Kitchen Hood systems are one of the most widely used fire protection systems given the fire source and fuel load. Kitchen Hood systems include the hood, exhaust, and ducting systems over your cooking appliances. This system vents airborne grease, combustion products, fumes, smoke, odors, heat, and steam.
These systems are customized for the kitchen layout as well as each appliance. Kitchen Hood systems require regular maintenance and inspections as grease build-up, damage to the hood, or moved appliances can cause the Hood system, along with any interconnected fire suppression system, not to function properly. You can read A1’s blog for more information on the kitchen hood suppression system.
The required schedule for cleaning a Hood system varies based on the type of cooking appliances, methods, and amount of use. According to NFPA 96, general guidelines for cleaning a Kitchen Hood system are as follows:
- Kitchens with solid fuel such as wood or charcoal must have the kitchen hood system cleaned every month.
- Kitchens with a high volume, 24 hour operations, charbroiling, or wok cooking must have the kitchen hood system cleaned every 3 months.
- Kitchens with moderate volume operations must have the kitchen hood system cleaned every 6 months.
- Kitchens with low volume operations, such as churches, day camps, seasonal business, or senior centers, must have their kitchen hood system cleaned once a year.
Because the Kitchen Hood system is cleaned in areas you will not be able to see on a daily basis, such as inside the ducts and vents, it is important that you are provided with before and after pictures of your system such as the ones shown here. You also want to be sure that all areas of your Kitchen Hood system are being cleaned – this includes fans, vertical duct, horizontal duct, plenum, inside and outside of the hood system and cleaning inside access panels.
Most of these areas are not ones that are not regularly visible. However, grease buildups occur throughout the system and it is critical that the full hood system is cleaned to bare metal in order to ensure proper function and continued safety.
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