This job involved improving the ventilation for a cooker hood at a local church kitchen in Wibsey, Bradford.
We were initially asked to visit the church to provide a quote for replacing a cooker hood that had failed after many years of use. The existing hood had simply reached the end of its working life and needed replacing.
During the quote visit we always take the time to inspect the full installation rather than just replacing the appliance itself. When we looked more closely at the existing ventilation setup, it became clear that there were a couple of additional issues that needed addressing.
Firstly, the external vent hole that had previously been drilled through the wall was too small for a modern cooker hood installation. When the exit hole is undersized, the fan has to work much harder to push air outside, which reduces the amount of air it can move and often increases the noise level of the cooker hood.
We also discovered that the external grille had become damaged over time, which had allowed birds to enter the ducting. A bird’s nest had formed inside the vent pipe, further restricting the airflow.
This combination of problems meant that simply installing a new cooker hood without addressing the ventilation would not have produced a good result.
To resolve the issue properly, we recommended enlarging the existing hole through the wall to the correct size and installing new ducting along with the replacement cooker hood.
Using specialist core drilling equipment, we drilled a new 150mm hole through the external wall. This size is now commonly used with modern cooker hoods as it allows air to move freely without restricting the fan.
Once the new opening had been created, we installed new rigid ducting between the cooker hood and the external wall vent. We always recommend using solid plastic ducting rather than flexible pipe wherever possible. Flexible ducting can easily kink or sag, which restricts airflow and reduces the effectiveness of the cooker hood.
Rigid ducting keeps the airflow smooth and unrestricted, allowing the system to work far more efficiently.
A new Bosch cooker hood was then installed and connected to the new ducting system. With the correct hole size, new pipework and a properly fitted external vent grille, the kitchen now has an extraction system that removes cooking fumes and moisture effectively.
Although the cooker hood itself is the visible part of the installation, the performance of the system depends heavily on the size of the vent hole and the quality of the ducting behind the scenes.
By upgrading the ventilation at the same time as replacing the hood, the church kitchen now has a system that will perform properly and should continue to work reliably for many years to come.
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