Your First Line of Defense Against Fire the Restaurant Fire Suppression System
The first line of defense against a fire in your commercial kitchen is always going to begin with regular cleaning of your ventilation duct work, vent hood, and hood filters to keep them free of grease and dirt build-up. By keeping your ventilation system clean, you significantly reduce your risk of fire as well as ensure that your system will work efficiently and effectively.
While maintaining a proper maintenance and cleaning schedule are a top priority, it is also important to make sure you are using the correct type of commercial ventilation hood and hood filters. For any cooking appliances that produce smoke, grease and oil effluent, such as a broiler, grill, or wok, you are required to have a Type 1 hood with grease filters.
Additionally, if you are using a solid fuel cooking application in your commercial kitchen, you’ll need to use a special kind of baffle grease hood filter called a spark arrestor which is designed to stop airborne sparks and embers from entering the filter, hood and ventilation system where they are more prone to igniting a duct fire.
The UL 300 Standard Restaurant Fire Suppression System
Even when you are taking all of these precautions, however, it is still very important, as well as required by fire code, to have a restaurant hood fire suppression system. However, many restaurant owners and commercial kitchen facilities managers don’t realize that if they have a pre-existing ventilation system, it may not meet the UL 300 Standard that was first introduced about 25 years ago.
The new standard was introduced to address the higher temperatures of modern cooking appliances and the heightened risk of fires due to an increase in the use of healthier vegetable oils which burn at a much higher temperature than animal fat. Even if animal fat is still used, the deep fryers in today’s kitchens much better insulated which means they are able to stay hotter.
Upgrading Older Systems
Older restaurant kitchen fire suppression systems should be upgraded to meet the UL 300 Standard. Older systems have a dry extinguishing agent that lacks the ability to cool high temperature fires compared to the wet chemical extinguishing agent of a UL 300 system. Old systems have a high failure rate as well a high occurrence rate for re-ignition.
Commercial kitchens that do not have a UL 300 system are also very likely to be in non-compliance with local or state regulations. Even if your system was grandfathered in somehow, there are compelling reasons to go ahead and upgrade your kitchen fire suppression system (a UL 300 system).
About a quarter of a century has gone by since the new standard was introduced and adopted by most states, but there are still several states with no statewide mandate or requirements when it comes to replacing a non-UL 300 ventilation system. But if your restaurant fire suppression system isn’t UL 300, you’re literally playing with fire. Let’s take a quick look at a few key reasons to upgrade to a UL 300 kitchen fire suppression system.
1. Protect your employees and customers
The number one reason to upgrade an older restaurant fire suppression system to a UL 300 system is to help protect the lives of the people who work and dine at your establishment.
2. Protect your investment
The lost revenue alone that results from shutting down due to a fire could easily put you out of business for good. Couple that with the costs of building repair and equipment replacement and you really have a recipe for disaster.
3. Lower your insurance premiums
If you don’t have a UL 300 Standard kitchen fire suppression system, chances are you don’t meet the requirements of most insurers. You probably have to buy your insurance through the Excess and Surplus market which can be as much as 300% higher than the rates charged by standard-market insurance companies. If you upgrade an older restaurant fire suppression system to the UL 300 Standard, you stand to save significantly by lowering your insurance premiums.
Restaurant fire suppression systems are a must-have for your commercial kitchen. Making sure that yours is a UL 300 system is an important step in keeping your employees and property safe as well as keeping your insurance premiums as low as possible.
Installing a New Fire Suppression System
If you’re installing a new hood fire suppression system, you don’t have to worry. All new fire suppression systems meet the UL 300 Standard. Watch this short video to learn about requirements and installation options for your commercial kitchen hood fire suppression system.
If you have any questions about fire suppression systems for commercial kitchen hood systems, please call us at 877.394.9731, email us, or visit us online at HoodFilters.com. Our product specialists are always happy to help!