Steps to keep your commercial kitchen cool

The air that would go out of your kitchen exhaust vents is usually replaced with a mix of make-up air through many sources that may also include the dining room, a rooftop intake unit, any open doors, or windows that are appropriately screened in order to prevent insects and other pests from invading food preparation zones. Well in order to reduce excess heat you must use shade or shutter to all of the kitchen windows that are exposed to full sun. You can later open these shades in the cool of the morning or later in the evening to let the fresh air inside.

If you work with a professional HVAC provider, you can have a good ventilation system installed. Then, you can help in making sure that you’re getting rid of smoke, odors, and hot air in your kitchen. You and your employees do not have to be unhappy this summer. If you’re tired of cooking and working in an overly hot commercial kitchen, try having a proper ventilation system. Then, you and your employees can stay nice and comfortable during the hottest months of the year.

commercial kitchen HVAC installation

Use little Fans

In order to eliminate excess heat you can also experiment with the proper placement so that you can find the best spot for best air circulation. Not to forget that auxiliary fans should never interfere with the working of your exhaust fans. You must aim fans away from the pick-up areas for hot food and prep areas where blowing air could scatter lighter items. You can also try with one fan on the floor and the other placed on any sturdy surface which is overhead, for example at the top of a refrigerator. All the window fans that are faced out to clear hot air or faced in to stream a cool breeze can also be useful, but you can keep the blades, boxes and fan guards dust-free obviously.

Evaporative Cooling Strategies

The debut of evaporative cooling is credited to Arizona desert dwellers who in the 1920s hung water-soaked sheets in front of their electric fans. So basically the whole concept of blowing dry air over the wet fabric developed into “swamp coolers,” that are available in all sizes from window-mounted to rooftop units. But not to forget that they usually do not function in high humidity, and they also require an outside air source, for example an open window to work properly. But on the positive side, they use four times less electricity than air conditioners and circulate fresh air other than recycled air.

Examine Your Kitchen’s Temperature

You must always monitor the temperature with the help of the thermometers that are placed around the kitchen in food preparation as well as pick-up areas. You must also educate your whole staff regarding the signs of every illness that is heat-related which also includes headache, dizziness, and nausea. You and your staff members must know how to prevent any of this illness.

You must also encourage your employees to drink a lot of water rather than dehydrating caffeine beverages and to take breaks in a shaded, cool area. Not to forget that some walk in your walk-in cooler can help a wilting worker. You should schedule all your deliveries for mornings before the heat of the day.

Have Separate HVAC Zones Installed

One thing that you will always notice is that the temperature in your commercial kitchen will always be different from the temperature that is there in your dining area. Your kitchen might be very hot due to all of your cooking that is happening all day long, while your dining area might be very cool due to the presence of air conditioners in there so all those who are sitting, and dining might feel comfortable or even cold. But just because of these reasons, you should never have your entire restaurant set up in one HVAC zone.

Instead, consider working with a commercial HVAC professional to have separate zones installed in your business. You can have one zone set up in your kitchen and one set up in the dining area. Then, you will be able to control the temperatures separately. This can help you keep your customers comfortable while ensuring that your kitchen isn’t too hot.

Keep Your Air Conditioning System in best of its Shape

Another very important tip you can follow is by keeping your commercial kitchen and the rest of your restaurant cool for the summer season, for this purpose you should always make sure that your HVAC unit is well-maintained. So, without appropriate servicing, your whole HVAC unit may break down, or it might not work as well as usual, which will leave everyone in your restaurant, from your employees to your customers, uncomfortable and nobody wants that.

For this purpose you must work with a commercial HVAC company to help you ensure that your air conditioner is properly serviced and well-maintained. You can always contact Alturas Contractors for any of this cause so that they can help prevent any breakdowns or any other issues.

Install Air Curtains

You must open up the doors and windows of your kitchen to have some cool air. Nevertheless, this might be something that you would also want to avoid due to the possibility of insects flying into your kitchen. So, to handle this situation one of the good ways to take advantage of the cool outdoor air without worrying about pests is that you can install air curtains on your kitchen’s exterior doors.

These air curtains are designed in such a way that they blow out a burst of air to help you prevent insects from coming in. With the help of these curtains you can open up your doors so that you can enjoy both ventilation as well as the nice and cool breeze that can help you and your employees stay comfortable even in the hot weather conditions.