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Imagine having a brand new kitchen interior but missing out on a good range hood. This can make you witness an unpleasant aroma with excess humidity all over the slabs of your kitchen. Besides, this can happen too when your range hood isn’t working correctly.
So, you might ask, “How to test range hood suction?”
You can test a range hood suction by creating smoke in the kitchen and seeing whether it gets sucked by the range hood. Your suction appliance is perfectly fine if it instantly sucks the smoke. Additionally, an Anemometer also helps in testing the range hood suction.
However, you may have different options for suction hoods depending on the type of kitchen or the interior you choose. But, to help you, we have covered standard techniques to check the range hood suction.
Therefore, in the section below, you’ll review different effective methods to test the proper suction capacity of range hoods in your kitchen. Let’s have a quick read.
3 Different Methods to Test Range Hood Suction
Regardless of the range hood‘s model, type, and design, you can check the suction with the following three fantastic methods.
1. Go for Smoke Test
When cooking your favorite dish, there must be smoke in your kitchen. It mostly happens when you fry or stir-fry something. So, testing your range hood’s suction with a normal smoke test is one of the basic methods. It will give you an idea of how smoothly the range hood’s suction works.
Make sure to get your hands on smoke-generating accessories in the kitchen. These include smoking candles, boiling water, e-cigarettes, or burning coal.
Once you have lit up any smoke producer, close all kitchen doors and don’t let the smoke escape through ventilation sources.
When you’ve created a large amount of smoke in the kitchen area, turn on the range hood at its lowest setting. If all smoke disappears in 3-5 minutes, the suction of your range hood is perfectly fine. But, if the smoke remains even after turning on the range hood, you must check it.
Pros of Conducting Smoke Test
Some benefits you’ll get with this range hood test include:
- Ensure the containment of heat in the system
- The ability of the range hood to absorb smoke
- It saves time and money
2. Try CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) Test
Cubic Feet per Minute is also considered an important method to check the suction efficiency of your kitchen range hood. It will give you an estimated idea about the suction ability of your range hood to absorb particular cubic feet of air in the kitchen.
In other words, you can consider it as a reliable measure to test the range hood.
For 10,000 BTUs of the stove, the estimated CFM of a range hood will be 100. However, the CFM of every range hood differs depending on the frequency and volume of your cooking activities. So, to check the CFM efficiency (suction ability), you can use an Anemometer.
Keep the Anemometer close to the hood’s motor fan and turn it on. Also, turn on the range hood. The Anemometer will catch the estimated CFM measurement through the airflow caught by the range hood.
Once you get a reading, match it with the required CFM rating and check the similarity to get an idea about the suction ability of the range hood.
Pros of Conducting CFM Test:
The advantages of using the cubic feet per minute test are:
- It helps to determine the efficiency of range hoods
- Gives an idea about the time taken by range hoods to absorb the smoke
- Very easy to conduct
3. Look for Damper Test
All kitchen range hoods come with motorized dampers that help improve suction and remove unwanted smoke from the kitchen. But, inefficient air seals can be the reason behind the compromised working of range hoods. Besides, it also hinders the entrance of insects into kitchen range hoods from the outer environment.
If the appliance retracts smoke outside the kitchen, it works fine. But, the damper test can give you a good idea about the proper suction of the kitchen range hood installed. To check it, make sure to peek behind the hood’s damper and check it after turning on the switch.
If the range hood’s damper isn’t releasing smoke in the outside environment, it’s not working properly. There may be some problem with the seal or damper’s motor.
Pros of Conducting a Damper Test
Some potential advantages of using the damper test for range hoods include:
- It helps to get an idea of appropriate damping motor efficiency
- Determines the proper exit of smoke from the kitchen
- Also, it tells about the retraction ability of your range hood
General Steps for Testing Range Hood Suction (For Better Results)
If you don’t know the type or model of the kitchen range hood, don’t worry. You can still test it. As a result, to assist you, we have added some general steps that apply to all kitchen range hoods.
These steps include:
Step 1: Check the Circuit Board
A faulty circuit board can be the reason behind the inefficient suction of kitchen range hoods. You can check the proper current flow in the circuit board. Also, you can hire an electrician to check the flow in the range hood.
Step 2: Install Proper Electric Switches
Look for the switches once you have checked the circuit board. A faulty switch that supplies electric power to the range hood also affects its suction ability.
Step 3: Clean Filters
Dust clogged in the filters of range hoods can be counted as another reason for reducing the optimal suction performance. Make sure to give them their due maintenance regularly.
Step 4: Clean the Duct
Besides the filters, debris can also get stuck in the duct of your range hood. So, if your appliance isn’t sucking the smoke properly, there are some obvious chances for the clogged duct. Check & clean it.
Step 5: Check Fan’s Frequency
Many kitchen range hoods have suction performance directly related to the movement frequency of the fan. The faulty fan will not let your range hood eliminate smoke from the kitchen. That is why you never miss cleaning the fan.
Step 6: Conduct Fan Inspection
Inspect the fan blades. Their inefficiency in working will cause them to lose the suction property of range hoods. Replace them if they are causing the problem.
Step 7: Check Range Hood Blowers
Last but not least, check the blowers of your range hood. Blowers greatly help in sucking the smoke and removing it from your kitchen.
Conclusion:
You may lose your mind seeing your kitchen filled with smoke when cooking your regular meals. But you can get rid of it by testing the suction ability of your range hood. The above guide has covered you “How to test range hood suction?”
We’re sure you’ll get your problem solved by the end of this page!
