PLACENTIA AND LOS ANGELES, CA— A restaurant kitchen can be a miserable place to work if it isn’t properly ventilated.

Sweltering heat and lingering smoke are sure signs that a commercial kitchen isn’t pulling in fresh air and pumping out hot air effectively, said Massoud Farazandeh, chief executive officer of APS-Hoods, a Santa Ana hood sales company. The headquarters for APS-Hoods is located in Colorado, but the company opened a Placentia fabrication plant in August of last year in an effort to better address the increasing demand for Santa Ana hood installations, as well as its other services throughout California.

“Our job is to ensure that ‘hot and smokey’ describes only food in restaurants, not kitchen conditions,” Farazandeh said.
There are many reasons that could cause a kitchen to heat up and get smokey, but the most common typically is a torn fan belt, he said. Those belts are responsible for keeping the fan blades spinning. They tear due to a variety of reasons, including age and length of use; wear and tear due to improper installation; and the fan being overworked because of a high build-up of grease.

“The latter is another reason why routine hood cleaning is so important to restaurants,” said Farazandeh, whose company also provides Santa Ana hood cleaning services.

Belts that are cracked or worn out tend to slip on the pulleys, which causes poor suction of the exhaust system. To prevent this problem, Farazandeh recommends inspecting the belts each time the kitchen hood system is cleaned, so they can be replaced when necessary.

Poor engineering during the hood installation process can be another cause of an uncomfortable kitchen environment. Systems designed in such a way that they don’t properly capture grease-filled air can create a hazy, smokey atmosphere.

Improperly running motors also can cause poor air quality. Inadvertently switching the two hot wires on a 220-volt motor can cause it to reverse direction, which would give the impression that the exhaust fan is properly removing air, even though it isn’t.
Another potential cause of smoke and heat is a shortage of makeup air, which is the air required to replace air that is removed from the restaurant kitchen by the exhaust fan. A lack of makeup air results in poor air quality, he said.

How Makeup Air & Exhaust Fans Work Together
The ideal situation in a commercial kitchen involves a makeup air unit that pushes clean air into the area at the same rate that the exhaust fan removes stuffy, smoky air. In this scenario, the makeup air actually prevents the exhaust fan from having to work as hard because it helps push air out.

“These two systems work together to create ideal working conditions regarding air quality and comfort,” Farazandeh said.

Kitchens that don’t have a makeup air source put additional stress on their exhaust fan motor, because there isn’t anything helping to push out the air.

Some restaurants may think that simply propping open a door to keeping a window open will do the trick, but that isn’t the case. In fact, it can have an adverse effect on the exhaust fan because the fan must work even harder to pull in air.

How To Get The Most From An Exhaust System
The amount of hot air exhaust varies according to the different types of cooking processes, Farazandeh said. For example, stir frying vegetables in a pan of oil will emit a different amount of hot air from the cooking process than throwing a batch of frozen chicken wings into a deep fryer. It’s important to know which processes emit the most heat and situate those cooking processes directly under exhaust ducts or in the center of the kitchen hood.

Cleaning also is key to keeping systems at their optimum functioning levels. Grease buildup in filters hinders the air from exhausting properly.

Learn More
If you would like more information about the hood sale, installation and cleaning services offered by APS-Hoods, or you wish to schedule hood cleanings for your restaurant or commercial kitchen, please call: (800) 750-7313, or visit the company’s Web site:  http://www.aps-hoods.com/.

About APS-Hoods
American Professional Services (APS-Hoods) is a full-service restaurant fire protection business that installs, services, repairs and performs routine inspections and sales for hood and fire protection systems. Founded by Chief Executive Officer Massoud Farazandeh in 1989, APS-Hoods has grown into a national leader in hood sales and fire protection for restaurants and facilities. APS provides superior service, a  quality guarantee and maintains a highly qualified and dependable staff. All crew members are professionally trained to comply with the National Fire Prevention Association Standards and state and local codes. APS-Hoods is fully insured and bonded. They are licensed in the mechanical and electrical fields, as well as fire protection contracting. APS-Hoods is affiliated with the National Fire Protection Agency and the Colorado Division of Fire Safety Fire Suppression Program.

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