Restaurants or other locations that have commercial kitchens are a lot of complex systems working together in order to make a relatively efficient business. It’s important that none of the systems fall into disrepair, and something that can be forgotten by many is the fact that commercial kitchen hoods have to do a lot of work. They push steam, smokes, and smells out of a kitchen, and build up grease and gunk in the process. Any commercial kitchen manager should search for a “commercial kitchen hood cleaning near me” before even opening the kitchen initially, so they are ready for the day they need the cleaning. There are probably many questions a commercial kitchen manager may have before they find the right cleaning company. Below are some questions (and answers) about kitchen hood cleaning.

Do Most Commercial Kitchen Managers Know About Kitchen Hood Cleaning?

Yes, in fact most do know about it, because if they have gotten to the point of being a manager, they should have either experience in previous kitchens, or have taken extended education courses for the management of restaurants or commercial kitchens.

What Causes Kitchen Managers to Look for Commercial Kitchen Hood Cleaning Near Me?

The number one reason that causes a manager to look for hood cleaning is the fire department, or fire marshal inspections. Inspections in commercial kitchens are semi-regular occurrences, and if the inspector is not happy with the amount of grease and grime build up in a kitchen hood, they will immediately inform a manager they need a kitchen hood cleaning, or risk being fined, or shut down.

Hood cleaning will also be required by insurance companies (with proof of paperwork), if the kitchen starts experiencing exhaust issues, or if a property manager requires it regularly.

How do Estimates Work?

Estimates are generally started by calling the commercial kitchen hood cleaning near me service, or filling out an online form on their website. The company will then contact the manager and set up a site inspection, which will result in a cost estimate, and recommendation for cleaning frequency.

What Affects Estimate Pricing?

There are numerous factors that will affect an estimate from a commercial kitchen hood cleaning near me company such as: Size of kitchen hood, and quantity of kitchen hoods. Some locations may only have 10-12 feet of duct, a single fan, and only a few filters, while other locations could have hundreds of feet of ductwork, and dozens of fans and filters.

How Often Should Kitchen Hoods Be Cleaned?

The cleaning company will make recommendations for cleaning schedules. However, at bare minimum for any commercial kitchen, it should be done at least once a year. Insurance companies, fire marshals, local, state, and federal regulations will all factor into the frequency.

What is the Best Time for Kitchen Hood Cleaning?

Ideally kitchen hood cleaning should be done during hours in which the kitchen is not in use. For some places this may mean the morning, while others it’s a specific day of the week they are closed. For businesses open 24/7, the cleaning company will ask for the least busy time of the week, and provide a 3 hour window for the cleaning.

How Long Does a Kitchen Hood Cleaning Take?

The length of time for a hood cleaning depends on the amount of duct work, and number of units that needs to be cleaned. For most restaurants this will be somewhere between 2 and 3 hours for a team of technicians to complete.

What Gets Cleaned During a Kitchen Hood Cleaning?

● The back wall up to the equipment line

● The hood itself

● The canopy of the hood

● The filters

● The plenum

● The duct work

● The exhaust fan

Pictures will often be taken before and after for record keeping purposes.

What is Type-II Hood Cleaning?

Type-II hoods are those that don’t have grease, such as wood burning pizza ovens, but do get covered in soot that can be very easily ignited. These hoods should be cleaned every month by being brushed out.

What is the Manager Provided with After a Hood Cleaning?

From a trustworthy commercial kitchen hood cleaning company, the manager should expect photographic evidence of the cleaning, as well as allowed a visual inspection before the cleaners leave. They will be given a signed tag or sticker with the time and date of cleaning, and when the next cleaning is scheduled for.

Commercial Kitchen Hood Cleaning Near Me

Commercial kitchen hoods are susceptible to kitchen fires when they get too greasy, as well as causing the backup of exhaust that can be terrible for the air quality of both the kitchen and eating area of a restaurant. It’s imperative that any kitchen manager should have a commercial kitchen hood cleaning company on file and come out at regularly scheduled times to keep the ducts, fans and filters clean and safe.

One common issue that is easy to trivialize is the effect of dust and dirt build-up. This is a source of efficiency loss over time. Dirty or clogged heat exchangers will prevent heat from flowing down the ductwork and through the vents. The thermostat will respond by increasing heat output to achieve the desired air temperature. Because debris often compounds to increase the size of blockages over time, not keeping heat exchangers and air conditioning coils clean can result in a 10% loss in energy efficiency per year. Commercial HVAC companies that reach out to you on an annual maintenance schedule are good, because it is easy for building managers to lose track of what was done last, and when.

Monitoring the flow

Another problem is excessive resistance to airflow from dirty filters and clogged diffusers. All filters will impose some resistance to airflow so that they can capture airborne particulate. The problems start when the filters are not cleaned regularly and replaced at the end of their working life. It is not uncommon for contaminates found in dirty filters and diffusers to get dispersed into the air again. This is not good. It can trigger asthma flare-ups and allergic reactions (especially if there is dust mites and mold spores) which can cause absences from work due to illness. Commercial HVAC companies who take filter integrity seriously are ideal. It is also important to have them scrub the ductwork itself, so that there are no pathogens stemming from rust or hardened deposits that will go into the air.

Another notorious HVAC culprit are dirty blowers. Usually this is seen in either the fan base or the motor belts. When dust and dirt collect near the base of the fan, this will prevent the blades from turning as quickly as they are supposed to. Reduced fan speed is another source of inefficiency because it means that regions far away from the main furnace or air conditioner that are serviced by the blowers will not get as much cold or warm air delivery. This will set the stage for temperature discrepancies in different areas of the building.

This puts especially high strain on your system in the summer when air conditioner loads are high. Because the fans can sometimes overheat when they are forced to run in such a state, the residual heat will counteract the cooling effect of the air conditioning. If enough of the fans become compromised, all of the resulting heat may affect the indoor air temperature. Once this happens, there is often a feedback loop effect – the system will work harder to counteract the heat, which in turn will generate more heat from the overworked motors, and so on. Dealing with commercial HVAC companies who have enough experience to know when a fan might be clogged is pivotal in the long-run.

Brought to a standstill

The worst case scenario that managers want to avoid is having to stop onsite activity outright due to HVAC failure. This is the thing that all commercial HVAC companies are in business to prevent. Failure can result from a few things. If there is an intolerably high resistance to airflow from blockages, and this is not dealt with, the furnace can become overloaded and quit working, leaving the building without heat. When the building goes without heat, the space must be vacated until the furnace is repaired or even replaced. Locating the right model with the right outputs can take time.

Another issue is problems with the belts that move inside the blower motors. If they get dirty or become compromised in some way and cannot move smoothly, the motor will fail. Without blowers functioning to disperse hot and cold air, the HVAC system must be shutdown, and remain so until the motors are replaced. Blower motors tend to be expensive. Also, they are not a common part that is replaced frequently, which means they are often not kept in stock. They can take months to arrive. Using commercial HVAC companies that are good at servicing blower motors is what separates a good manager from and average one. Blower motors have the most moving parts and are therefore the most vulnerable to wear and tear. Many amateurs will not take the time to inspect them or run the necessary tests on them to see how they are doing. Anybody can scrub ducts or replace filters but finding someone capable of looking after the motors is what you really want. These kind of inspections are worth the money.