I recently went through this dilemma of trying to decide what type of kitchen chimney to buy when I was remodelling my kitchen. I really wanted a ductless chimney but went with a ducted one finally for one main reason which I’ll cover in this video. I still have not yet fixed it due to Covid lockdowns - but that’s a story or should i say a video for a different time :)
WATCH INSTEAD OF READ?
This video will cover the different types of chimneys, when you should go for which one and pros and cons of each.
As always - let’s start with the basics. The question I had in mind was
Why do we need a kitchen chimney and why an exhaust is not enough?
The main goal of using a chimney / exhaust is to remove odor, smoke and grease from the air.
If your cooking does not involve oil - then yes, an exhaust fan is more than enough as it helps to remove odor and smoke from the kitchen. In general - in the Indian kitchen, oil is used without fail. And as a result - without a chimney - this greasy residue in the air will go ahead and settle on the kitchen cabinets and ceiling - which over the long run makes it messy!
My cooking involves very less oil. But inspite of that, considering I have white cabinets - I did not want to take a risk and decided to purchase a chimney anyway.
Assuming you are convinced you need a kitchen chimney - let’s talk about what type of kitchen chimney you need.
Type of kitchen chimney - ductless vs duct
There are mainly 2 types that you need to decide from - ductless and duct.
I need a ducted but cannot go for it for various reasons including that my kitchen cannot support a ducted option. What are my options?
In my opinion - for a nuclear family - a ducted option is an overkill anyway. You can go for a ductless model and aim to have your kitchen well ventilated so that fresh air is circulated within the kitchen frequently - either with an exhaust or opening up your doors / windows. This can also be done after cooking. But manufacturers seem to have stopped investing in ductless models due to lack of demand - most models in the market are older and don’t have a great design.
What suction power should you buy?
The suction power should be determined based on the size of your kitchen, how long your pipe is, if there are any bends in the pipe, whether you predominantly cook vegetarian or non vegetarian food. Suction power is available from 400 m3/hr to 1400 m3/hr.
Larger kitchen requires a larger suction power
If your pipe is over 5-6ft - larger suction power is required
If you predominantly cook non-veg food - larger suction power is required
If there are bends in the pipe - larger suction power is required
Buy one that is ideal for your usecase. If you buy a larger one than you need - it will mean more sound and more power. If you buy a smaller one than you need - it will mean less cleaning efficiency.
In general, I’ve seen architects recommending between 800 - 1200 cubic m / hr for Indian kitchen usage.
The one I bought was 1100 cubic m / hr, my consideration was primarily the design aspect.
Baffle filters or filterless? Auto cleaning or no auto cleaning?
Why would you not want to reduce the amount of work? I’m all about minimizing the amount of work I have to do :D So I bought a filterless and auto clean model. In the traditional chimney, oil gets collected all over the filters and maintenance was a hassle. Now the oil and grease gets collected in an oil collector and can be cleaned with ease.
These days the predominant choice to make is between baffle filters and filterless chimney. Filterless chimney is the way forward and can be considered for low maintenance. For heavy greased cooking - you may still want to consider one with baffle, but that is not required in my opinion. If you need a detailed comparison - drop me a comment
If you are going for ductless - make sure that the product you purchase has the replacement filters available with ease. It requires carbon filters specifically which need to be replaced.
What size should you buy?
This depends on the size of your hob. Chimneys and hobs come in 60 and 90 inches (i.., 2 and 3 ft). It is useful to match the size of hob and chimney.
If you buy smaller than the hob, suction would not be great and you could have grease settled on the cabinets around the chimney.
Like I mentioned earlier - although for my usecase, a ductless would have been ideal, I mainly went for a ducted option as the ductless models had lesser options and not modern designs.