Aug. 25, 2025
Electrical Equipment & Supplies
A make-up air fan is a fan that supplies fresh air from the outside. They are also known as supply fans or make-up air units. The purpose of a make-up air fan is to replace an amount of air equal to the air you are are exhausting from inside of your kitchen, restaurant or food truck. Having a make-up air supply is typically required by law, but we’re going to give you even more really good reasons why you should have one. Here are our top ten reasons to install a make-up air fan.
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When you don’t replace the air you exhaust, your vent hood can’t perform to the best of its abilities. If you don’t have a make-up air fan installed, it puts added stress on your upblast exhaust fan and creates a situation where the exhaust fan is no longer able to pull as many CFMs as it is designed to.
If your exhaust fan and vent hood aren’t able to work effectively, you can guess what will follow: lots and lots of grease and oil build-up in your kitchen. No one wants to spend even more time cleaning up a dirty kitchen, especially when the solution is so simple: install a make-up air fan.
Kitchens without make-up air fans will have vent hood fans working harder than ever to exhaust contaminated air. Without make-up air, the fans will try their best to suck up air through every little crack and crevice, around windows, under doors. When this happens, it can actually get pretty noisy. For example, imagine a vacuum sucking air freely. But now, imagine that same vacuum with something partially covering it or blocking it, keeping it from sucking in the air it needs. Pretty loud, right?
While the reasons above are certainly compelling, there are also some very serious reasons to have make-up air. First, it can help prevent dangerous back drafts in your kitchen. Back drafts occur when the air pressure is not balanced, creating negative pressure inside your kitchen. When this happens, instead of vents and chimneys exhausting smoke, flames, and dangerous fumes out of the kitchen, the exact opposite can happen, and they can instead be pulled or back drafted into the kitchen.
Just like with your ventilation hood exhaust, having a make-up air unit helping to keep the air pressure balanced also helps your HVAC system run smoothly and at optimal performance. Without balanced air pressure, your HVAC system has to work harder to do its job. This makes it inefficient and also causes added wear and tear on it.
When your ventilation system is unbalanced, your heating and cooling conditions are also thrown out of balance. If you try to fix the problems created by lack of make-up air with your existing HVAC and kitchen ventilation, you’ll only end up costing yourself more money. From cold and hot spots to stuffy dining areas, smoky kitchens to excessive condensation, these are all problems that you could spend hundreds of dollars on trying to fix by adjusting your HVAC settings when all you really needed was a make-up air fan.
A very noticeable benefit of having a make-up air system to create balanced air pressure for your restaurant or commercial kitchen is that it helps to minimize the presence of smoke, odors, and stuffy, stale air. This is due to the fact that it helps both the vent hood exhaust and the HVAC work at optimal levels.
We’ve mentioned how make-up air fans can help you avoid unbalanced air pressure. Some of the more common problems you can avoid by installing a make-up air unit are caused by negative air pressure. This can cause doors to slam shut out of nowhere as well as make doors and windows get stuck closed and be very difficult to open. This includes refrigerator doors, bathroom doors, and even the front door to your restaurant. It can also cause pockets of cold or hot air, strong drafts, and a whole host of problems affecting your air quality.
Negative air pressure affects the ability of your vent hood to exhaust contaminants, but did you know that it also affects the vent hood’s ability to exhaust moisture from your kitchen? When there is excessive moisture and excessive heat, it can quickly cause a kitchen to become unbearable. It can also end up causing other more serious problems like mold and mildew growth.
Even if none of the other reasons were enough to convince you of the importance of having a make-up air fan installed in your commercial kitchen, number 10 on our list should do the trick. Installing a make-up air fan will keep you and your staff and customers safer and more comfortable, you’ll keep your energy use down, and you won’t have to fork over money to pay fines for any associated building or fire code violations.
December 16 by Maximum Climate Control
The need for a restaurant ventilation system is going to be more advanced than other businesses such as offices, hotels and other commercial buildings. Ensuring your ventilation system for your restaurant receives regular service and is maintained properly is essential in restaurant kitchens due to food storage and safe food preparations.
Here we have displayed the importance of a ventilation system in restaurants and how they can significantly improve a customer’s experience whilst following health and safety measures.
So what is a mechanical ventilation system? A mechanical ventilation system helps to control airflow within a commercial space to produce a constant supply of fresh air from the outside whilst removing stale air. Mechanical ventilation systems also help to control many other variables such as temperature, air quality, oxygen levels and so much more.
For more information, please visit kitchen exhaust fan supplier.
There are two types of ventilation systems for restaurants, heat recovery ventilation systems and kitchen extract supply systems.
Heat recovery ventilation systems are most suitable for dining, bar and general open areas within a restaurant that require a heat recovery ventilation system. This is needed to supply both fresh air and to remove stale or old air through a heat exchanger that retains a minimum of 75% of the heating or cooling within the space provided.
Heat recovery systems help to lower your carbon footprint, help global warming and lower fuel bills. It’s important to keep the AHU and fans of your heat recovery ventilation system clean and regularly carry out routine preventative maintenance to ensure it runs effectively.
Kitchen extract supply systems are only suitable for kitchens and do not require a heat recovery system due to the contamination within the system on the extract. Kitchen ventilation systems work by bringing in 80% of the air you extract to allow the kitchen to have a negative air within the operation of cooking, this air is brought in, filtered and then heated to temper the air.
Kitchen extract systems extract everything such as smoke, smells, fat particles and steam making them highly efficient within restaurants. Often in built-up areas where you cannot install an external or internal duct unit up to a high level to discharge fat odours then UV and Ozone electrostatic treatments with pre-filters and carbon filters are supplied to remove all odours, fats and contaminants.
Cooking can release smoke, grease and toxic particulates into the air, which can be unsafe for not only kitchen workers but customers as well. An efficient heat recovery ventilation system for your restaurant will remove airborne contaminants and gases such as carbon monoxide whilst controlling the temperature inside the kitchen, making restaurants safe whilst maintaining food hygiene standards and regulations.
Grease is another battle for many commercial kitchens and can significantly impact the air quality within a kitchen whilst coating work surfaces as well as equipment, ceilings and walls. Grease can lead to many health risks for kitchen staff and can potentially damage the restaurant’s walls and ceilings whilst increasing the chance of fire hazards. Ventilation systems for restaurants such as a kitchen extract supply system can help to eliminate this substance off kitchen surfaces and remove grease particles from the air.
Food production can result in bad odours in commercial kitchens and dining areas. Overcooked foods, cooked foods or even raw foods can come with bad aromas that can impact the customer experience for a diner as well as being uncomfortable for staff members within the working environment. An efficient kitchen extract supply system can help to eliminate these odours to ensure your restaurant is not impacted by bad smells.
Typically using a restaurant ventilation system within a commercial kitchen reduces the need to use an HVAC system for heating and cooling. Heat recovery ventilation systems also ensure the air within a restaurant remains dry and clean allowing space to heat faster and also preventing the need to turn on your heating system leading to a reduction in energy bills.
Most importantly in the winter high humidity arises due to constant cooking, movement and closed windows which can cause large mould infestations and cause your restaurant to use more energy to heat air.
One of the most significant benefits of installing a ventilation system within your restaurant is the impact it has on your customers by ensuring they dine at a comfortable temperature. The dining experience is extremely important when it comes to turning a one-time customer into a regular customer, and with the help of a ventilation system, you can easily achieve this.
So, how important are ventilation systems for your restaurant? If you are looking to set up a new business or improve the air quality, customer experience, running costs or safety of your current restaurant then investing in an efficient ventilation system ensures your business archives nothing but success.
At Maximum Climate Control our team of professional HVAC engineers have 25 years of experience and take the time to understand your business needs to provide your restaurant with an efficient ventilation system. We install, maintain and service a wide range of efficient HVAC products including, heat recovery ventilation systems, kitchen extract supply systems, and ceiling-mounted units to ensure your customers receive a comfortable dining experience.
To enquire about installing a ventilation system in your restaurant to enhance the dining experience for your customers, get in touch today.
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