Keeping A Commercial Kitchen Up And Running Isn’t Easy
Every day, you make dozens of decisions in the running of your restaurant or commercial kitchen. Busy facilities managers are tasked to keep things running smoothly and efficiently all while keeping costs down. This can be quite a challenge and quite often, decisions may be swayed by potential cost savings. However, there are some very good reasons to buy UL listed filters instead of buying cheap, poorly made hood filters that will likely only end up costing you even more money in the end.
Why You Shouldn’t Skimp on Hood Filters
It’s very important not to overlook the issue of safety however. This is especially important when comparing costs for ventilation hood filters. Why? Because hood filters are one of the main ways for a commercial kitchen significantly reduce their fire risk. Using UL listed hood filters will help reduce the chances of a kitchen fire in a variety of ways.
Cheap Hood Filters May Substantially Increase Your Risk Of Fire
Typically, a fire will originate under the hood. Using a UL listed hood filter in your vent hood will help make sure the filter can do the job it was designed for. Properly tested UL listed filters are more likely to stop a fire before it can spread into the ductwork system. If you purchase a spark arrestor filter, wouldn’t you want to know it has been thoroughly tested to actually work?
If a spark gets past your filter and ignites grease buildup inside the ductwork, the entire building will be compromised as the fire will quickly spread throughout the duct system and up to the roof. Using UL listed filters will help ensure that you are doing everything you can to protect your kitchen, your employees and your dining patrons as well as other potential occupants of the building.
UL Listed Filters Are Tested To Meet Or Exceed Defined Requirements
UL listed hood filters are also tested to make sure that they are removing the smoke, grease and other volatile organic compounds that they are supposed to be. If you don’t have a UL listed filter, there is a greater chance that your hood filter will not adequately clean the air, which can lead to greater buildup of grease inside of your ducts. This additional grease buildup fuel for potential sparks to ignite, increasing the risk of fire even further.
In addition to the increased fire risk, a hood filter that isn’t performing like it is supposed to will also leave you with more grease, dust and debris buildup on all of your kitchen surfaces, which means more time spent cleaning, poor air quality, and dangerous slipping hazards from grease covered floors among other things. Using a UL listed filter is an important step in protecting yourself from these and other dangers.
Unlisted Filters May Cause Your Ventilation System To Be Less Efficient
Something that many people don’t think about is how important your hood filter is to the efficiency of the rest of your commercial ventilation system. While it may be a rather small item, a filter plays a very important role. Keeping debris out of the ductwork and upblast exhaust fan helps keep the system running more efficiently.
UL listed hood filters will offer assurance that your hood filter is not just filtering out the bad stuff but that it is also allowing enough air flow through the system. Commercial kitchen ventilation requires a balance of air in and air out. Hood filters that have not passed rigorous testing may be unreliable and not perform under demanding conditions. Choosing UL hood filters will provide you with peace of mind.
Who Is Responsible For Testing and UL Listing?
UL testing and listing is done by the Underwriters Laboratories, one of the world’s best known independent, third-party, non-profit product safety testing and certification organization. Having a product UL listed means that is is published on a list that states the product has been tested to and that it complies with any applicable Standards and that the product maintains periodic inspections to assure that the production of the product will remain in accordance with the UL listing.
Take a few minutes to learn more about the benefits of UL listed filters in this short video:
Visit us online for all of your UL listed hood filter needs as well as complete ventilation hood and restaurant exhaust fan systems. If you have any questions about UL listed filters or need assistance selecting the filters that are best for your commercial kitchen vent hood, just give us a call at 877-394-9731 or send an email. We are always happy to help you!