Team-BHP - The Home Appliance thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh (Post 4818922)

Need advice on replacing Kitchen Hood/Chimney.

Elica is the world leader and innovator for chimneys. I would go with them but i have found chimneys to always be smaller than needed. My kitchen is about 200sq ft and inspite of a chimney, there is oil residue everywhere. If space permits you should get an oversized chimney and a powerful one at that to ensure that it sucks in all the burnt oil and keep the rest of the kitchen clean.
Mine is a rented house so cannot immediately recall which chimney we have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh (Post 4818922)

Need advice on replacing Kitchen Hood/Chimney. I have 'Kaff' which did not last few years despite regular maintenance. They do not sell spares but let their own Service Technicians to do all repairs. The age of the Service Technician may be less than the years we have with Hands on Job experience.
Anyway, even the Technician advised us to replace the Chimney as the cost of spares is considerably high. The Blower assembly (Blower Fan Motor + Housing) needs to be replaced.
Now I am on the lookout for another Chimney -Standard size 60 cms. width. Please suggest the best buy.
Regards

There are some models that are filterless and self cleaning. Probably worth considering. I guess they cost in the region of 25k+

Never buy Elica. They're noisy as 'anything'. Faber is good, Bosch has a few good ones. But always ask for the quietest/silent models

Quote:

Originally Posted by diyguy (Post 4819004)

Elica is the world leader and innovator for chimneys. I would go with them but i have found chimneys to always be smaller than needed. My kitchen is about 200sq ft and inspite of a chimney, there is oil residue everywhere. If space permits you should get an oversized chimney and a powerful one at that to ensure that it sucks in all the burnt oil and keep the rest of the kitchen clean.Mine is a rented house so cannot immediately recall which chimney we have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh (Post 4818922)

Need advice on replacing Kitchen Hood/Chimney.

We have a Kutchina - does not have a filter and supposedly the centrifugal force throws the oil to the walls of the fan enclosure after which it drains down neatly into a collector. In theory.

The chimney will collect oil on all its surfaces and the regular service guy will just clean the exterior and a sieve plate at the entry point to the hood. Of course, "real service" will be done unofficially by the same service guy and will cost you a bomb - close to 2000 Rs. In this case the entire unit will be dismantled, de-greased and reassembled.

I suggest you research fume cupboards to understand the basics. A lot will depend on your kitchen, airflow and ventilation. You could also look at the Vent-a-hood videos and decide if the European designs would work for you compared to the centrifugal ones recommended for oily cooking. At this point, I really don't have a recommendation:).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh (Post 4818922)

Go with Faber, they manufacture locally and have a good service backup for Hoods/chimney in India. Don't buy the bottom line entry level models, they are very basic and don't have good specs.
In terms of suction power, Bosch uses the most powerful motor in the market.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh (Post 4818922)

... I have 'Kaff' which did not last few years despite regular maintenance.

We do too, and it has lasted a decade.

Quote:

They do not sell spares but let their own Service Technicians to do all repairs. The age of the Service Technician may be less than the years we have with Hands on Job experience.

We have Kaff chimney, hob and oven. Service has always been pretty good for all three, including recovering the oven from Chennai flood, and cleaning it out when a pan of oil got spilt from the hob and quite a lot went inside the oven.

There was a time when the technician needed to disassemble the motor/blower unit. I can't quite recall why, it might have been noise. He was not that keen to do it, and found it a tough job, but did succeed.

Quote:

Anyway, even the Technician advised us to replace the Chimney as the cost of spares is considerably high. The Blower assembly (Blower Fan Motor + Housing) needs to be replaced.

That might be the same for us now. Motor is working, but it has lost its suck. I don't know why: maybe a power-control issue, or could be that fan blades are now gunged up. I thought of trying to take it apart, but nothing is obvious. I was away on the occasion that the guy removed the main unit so I don't know how it is done.

Now that lockdown is over we will call for service.

Quote:

...on the lookout for another Chimney...

If I can, I'll keep ours going rather than replace.

By the way. we cleaned the oil filter a few weeks back and I used an engine degreaser! So much better than any household detergent :D

On a slightly different topic, but still kitchen-ventilation related...

I'd love to have an AC in the kitchen. Has anyone done that? I don't think it is a practical possibility, as it would get oily-filthy in no time. Second-best idea is to draw cool air into the room by using extractor fan. To some extent our chimney does this, but it is not whole-room efficient as both it and the door are at one end of the room

I will look for an extractor fan that can be installed in a window diagonally opposite the door. It will have to be a slim model, as I expect it to fit in the same frame (would get a new glass cut with circular hole) and with the existing bars. And it should have automatic slats to keep the hot air and insects out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvadg (Post 4819040)

We have a Kutchina - does not have a filter and supposedly the centrifugal force throws the oil to the walls of the fan enclosure after which it drains down neatly into a collector. .

Thanks. I have myself been doing Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Hood / Duct / Fan design while working in Bahrain.
Now I am stuck with something Small. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 4819080)

We do too, and it has lasted a decade.
We have Kaff chimney, hob and oven.
There was a time when the technician needed to disassemble the motor/blower unit. I can't quite recall why, it might have been noise. He was not that keen to do it, and found it a tough job, but did succeed..

In my case, probably the Blower got stuck while the Motor contnued to draw power and got heated up. The Housing Assembly melted partially and got deformed.

Service Technician - I don't know why a Service Technician would be required for a small appliance like Kitchen Chimney. At least not me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 4819080)

...
I'd love to have an AC in the kitchen. Has anyone done that? I don't think it is a practical possibility, as it would get oily-filthy in no time.

Again, my favorite suggestion - "Fume cupboard"! Enclose the cooking area as completely as possible. Heat leakage into the surroundings would be minimal.

Like your engine degreaser idea! I tried one of those citrus cleaners I saw recommended on Amazon dot com, I got local stuff that smelt good, but didn't work - I'm guessing it was very dilute. I wonder if there is a cheap way to produce superheated steam and just melt away the grease.

I just checked: Wavex all-purpose cleaner and degreaser. Probably not as heavy-weight as an actual engine degreaser, but pretty strong. And it does not smell nice: plainly, not designed for kitchen use!

Yes, I take the point about fume cupboards. That would be good to design in with cooker location. What I'm trying to reduce, though, is plain old climatic ambient heat!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh (Post 4819096)

Service Technician - I don't know why a Service Technician would be required for a small appliance like Kitchen Chimney. At least not me.

Quite. We usually call them when something has gone wrong with the hob, eg at the moment we have one burner only giving a low light and the blockage/obstruction/whatever does not seem to be the jet itself. While here they check out the other stuff. They clean the chimney filter, which is owner-regular-maintenance work anyway.

But, like AC machines, how many people clean the filters themselves? They should be done much more often than three or four times a year. Yes, I do, when cooling has reduced: it is fairly easy and quick and... free :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 4819236)

But, like AC machines, how many people clean the filters themselves? They should be done much more often than three or four times a year. Yes, I do, when cooling has reduced: it is fairly easy and quick and... free :)

Regarding AC Indoor Unit Filter, I would recommend to cover the Filters with Polythene or Paper Completely, at the end of season after Washing and Cleaning/Drying them. This prevents accumulation of Dirt and Dust on the Filter AND fine dust passing through the Filter and settle in Cooling Coils.
Outdoor Unit should also be cleaned and wrapped as a protection to the Condensing Coils and Fins at the end of Summer Season and allowing AC to Hibernate during Winters.