The joke has always been architects set aside the smallest room in the building for the kitchen.
There’s always a little truth in humor.
As the cost per square foot continues to rise for restaurants, kitchen spaces are compressed to expand the dining area and maximize profits. Limiting space in the kitchen includes shrinking and designing the cooking lineup to be as flexible as possible.
This creates an issue with the kitchen ventilation system.
Less space = more trouble
When a kitchen utilizes a smaller hood system and the need arises to include new cooking equipment, the cubic feet per minute (CFM) requirements can increase. It’s simple math. A broiler or wok requires higher exhaust rates than ovens and kettles.
If a 24-inch broiler is 30% of the equipment under an 8-foot hood, it’s more impactful than if that 24-inch broiler is only 15% of the equipment under a 16-foot hood.
Let’s continue with this example. With traditional industry accepted CFM calculations, our 8-foot cooking lineup requires around 2,000 CFM for non-broiler operation and 2,800 CFM when adding a broiler. That 800 CFM might not seem like much, but it’s a 40% increase. That means the exhaust and supply fans would need to be replaced – and probably the ductwork, as well.
Heavy price to change fans
Changing fans after installation often requires cranes or even helicopters, depending where the roof area is located. After occupied spaces are completed, accessing the ductwork is difficult and expensive – or even impossible. This is a costly – even cost prohibitive – upgrade to make if you didn’t design a flexible system up front.
By moving from standard box hood construction to Avtec’s EcoArch hood, the maximum exhaust rate needed is 2,000 CFM – even if the broiler is included in the cook line. This means small kitchens can adjust cooking processes to changing menu demands, as well as replace and upgrade cooking equipment, without having to change the kitchen ventilation system.
Added versatility in future
The Eco Arch can also help landlords and management companies when they are unsure what needs their tenants may have in the future by providing added flexibility. They can accept sandwich shops as easily as an Asian restaurant or a burger joint.
Sometimes the proper hood design isn’t the lowest exhaust rate possible. Not every tool in you toolbox is a hammer. You need a ventilation Design Specialist that helps match your need with the design and style of hood best suited for the application.
The usefulness of a kitchen’s ventilation system provides options to make changes to the kitchen equipment lineup easier. This can still lend to increased energy efficiencies and give owner-operators greater control over their operational costs.
Avtec’s Design Specialists help you provide top-quality service to your customers with cost-saving solutions to these and many other problems they haven’t even considered.
To learn more about how Avtec Eco Arch hood can simplify your kitchen, reach out to our experts or visit our website today.
Jefferson Kenney
Design & Product Specialist – Ventilation
Electrolux Professional Group – Avtec
800-621-8560 EXT 6492
[email protected]
