possible performance and an efficient air balance from the system.
Here we make the assumption you have a system in place and want to replace the hood. You may already have the information to hand like direct size hood replacement and air changes required. If you do not, or the previous system just was not efficient enough, here is some information to help with the selection.
The different fans.
An axial fan is a straight through extraction fan where air goes in the front and out the back, you mount an axial fan in direct line with the extraction ducting. Axial fans move air over short distances. Centrifugal fans operate in “snail shell” type housing and suck the air in through the side and blow it out of the front. Centrifugal fans work under higher pressire are more durable and move air over longer distances.
Fan selection
Choosing the right fan for the job calls for a little calculation
Take the room size (length x width x height) and the recommended air changes per hour (sample table below:
In a Kitchen environment:
Kitchen : 3m long x 4m wide x 2.5m = 30m³ (volume)
Recommend 10 AC/H
300m³ per hour.
Look for the fan with the required output:
Minimum air changes required per hour
Bakeries 20-30
Commercial Kitchen 20-30
Cafes and Bars 10-12
How big a hood do you need?
Choosing the right hood for the job can also be confusing
When sizing a cooker hood, for any kitchen environment add 500mm over hang from the units to be extracted.
So for example if your area is 1000mm choose a 1500mm hood.
Complete units usually have the right fan in the right size hood but always check in the technical leaflet or ask we have experts available.
If you need more information or want to talk to an expert, give us a call on 0844 332 0814