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In order for the air in an apartment or house to be fresh, without extraneous odors, an effective ventilation system is necessary. In addition, in the kitchen, it is necessary to quickly remove the smells of cooking food, fumes and soot that form in the process. The most productive way is a special device – a kitchen hood. This device is placed above the stove and sucks in polluted air with the help of built-in fans. We will talk further about how to choose a hood for the kitchen.
What is a cooker hood and what is it for?
A kitchen hood is a forced ventilation device that removes the smell of cooking food from the room, purifies the air from steam, smoke, soot, gas combustion products, etc. It does not allow fumes to spread throughout the apartment, soot does not settle on walls, furniture, textiles. As a result, repairs and cleaning are required less often, and the feeling of freshness and cleanliness lasts longer, and not only in the kitchen, but throughout the apartment or house.
In a kitchen with a gas stove, an exhaust hood is needed because it removes the products of gas combustion more efficiently than natural ventilation. But this does not mean that it is not needed above the electric stove. There are fumes in any case – you cook on gas or on electricity. The difference in the required power – for gas stoves, it should be higher than for electric ones.
Types of hoods for the kitchen
It will be easier to choose a hood for the kitchen if you know what types of exhaust equipment are, their advantages, disadvantages, and features. First of all, let’s define the mode of operation. They are divided into two types:
- Hoods for the kitchen with a vent to the ventilation. They are also called flow or retractor. They remove polluted air to the ventilation system or through a hole in the wall to the street (depending on the type of connection chosen). Their disadvantage is that for normal operation a large-section ventilation duct and inflow holes are required, which provide fresh air instead of the exhaust.
Before choosing a hood for the kitchen, decide on the type of air circulation - Kitchen hoods without venting. The second name is recirculation or filtering (cleaning). The air is sucked in from below, cleaned in the internal filters of the unit, and enters the room. The disadvantage of this system is the need to clean and/or replace the filters.
There are models of kitchen hoods that combine both types (combined), the operating modes are switched by a button. These devices are more expensive, more versatile, but have the disadvantages of both types: you need a powerful ventilation system with sufficient performance and filter replacement.
Classification by type of location
To choose a hood for the kitchen, you must also decide on the type of its location. Everything is simple with this – we choose depending on where the stove is:
- Corner ones are placed in kitchens where the stove is in the corner.
- Island (ceiling) put where the stove is in the middle of the room.
- Wall-mounted – the plate is installed against the wall.
Division by slab location
You also need to choose the type of kitchen hood according to the installation method. The difference is the way you interact with the furniture. On this basis, they are:
- Suspended (classic, standard, flat). Most often these are recirculation models without a vent to the ventilation. They are mounted under the bottom of the hanging cabinet, are small in size, take up little space, but are notable for their low productivity. Most often mounted in small kitchens up to 10 square meters.
- Embedded. The hood body is hidden in a special wall cabinet, only the front panel remains outside. It can have a retractable part, due to which the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbair intake increases. They can be of any power, therefore they are suitable for kitchens of any area. The price is not too different from the built-in ones.
Division by type of location and interaction with furniture - Dome (fireplace). This type of equipment is open, has a volumetric dome for collecting and removing polluted air, and wall cabinets (if any) are located nearby. It can have any power, except for air purification, it also serves as a decoration for the room, it is made of expensive materials (stainless steel, copper, wood, glass), it has the highest price.
- Inclined. The newest type of kitchen hoods. Functionally it does not differ from embedded ones, but it has a different appearance. Power can be different, materials for manufacturing – stainless steel, glass, ceramics. As well as domed ones, it belongs to the design technique, respectively, it has a high price.
The inclined hood looks completely non-standard, and the whole “stuffing” can be hidden behind a false wall
Having dealt with the types, you know how to choose a hood for the kitchen according to this principle, but there are still technical parameters and additional functions, and they must be dealt with separately.
Technical specifications
After selecting the type of hood for the kitchen, it is necessary to determine the technical characteristics. These are performance, power consumption, number of motors and operating modes, noise level, type of control, dimensions.
It must also be said that most hoods are equipped with lamps to illuminate the working area. This is almost the norm, the difference is only in the number of lamps and their power, but this is also worth paying attention to. This is a very useful option, since there is no need to arrange the backlight in any other way. What else can you pay attention to? For lamp type. More often there are ordinary incandescent lamps, sometimes halogen ones, but there are models with LED ones (BOSCH DIB091K50, NEFF I79MT64N1, IEMENS LC98, etc.). They give brighter light, and consume 9-10 times less electricity.
Performance Choice
The performance of a kitchen hood is the ability to clean a certain volume of air per unit of time. It is usually measured in cubic meters per hour (cube/hour or m3/h). To choose a hood for the kitchen according to this parameter, you need to know its volume. To do this, you need the width, length and height of the room. We multiply these data (in meters), we get the volume. For example, a kitchen 3 * 3 meters with a ceiling height of 2,7 m. We multiply all three numbers, we get 3 * 3 * 2,7 u24,3d XNUMX cubic meters.
According to the SES standards in the kitchen, the air must change at least 12 times per hour, therefore we multiply the figure found by 12. For our example, it turns out: 24,3 * 12 = 291,6 cubic meters / hour. This will be the minimum performance for this example. There is even some margin, as part of the volume is occupied by furniture.
In addition to calculations, it is worth considering the features of the layout and the size of the kitchens. In small kitchens, the intensity of odors is greater. For faster removal of them, it is worth having a power reserve of about 25-30%. Since the kitchen was clearly small in the example – 3 * 3 meters, we multiply the figure found by 1,3. It turns out 291,6 cubic meters / hour * 1,3 u379,8d 380 cubic meters / hour. That is, you need to look for a kitchen hood with a capacity of at least XNUMX cubic meters / hour.
The same or greater margin of performance is needed if the kitchen is combined with a living room or dining room. Although the volumes are large here, it is necessary to remove odors even faster, otherwise they will spread throughout the apartment, which is completely undesirable. The stock can be 40% or more (respectively, it is necessary to multiply by 1,4 or 1,5).
Number of motors, operating speeds, noise level
Air is sucked into the hood when the exhaust fan is running. Usually it is one, but there may be two (for some models GORENJE, BOSCH, HANSA, KAISER). Turning on / off in their work, we change the performance of the equipment. In addition, fans can have multiple speeds. By changing the speeds, we more accurately adjust the mode of operation for a given situation. This allows you to remove odors and not waste extra electricity.
For example, a kettle boils on the stove. To remove the steam / smell, it is enough to turn on one fan at minimum speed. When all the burners are occupied – to cope with the situation, we include everything in the work to the maximum. So everything is clear here – the more modes of operation, the more accurately you can control the situation.
When choosing a kitchen hood, pay attention to the noise level that the fans produce. The maximum permissible noise level in the apartment during the day is 55 dB, at night – 40 dB. Comfortable 25-35 dB. It is clear that the hood should be as quiet as possible. The problem is that these models cost more.
Anti-return valve
A very useful thing for hoods with a vent to the ventilation, but usually installed in expensive models. This valve prevents the return of contaminated air in the event of a back draft. If there is a strong wind outside that blows into the pipe, it closes the gap. BOSCH DIB091K50, NEFF I79MT64N1 and some other models have such a valve.
The good news is that if this valve is not available, it can be installed on the duct. They are sold in the same stores as corrugated or other types of air ducts.
Type of control and additional functions
The electric hood in the kitchen can have a mechanical or electronic control. The most simple, cheap and reliable – push-button, with or without sliders. The front panel has buttons/toggle switches and sliders. We change their position, turn the motors on and off, change the speed of the fans. The same buttons turn the lights on and off. This control is clear, familiar, it is easy to repair in case of failure. The disadvantage is that in order to change something, you have to go to the installation and press the buttons, it is impossible to organize automatic work.
Electronic control is of varying degrees of complexity. There are models with buttons – tactile or touch (SHINDO Aero Duo, HANSA), with which the operating modes are set. There are models with remote control, sometimes it is also possible to change modes from the panel on the hood. In any case, there is a small LCD screen that displays the current status of the equipment.
Electronic control makes it possible to set the timer to turn off or turn on the motors at a certain time. There is also equipment that automatically changes the speed of work depending on the degree of air pollution (sensors). There are models that can be controlled via Wi-Fi from anywhere in the world. It is clear that this equipment is more complex and expensive. With all this, it is more demanding on the power supply – such control is done on microprocessors, and they often fail during surges in our power grids.
In general, choosing a hood for the kitchen according to this principle is not too difficult. If the budget is limited, mechanical control will be more suitable. The type of implementation – buttons, knobs or sliders – you choose based on your own preferences. They are approximately the same in terms of reliability and price, and outwardly – whoever likes what.
If you care more about comfort and are willing to pay more for it, choose an electronically controlled kitchen hood. The number of additional functions and the types of buttons (if any) are selected according to your tastes, as for manufacturers, it is better to choose well-known brands.
dimensions
To choose a hood for the kitchen in size, you need to know the dimensions of the stove. In order for odors and steam to be removed effectively, it is desirable that the hood be no less than the width of the plate, and even better, it would be wider. Some models have a retractable panel to increase efficiency. It opens forward, capturing a large area.
Now you know how to choose a hood for the kitchen in all respects, all the subtleties and nuances.