Ever notice how the smells from last night’s dinner tend to linger in your house for hours, long after the food is gone and dishes have been washed and put away? If cooking odors persist for hours, it could be an indication of improper ventilation in your kitchen or poor air circulation throughout your home.
It’s estimated an average family of four produces up to one gallon of grease every year while cooking. Any type of high-heat cooking, such as searing a steak in an iron skillet or concocting a stir fry in your wok, can produce some amount of grease (which you can see) and air pollutants (you can’t see).
Do you turn on your range hood’s exhaust fan every time you cook, or only occasionally to remove excess smoke, stinky odors or moisture? The more you cook, the more often you should use the range hood fan to remove odors and indoor air pollutants from your home, because cooking-related contaminants can impact your health.
Follow these tips for proper kitchen ventilation to improve your indoor air quality and create a healthier home environment.
How good kitchen ventilation works
A properly ventilated kitchen improves indoor air quality by removing leftover cooking contaminants before they seep into your cabinets, walls, drapery, clothes, carpet, and more.
Good ventilation also removes any airborne particles and refreshes the air you breathe in the following ways:
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Decreases mildew, peeling and discoloration of wall finishes due to moisture and contaminants.
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Minimizes build-up of cooking odors and grease in draperies, walls, cabinets and clothes.
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Prevents cabinet damage by reducing condensation of acidic contaminants.
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Removes excess cooking heat and household chemical vapors from the kitchen, such as grease or oil smells and cleaning detergents.
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Reduces mold and bacteria build-up on countertops and cooking areas, making cleaning easier.
Range hood types for your kitchen design
Not sure what type of hood ventilation your kitchen needs? At Big Sandy Superstore, we offer a wide variety of range hood types from more than 30 manufacturers. Our product specialists also know how to decipher all of the technical terms and details when it comes to purchasing the best range hood for your kitchen.
Range hood types include: under-cabinet hood, wall-mounted hood, range hood, island hood, ductless hood, or an insert hood. Deciding on the right hood type for your kitchen depends on whether your range or cooktop sits under a cabinet, on a wall or in the island, and whether you prefer vented (moves air outside) or ductless (recirculates air it takes in).
In addition to keeping your home’s indoor air cleaner, a range hood also keeps heat from damaging your cooking space, prevents grease from building up, and provides better kitchen lighting.
Technical terms to know when buying range hoods
A range hood can be one of the most prominent features in your kitchen design, or blend in seamlessly with the cabinets, backsplash and other appliances. When it comes to your range hood’s functionality and how well it works to improve indoor air quality, it’s important to understand how to measure its performance.
To do this, check for the hood’s Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM), or the measure of how much air can be removed from a given space in a single minute (think horsepower in a car). Also important is your range’s BTU (British Thermal Unit) measurement, which is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by one degree. It’s important to match the BTU output with appropriate CFM levels.
Other critical terms to remember:
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Blower type – internal, inline or external (range hoods can have either internal or external blower, or both to carry out the job with different CFM).
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Sone levels – the internationally recognized measurement of loudness (a refrigerator is usually about 1 to 2 sones).
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Ducting – the most important component of ventilation (keep duct runs as short and straight as possible).
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Capture area – the width of the range hood compared to the width of the cooktop or range (the widths should be equal to properly capture and extract airborne pollutants).
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Mounting height – if the hood is mounted too high, airborne contaminants can escape before reaching the hood’s filters; if mounted too low, you risk heat damage to the unit and it may obstruct your view of the cooktop (plays a critical role in performance).
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Make-up air – the act of replacing air that is exhausted with the goal of balancing pressure and preventing negative air pressure (blocks air back drafts that occur through naturally vented combustion devices, such as fireplaces and water heaters, which can bring in harmful gases, smoke and particulates).
Want to learn more about the benefits of kitchen ventilation? Call 888-610-2449 to talk to a product specialist today, and we’ll help you clear the air for a healthier home.