While cooking in your kitchen, your exhaust fans are doing their job in keeping smoke and odor away from your cooking environment. Installation of exhaust fan hinge kits makes it easy to clean the exhaust fan and eliminate the risk of fan damage to components. If the fan is not hinged, proper cleaning and inspection becomes difficult and may result in premature damage to the exhaust fan, motor housing, and the roof. Exhaust fan hinge kit installation also helps to protect your expensive up-blast fans and provide better access for cleaning.
What does NFPA-96 Standard say about exhaust fan hinge kit?
NFPA-96 Standard requires an exhaust fan hinge kit for rooftop ventilators. It is stated particularly in section 8.1.1, “approved upblast fans with motors surrounded by the airstream shall be hinged.” A hinged exhaust fan is safer and easier to clean.
Why is an exhaust fan hinge kit important?
Having an exhaust fan hinge kit installed helps to protect your expensive upblast fans and provides easier access for cleaning. Exhaust fan hinge kits are important due to the following reasons:
- For safety measures. If you try to remove a heavy exhaust fan without a hinge kit from its duct is not only dangerous for the contractor but can cause some degree of damage to the roof or the fan housing.
- For proper exhaust fan cleaning. In order to thoroughly clean all the area of a commercial kitchen, an exhaust fan must be installed to safely access all areas for proper cleaning.
- For the protection of the exhaust fan. The exhaust fan can be damaged over time by removing it from the stack repeatedly and placing it on its side. With the help of an exhaust fan hinge, this will eliminate the problem.
- For the protection of fan wires. Without an exhaust fan hinge kit, the fan wiring is subject to unnecessary abuse during cleaning and maintenance.
- For prevention of roof damage. Rooftop damage can be the result of placing the exhaust fan on the roof during cleaning or maintenance.
How to install exhaust fan hinge kit
Due to the protection, it gives to your kitchen exhaust fans, installing hinge kits is necessary. However, you need professionals to do the job. Your kitchen cleaning operator may offer you several models of exhaust fan hinge kits. Installation can be performed on your next scheduled cleaning and inspection date. Most of the kitchen-cleaning operators offer this service so choosing a contractor for the job will not be hard. They will be the persons in charge to install the hinge kit since moving the fans can be tough due to the weight.
Paying attention to your kitchen exhaust fans is also a part of being a responsible owner. When your exhaust fans work are cleaned and maintained properly, a cooler and a more comfortable kitchen environment is present. Remember that your kitchen exhaust fans are part of your kitchen exhaust system so they also need proper cleaning and maintenance to maximize their kitchen performance.
