The main task of the kitchen hood is to provide air purification from unpleasant odors and protect furniture from grease and soot deposits. Therefore, when choosing a kitchen appliance, it is important to pay attention not only to the brand and shape, but first of all to the technical characteristics. The main parameters are power and performance.
Types of hoods, power and ways to determine it will be discussed further.
Types of kitchen hoods
Most popular range hoods by operating principle:
- circulating;
- flow through.
According to the design of the hood there are:
- flat;
- embedded;
- dome;
- desktop.
Let's consider them in more detail, and also determine what power the hood should be.
Kitchen hood types
Flat hoods are installed directly on the wall above the stove. Air purification occurs with the help of a fan and filters. Such devices are used in kitchens where air outlet is difficult.into ventilation. The price of the equipment is quite loyal, and the design is attractive.
Built-in hoods are installed in a hanging cabinet above the stove. This is necessary to hide the air outlet pipe. Such systems are equipped with a sliding panel or are fully built-in. The first version of the device is visible only during cooking. The rest of the time is hidden in the furniture. Built-in hoods are better than flat hoods, but the price is also higher.
Dome hoods can be metal with wood or glass finishes or all-metal. Suitable for any interior, as they are characterized by a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes. Such equipment is distinguished by a number of certain technical parameters and, moreover, does not require replacement of filters.
If there is no possibility to use hanging hoods, desktop ones are used. This type of device is built into the hob as an additional module. Arrange them between the stove and grill. Due to its close location to the source of polluted air, its high-quality purification takes place.
Flow-through cooker hoods
The operating principle of the flow hood is as follows:
- Under the influence of the electric motor blades, hot polluted air rises up the duct and is thrown into the ventilation ducts.
- The air passes through a special metal filter. It is on it that all particles of soot, soot and drops of fat suspended in the air settle.
- When using this type of device, rarelywhen additional filters are installed (for example, against odors). The reason for this is that the air that has passed through the duct does not get back into the room.
- Working efficiency depends on the rated exhaust power provided by the internal motor and the condition of the building's air duct. If the ventilation ducts are clogged, then most of the power will be lost.
Important point. So that the anti-grease filter does not create additional resistance to the air flow, it should be periodically cleaned from accumulated contaminants. Otherwise, even the highest power of the kitchen hood will not be enough to cope with the removal of dirty air.
Circulating kitchen hoods
This type of hood works independently of the building's ventilation system. This is what distinguishes them from flow devices. The principle of operation of the hood is as follows:
- The electric fan pushes air into the hood.
- Soot, soot and grease droplets settle on the grease filter when air passes through it.
- The air passes through the carbon filter under pressure. The main function of such a filter is to eliminate unpleasant odors.
- Air after passing through double filtration enters the room again.
Charcoal filter hoods are perfect for private homes and rooms that have a poor ventilation system.
Dimensions of kitchen hood
On the efficiency of the kitchen hoodits dimensions also affect:
- The best option is when the hood area is equal to or greater than the area of the hob (gas stove). In this case, the power of the device for the kitchen will be enough to completely capture all the vapors that rise above the stove.
- In industrial production, the standard size of hoods most often corresponds to the dimensions of hobs and has a width of 50 or 60 cm.
- A more expensive option - equipment ranging in size from 80 cm to 1 m. The exhaust power is enough to purify the air above a large stove. Such devices are sometimes called professional.
- Do-it-yourself hood capacity depends on the installed motor, dome and duct configuration of the hood. Therefore, before making the hood, you need to put a small margin in size into the project.
Norms and requirements
Mandatory installation of the hood is provided for food preparation shops and bakeries. But for apartments and private houses, the hood is installed at the request of the owners. According to building codes, they are equipped with forced or natural ventilation. But usually this is not enough even for a small kitchen.
According to SNiP, ventilation equipment (including the kitchen hood) must completely renew the air in the room several times in an hour. For kitchens in residential buildings, this number is 10-15 times. This value depends on the type of stove, fan operation mode and other factors. To simplify calculations, this coefficienttake equal to 12.
Noise level
Each hood model should be marked with how much noise it produces in decibels. However, it is not always clear to an uninformed person what will happen in practice. In most cases, modern hoods produce about 50 dB. For comparison: the rustle of pages is 20 dB, and a conversation at a distance of a meter is 60 dB.
Usually, during the day, the hood is used in the mode of low and medium intensity. Therefore, when choosing a device, it is important to pay attention to these indicators.
Recently, hoods with a perimetric suction system are gaining more and more popularity. This technology is remarkable in that the intake air from the central part is redirected to the outer perimeter of the device. This reduces the load on the engine and, consequently, the level of noise produced.
Performance
The performance of the hood is the volume of air it cleans in an hour. The more air it can pump, the more power the hood fan should have.
Measure the capacity of the hood in cubic meters of air per hour (m3/h).
Minimum capacity is about 200-300m3/h. Such hoods are inexpensive, but they do not do the job very well. Suitable for those who rarely cook.
In the case of daily cooking, the best option would be a standard (about 600 m3/h) or reinforced hood. Reinforced devices have high power (up to 1000 m3/h), but their price is appropriate.
Worth itsay that different manufacturers indicate the power of their devices using different counting parameters.
- Sometimes "bare" turbine power is indicated.
- Some manufacturers prescribe real indicators obtained in practice.
- Large manufacturers indicate several values and readings. Data obtained through various tests.
Calculation of hood power
When in doubt when choosing a hood, it's worth doing some calculations.
What kind of hood power for the kitchen is needed, you can find out from the following formula:
Q=12SH1, 3, where:
12 - air exchange rate per hour (as mentioned above, this is an average figure).
S - kitchen area.
H - kitchen height.
1, 3 - minimum stock ratio. It is needed to take into account the number of storeys of the building, the length and degree of pollution of the ventilation shaft, as well as the length and bends of the air duct, which may cause a loss in device performance.
The value obtained as a result will be the minimum required power for the hood to a specific kitchen.
Additional factors in the calculation. Minimum Performance Examples
The above is the simplest formula for calculating the power of the hood. But still, it is worth making some clarifications to it:
- For starters, a factor of 12. This is an average and does not provide any headroom for emergencies.
- In addition, the same indicator also depends on the hob. For example, for electronic cookingsurfaces, the value should be 15, and for gas stoves - 20.
- One more point - the area. If the kitchen is isolated from other rooms by doors and walls, then this calculation of the area is enough. If there are arches or a combination of rooms, then you need to add the area adjacent to the kitchen.
Several indicative indicators can be given as an example:
- for a kitchen area of 6 m22 and a ceiling height of 3 m, the minimum hood power is 281 m3/h;
- if the kitchen area is 11 m2, and the ceiling height is 4 m, then the figure should be from 515 m3/h;
- with a kitchen area of 15m2 with a ceiling height of 2.5m minimum power is 585m3/h;
- for a 7 m2 kitchen2 and 3 m ceilings and a 6 m2 kitchen2 and 3.5 m ceilings the power is the same - 328 m3/hr.
Useful Features
In addition to the main task of purifying the air, modern hoods have a number of additional functions.
The lighting of the device does not affect the operation of the hood in any way, but at the same time it is a convenient and necessary function. For lighting use built-in LED lamps, incandescent or halogen. The most economical option is LED and halogen lamps. Usually they are covered with light-scattering or protective frosted glass. And changing bulbs is easy.
The hood control also has several schemes. Namely:
- push-button;
- slider-slider;
- sensor-electronic.
The push-button option is now becoming less and less common. Using the control panel, you can adjust the engine operation mode, performance, backlight, turn on or off the ultraviolet or quartz disinfection lamp (if it is provided). There are also models of hoods that have a clock and a timer.
In conclusion
The kitchen hood not only complements the design of the kitchen, but is also an excellent assistant in the fight for clean air. Knowing how much hood power is needed, the choice will be much easier to make. In addition, correctly calculated performance will allow you to get the highest quality operation of the device. Therefore, calculations must be approached with all responsibility.
