Range hood: Proper use guide

Many modern families pursue fashion and choose open-plan kitchens, but in their daily lives they find that oil smoke has become their biggest enemy. Is it because the exhaust fan power you selected is not large enough?

In most cases, it may be caused by improper installation and use of the exhaust fan.

Reasonable Installation Ensures Effectiveness
  The installation height of the exhaust fan must be appropriate so that it will not collide with your head during cooking and can ensure effective smoke extraction. Typically, the reasonable installation height is for the bottom of the exhaust fan to be 650-700mm above the stove (side-suction type is 350-450mm). At the same time, the outlet pipe should be set as short as possible and the bend radius should be as large as possible to ensure smooth exhaust and good smoke extraction, and reduce noise. If the exhaust fan is installed in a public exhaust duct with a one-way valve, it must be checked in advance to see if the one-way valve can work normally. In addition, the exhaust fan must be kept level when installed, and even a slight tilt will affect the flow of oil in the machine and cause leaks.

Use Throughout the Cooking Process
  The use of the exhaust fan should be throughout the entire cooking process. Many people think that the function of an oil smoke extractor is to remove the oil smoke produced by cooking, but this is only one of its functions. It can also expel harmful gases in the kitchen at the same time. Gas stoves produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter that can be inhaled when in use. Nitrogen compounds will exceed the standard by five times within a few minutes of burning, and carbon monoxide gas can exceed the standard by more than 65 times. If you only turn on the oil smoke extractor when cooking and turn it off immediately after cooking, you cannot completely exhaust the waste gases produced by gas burning. Therefore, the correct use method is to turn on the oil smoke extractor as soon as you light the stove and keep it running throughout cooking, whether it is frying, stir-frying, boiling, stewing or steaming. After cooking, don't turn off the oil smoke extractor immediately. Let it run for another five to six minutes.

Increase air circulation to enhance efficiency
  To make the oil smoke extractor work at its best, open a window or door while cooking to ensure good air circulation indoors and outdoors. When the oil smoke extractor is turned on, an air vortex is formed between the rotating fan and the stove above, which draws in oil smoke and air together and sends them into the oil smoke extractor through the exhaust pipe and outdoors. Therefore, when we cook with the windows open, fresh air from outside can flow into the room through the windows and doors, forming an air circulation with the range hood, which keeps the pressure balance between the kitchen and the outside. However, if the windows and doors are closed tightly or the gaps are too small, the external air cannot enter quickly and the pressure inside the room drops, causing the air density to decrease and the vortex flow rotation speed to decrease, which blocks the circulation and hinders the smoke exhaust, not only reducing the smoking effect but also increasing the noise. Therefore, when there is a strong wind, we should keep the habit of ventilating the windows.

Moreover, the low temperature season has a great impact on the smoke exhaust pipes directly inserted into the chimney of the smoke exhaust fan. Because there is a stationary column of cold air in the chimney, with high density and heavy weight, when the mixture of smoke exhaust and air contacts with the cold air in the chimney, it will cool down quickly. In addition, when the smoke exhaust flows from a narrow pipe into the wide chimney on the wall, its volume quickly expands and the flow speed drops sharply, which greatly weakens its ability to overcome the resistance of the cold air column, resulting in a decline in the smoke exhaust effect. In this case, it is advisable to turn on the smoke exhaust fan in advance and let it run for a while before cooking.

Regular cleaning of the oil filter net
  Nowadays, more and more smoke exhaust fans emphasize "non-disassembly cleaning", which means that "non-disassembly cleaning" means not cleaning? The answer is of course no. "Effortless cleaning" is mainly achieved by filtering oil smoke through a filter net, which extends the cleaning cycle of the range hood, but the filter net still needs to be regularly disassembled and cleaned. Although the filter net can filter out part of the oil smoke, even with very small holes, about 30% of the oil smoke still enters the inner chamber of the range hood. Therefore, so-called "effortless cleaning" range hoods are simply range hoods with longer cleaning cycles compared to regular ones. Therefore, in order to avoid oil accumulation and excessive load on the impeller, causing increased noise, higher power consumption, and even affecting the suction and service life of the range hood, we should still regularly disassemble and clean the machine for "effortless cleaning" range hoods.