Why an Exhaust System?
Kitchen grease exhaust systems are installed to remove excess heat, odor, smoke, and grease-laden air from the immediate cooking area.
Why Clean It?
Fire Prevention
- Main reason is to prevent a fire from starting within the ductwork or spreading through the ductwork from cooking equipment under the hoods.
- If there is little grease build-up, there will be little to burn.
Insurance Coverage
- Many insurance companies refuse to provide coverage for restaurants unless they have an up to date maintenance contract covering a thorough cleaning on a regular basis.
- The required frequency of service varies by the volume of the restaurant.
Cost Reduction
- The fan assembly is the “heart” of the exhaust system.
- Must be cleaned to reduce the number of service calls to replace burned out motors, unbalanced fan wheels, and worn out shafts and bearings.
How Often? NFPA Standards
Obviously, as often as sufficient grease accumulates within the system to constitute a fire hazard, but the frequency depends on the following:
- The type and volume of cooking one does each day
- The equipment used, such as grease filters, grease extractors, and “water-wash” hoods to prevent grease from entering and accumulating within the system.
- General maintenance of the system. In order for grease catching and removing devices to function properly, hoods must be cleaned regularly.
How Clean?
The interior surfaces will be cleaned to the level agreed upon between yourself and Airways.
How to Check Your System
- Remove the filters or grease extractors and shine a flashlight into the interior chamber and ductwork.
- Remove the access/inspection panels in the horizontal run of ductwork and check the interior for liquid or encrusted grease.
- Turn off the exhaust fan and check the blades of the fan wheel to see if they are free of grease/dirt build-up. Just a coating of grease causes the fan to work harder and become unbalanced.
