Is Your Commercial Kitchen in Need of an Exhaust Hood Cleaning?
If you don’t know what that is, then the answer is YES! The truth on hood cleaning is that EVERY commercial cooking operation is required by NFPA-96 or other local code to perform routine kitchen exhaust hood cleaning and maintenance.
So what is Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning???
The Kitchen Exhaust System is comprised of the hood, filters, the duct work to the fan, and the exhaust fan. The hood and filters are the where the majority of the grease-laden vapors are captured and exhausted (literally sucked out) through the fan.
So why does this need regular maintenance? And how regular are we talking?
The first answer is simple: Grease + Flames = Grease Fires! The grease that resides in the filters, behind the filters (the area called the plenum) and especially in the duct work is a fire hazard and will combust if neglected, and no one has enough baking flour for that! Oh ok, so I can just wipe it down every now and then to prevent fires, right? Wrong. A certified technician must perform the maintenance-they use caustic degreasers and pressure washers to remove this greasy build-up and keep your commercial kitchens safe from fire.
The second answer is a bit of a gray area: every city, county, and state adopts the standard to which they want to adhere to, usually it is NFPA-96 that becomes the ordinance which states that the cleaning interval is determined by….. volume, still sounding vague? See table 11.4 from NFPA-96 2011 for more clarification:
NFPA 96 2011 Standard – Table 11.4
Cooking Type Interval
Solid Fuel (wood, charcoal) Monthly
High Volume, 24 hour operations, charbroiling, wok cooking Quarterly
Moderate volume cooking Semi -Annually
Low volume cooking (churches, seasonal operations, senior centers) Annually
So how do I find a certified technician to provide me with routine maintenance for my kitchen exhaust hood? And how much should I budget for it?
A simple search engine search will bring up Professional Hood Cleaning Companies that service your area. Check their website for certifications and insurance! Looking for a Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning in Georgia, Alabama, or Florida? Then Contact Hood-Pro, Inc. for a FREE QUOTE today!
The budget for a hood cleaning will vary. It will be based on SEVERAL components. Some of these include: the configuration of the kitchen, the configuration of the duct work from the hood to the fan, the size of the hood or hoods, the type of cooking performed, the volume of cooking, the cooking equipment used, the driving distance for the kitchen exhaust cleaning company, the number of stories in your building, the type of roof on the building, and even the type of cooking oil used!! If the company quoting you for a hood cleaning isn’t obtaining this type of information from you they may not be performing the work to code. There are SEVERAL non-certified and uninsured companies out there who give the hood cleaning industry a poor reputation. No shows and messes left are the least of your worries. Most of the time these companies are neglecting to clean the duct work, remember that is the most important part, leaving your business at risk for fire. And how can they do that? Without insurance all the liability will default to your company-not theirs…ouch! So be cautious when hiring a company to perform kitchen exhaust cleaning for your business. Make sure they are insured, certified, and have extras such as before and after pictures, so you KNOW the duct work is CLEAN!!! Remember you are insuring that your commercial kitchen doesn’t catch on fire…how much is that work to you???
Still have questions? Visit our FAQ’s About Commercial Kitchen Grease Hood Cleaning page for additional information on hot and smoky kitchens, loud and shaky hood vents, how often to perform hood cleanings and more!