Kitchen Extractor Fan - No external

Kaldo

Hi,

Our kitchen extractor fan is not ducted to the property externals.

However the kitchen is well ventilated and it doesn't give rise to issues with moisture build up.

Anyway, we would be the cost to have it duct it to the exterior?

Thanks

Yellow_Fern

Kaldo wrote: »

Hi,

Our kitchen extractor fan is not ducted to the property externals.

However the kitchen is well ventilated and it doesn't give rise to issues with moisture build up.

Anyway, we would be the cost to have it duct it to the exterior?

Thanks

It sounds like a charcoal filter type. They are very common. A real extracting type is less common than you might think.

Kaldo

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

It sounds like a charcoal filter type. They are very common. A real extracting type is less common than you might think.

Thanks.

It's a recirc type.

Sorry but the country where I com from, this actually doesn't make sense. Is that normal that an extractor doesn't go to the exterior?

Thanks,

Yellow_Fern

Kaldo wrote: »

Thanks.

It's a recirc type.

Sorry but the country where I com from, this actually doesn't make sense. Is that normal that an extractor doesn't go to the exterior?

Thanks,

I hope some more knowledgeable can chyme in but I think the problem is those types tend to take out a lot of heat and tend to undermine home airtightness. It makes sense in a restaurant but less in a home. Have you MHRV? Sometimes they can be connected to the MHRV but then you have dirt issues.

Kaldo

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

I hope some more knowledgeable can chyme in but I think the problem is those types tend to take out a lot of heat and tend to undermine home airtightness. It makes sense in a restaurant but less in a home. Have you MHRV? Sometimes they can be connected to the MHRV but then you have dirt issues.

Thank you.

No, I'v no MHRV. My concern here is the condensation that can happen.

Yellow_Fern

Kaldo wrote: »

Thank you.

No, I'v no MHRV. My concern here is the condensation that can happen.

You have hole in the wall vent type vents in each room then rather then MHRV?

Condensation is a risk as as well as cooking smells. One simple thing I bought recently that I cant recommend enough is a humidity sensor. I picked it up for 8 euros and knowing the humidity reliably tell you if condensation and mould is a risk. Of course tho it can't help with cooking smells.

Dudda

Two types of residential cooking fan exist.
Extract - this is where you’ve a duct to outside and the smells and steam are blown outside. The problem is you’ve the heating on during the winter and it blows all the nice heat you’ve spent money on outside.
Recirculating - These fans have filters which remove the smell and moisture from cooling and return the air into the room. The filters are usually carbon and need to be replaced regularly.
Modern houses are airtight to keep the heat in and control the flow of moisture through the external fabric with airtight tapes, vapour control layers, etc. Extract fans can unbalance a modern house and draw air from places it shouldn’t. eg if you’ve a wood burning stove it can suck smoke into the house. This is why most modern houses use recirculating fans. It also stops wasting heat.
Issues with recirculating fans occur when filters aren’t cleaned or replaced. I’ve also come across houses where filters are removed or never fitted in the first place and the fan just blows air around the room doing nothing.
When was the last time you checked and replaced the filters in your fan? This is what I’d look at first. Then I'd check what type of ventilation you have in terms of wall or windows vents in rooms.

Kaldo

Dudda wrote: »

Two types of residential cooking fan exist.
Extract - this is where you’ve a duct to outside and the smells and steam are blown outside. The problem is you’ve the heating on during the winter and it blows all the nice heat you’ve spent money on outside.
Recirculating - These fans have filters which remove the smell and moisture from cooling and return the air into the room. The filters are usually carbon and need to be replaced regularly.
Modern houses are airtight to keep the heat in and control the flow of moisture through the external fabric with airtight tapes, vapour control layers, etc. Extract fans can unbalance a modern house and draw air from places it shouldn’t. eg if you’ve a wood burning stove it can suck smoke into the house. This is why most modern houses use recirculating fans. It also stops wasting heat.
Issues with recirculating fans occur when filters aren’t cleaned or replaced. I’ve also come across houses where filters are removed or never fitted in the first place and the fan just blows air around the room doing nothing.
When was the last time you checked and replaced the filters in your fan? This is what I’d look at first. Then I'd check what type of ventilation you have in terms of wall or windows vents in rooms.

Thanks dudda!

Last time I changed the filter was a year ago, maybe. How often should they be changed? Any fan filter is OK? When I bought these ones online via Aliexpress, it doesn't say anything about carbon, etc.

The kitchen is well ventilated but I just moved in recently so... I can't make conclusions of how well it is.