Does a Kitchen need an extractor fan???

little me

Hi,

I'm just wondering do you actually need an extractor fan in your kitchen. The one I have at the moment only blows the steam out the top of it and is still in the kitchen, as it is not connected to the outside. Is there a real need for one?? Thinking of just putting up open shelves along the wall of my kitchen and taking the extract fan out.
Bad idea???

Poor Uncle Tom

Part F, Building Regulations is worth a read
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad,1647,en.pdf

ted1

little me wrote: »

Hi,

I'm just wondering do you actually need an extractor fan in your kitchen. The one I have at the moment only blows the steam out the top of it and is still in the kitchen, as it is not connected to the outside. Is there a real need for one?? Thinking of just putting up open shelves along the wall of my kitchen and taking the extract fan out.
Bad idea???

Not all extractor fans actual extract to the outside world. Lots just have charcoal filters fitted which should be replaced every 2 years. Is this what you have?

peasant

For years we had no extractor fan in our old kitchen. We had condensation on the walls, water running down the inside of the windows and mold growing in some corners ...plus the whole kitchen was greasy, especially in hard to reach spots where you don't get to clean that often.

Now we have a proper extraction fan that extracts to the outside. The kitchen is dry as a bone, mold and grease free and a much nicer place to be.

If I were you I'd look into getting the fan connected to the outside instead of removing it altogether.

dybbuk

Generally I avoid agreeing with moderators but peasant happens to be right. And then if you cook with gas there are also gases like CO2 that you neither see nor smell but are damaging your health.

little me

dybbuk wrote: »

Generally I avoid agreeing with moderators but peasant happens to be right. And then if you cook with gas there are also gases like CO2 that you neither see nor smell but are damaging your health.

But if most extractor fans just blow the air up the top of it and not outside, then all the fumes are still in the room?

dybbuk

CO2 and such yes, of course. I was referring to peasant's post:

peasant wrote: »

If I were you I'd look into getting the fan connected to the outside instead of removing it altogether.

But even if you can't make a hole in your wall, a filter extractor still filters out vapors that aren't good for you or your house.

Kettleson

I had a surveyor come to look at different job in the house.

First thing he said was "best get an extractor fan put in".

I had one of them charcoal extractors, which never seemed to work.

If your existing fan is on an exterior wall, you should "only" need to drill a hole in the wall and fit some of that extractor piping, and fit an extractor fanfitting (or whatever its called) to the outside wall.

Its an easy enough job, the hardest part for me was cleaning up all the debris that had fallen down behind the cooker hood when the hole was being drilled.

A good work-person should do it all in a couple of hours and very low cost to buy the fittings.

dybbuk

Never has a son of a kettle spoken a word more true.

Kettleson

dybbuk wrote: »

Never has a son of a kettle spoken a word more true.

LOL! I think that's a compliment? .I know sh1g all about nothing really:D

dybbuk

Kettleson wrote: »

I think that's a compliment?

Of course!

BTW Little me, if you do make a hole in the wall, make sure you cover it up from the outside so it doesn't rain in and Blue Tits stay out!

Poor Uncle Tom

dybbuk wrote: »

Of course!

BTW Little me, if you do make a hole in the wall, make sure you cover it up from the outside so it doesn't rain in and Blue Tits stay out!

It shouldn't make the house that cold......:pac:

Any hole through the cavity/external wall should be lined with a cut off from a 110mm diameter PVC pipe with a slight slope downwards towards the exterior and having a grille fitted.

Kettleson

Any hole through the cavity/external wall should be lined with a cut off from a 110mm diameter PVC pipe with a slight slope downwards towards the exterior and having a grille fitted.

Oh sh1te! No pipe, and no slope applied. I shudda checked here first.:o

Paudi04

sorry to hijack, quick question if i had an airtight house and had a MHRV system installed is it a matter of fitting a filter to the extractor fan and then hook up to MHRV? because i don't think i can have it going to the outside.

Paudi04

Paudi04 wrote: »

sorry to hijack, quick question if i had an airtight house and had a MHRV system installed is it a matter of fitting a filter to the extractor fan and then hook up to MHRV? because i don't think i can have it going to the outside.

I was advised against doing that as the filter may fail and the MHRV system could get gummed up! I fitted a standard vented extractor instead, Just have to take a small loss of heat.

Paudi04

dolanbaker wrote: »

I was advised against doing that as the filter may fail and the MHRV system could get gummed up! I fitted a standard vented extractor instead, Just have to take a small loss of heat.

Does that just make the MHRV pointless.. House Needs to be airtight to work.. Can't imagine a hole through the wall being airtight?

Paudi04

Paudi04 wrote: »

Does that just make the MHRV pointless.. House Needs to be airtight to work.. Can't imagine a hole through the wall being airtight?

You need to fit one of those oneway flap covers, you do lose a bit of airtightness, but you have to weigh up the risks of gumming up the NHRV system if the filters fail.

Paudi04

dolanbaker wrote: »

You need to fit one of those oneway flap covers, you do lose a bit of airtightness, but you have to weigh up the risks of gumming up the NHRV system if the filters fail.

Thanks for that. I'm a bit wiser on the issue now.. Looks like ill have to get chatting to the builder and get his POV. Gonna do a bit more research into these filters and see how reliable they are, dont like losing airtightness! Thanks again!

sas

We have an airtight house. We have a recycling extractor which has the charcoal filters. There is a hrv extract approx 10 feet from the hood which deals with moisture. That extraction point also has a filter on it similar to the material used in standard cooker hoods.

We did it for energy efficiency. However we were also told that our kitchen layout put the hob too far from the external wall for the standard approach to work. I don't know alot about that however.

Almost 1 year in and so far so good.