Pacair range hood

[jim_julian]

Are you guys sure you need one of these vents ....

 

I don't think that this smell and grease problem is necessarily a universal feature of Chinese cooking.

 

Lao Po cooks Chinese maybe 5-6 nights a week (remainder is American). She primarily uses a big steel wok and during the time of actual cooking you can smell the dinner on the ground floor where the kitchen is but not usually upstairs. It's not a huge home, only 2100 sq ft. She uses an electric stove and therefore has modified her cooking so as not to be quite as hot as cooking over flame. She has also modified her cooking to use less oil than she/mama did in China. Our stove has an ordinary "builder's quality" hood with a stainless steel filter thing that she washes every now and then.

 

After dinner maybe a little odor hangs around but it dissipates rapidly. In the morning when I come downstairs for my run I don't smell food at all.

 

Once she did have some oil left in a dish that fish had been cooked in ... that did smell the next day. I asked her to put it in a covered container, which she now does routinely, and that problem was fixed.

 

Maybe there's a partial solution for the kitchen oder problem by:

- cooking at a little lower temperature

- using less oil (healthier, and the end result is the same)

- keeping used oil, and all food, in covered containers

 

Just a thought ...

[Randy W]

I think it's mostly that the recycling filter type of 'exhaust' fan is being replaced with a real exhaust that vents to the outside.

[credzba]

I think it's mostly that the recycling filter type of 'exhaust' fan is being replaced with a real exhaust that vents to the outside.

 

Randy is correct in my opinion.

It is totally unacceptable for builders to put these recirculating vents in any kitchen. Doesn't matter if your cooking Chinese food or any other type of cooking.

 

If I have a vent, I expect it to work. If it doesn't perform its designated function, then get it out of the way.

 

So, for me the venting to the outside was the real functional improvement. The pacair just provides an excellent air flow rate at a reasonable price.

 

The work involved was the venting, and I had to do that for any proper vent. The cost of the hood itself was $600 (estimated) and perhaps I could have bought a really cheap hood for $400,

Saving $200 on this to get the cheapest possible hood does not seem reasonable given the work involved.

[tsap seui]

I think it's mostly that the recycling filter type of 'exhaust' fan is being replaced with a real exhaust that vents to the outside.

 

Randy is correct in my opinion.

It is totally unacceptable for builders to put these recirculating vents in any kitchen. Doesn't matter if your cooking Chinese food or any other type of cooking.

 

If I have a vent, I expect it to work. If it doesn't perform its designated function, then get it out of the way.

 

So, for me the venting to the outside was the real functional improvement. The pacair just provides an excellent air flow rate at a reasonable price.

 

The work involved was the venting, and I had to do that for any proper vent. The cost of the hood itself was $600 (estimated) and perhaps I could have bought a really cheap hood for $400,

Saving $200 on this to get the cheapest possible hood does not seem reasonable given the work involved.

 

Credzba's comments are right on target to answering the gentleman from California's question.

 

By it's very name " hood vent" the words defines that air is taken fom one area and exhausted into another area. In the Pacair example greasy cooking oils are quickly taken out of the home before their microsopic particles ae given the chance to accumulate in the kitchen, or worse yet, get blown all over kitchen AND the whole house by those cheap builders grade fans that do nothing more than re-circulate (read: BLOW) filth everywhere.

 

Heck, I have installed many hood vents for people who bought new homes and had the builder install those pure junk hood "re-circulators" that do nothing more than pollute your whole house. The devil is in the unseens in your home.

 

Vent= removal

Re-circulate=pollution

 

Too simple, eh?

 

tsap seui

[Smitty]

Being tall, I loved the hood at the apartment I was in. The 'vent' for the recirculating hood blew right into my face. Oh well, it was cheap.

[Aiwen & Jim]

I was discussing having a vent put in our house when my wife gets here. Thanks for the info.

 

Is it really "QUIET"? My wife insisted that the one we get be quiet.

[credzba]

It isn't very quiet actually.

It has 2 motors, and you can run each on low, off, or high speed.

I don't think it is significantly worse than the old recirculating hood, but would not qualify as quiet.

 

I looked into a vent with an external motor.

Best by broan makes some but the hood inside the house was 700 - 1000 with no motor, and then the external motor that went on the roof was $1000.

This would have provided the quietest solution, but at double the pacair solution I didn't choose broan.

[LeeFisher3]

The difficulty with external fans is that they will pull the oil into the duct work.

 

With the Pacair the oil gets captured by the unit and doesn't make it to the duct work.

[hankster]

Ordered the Pacair last week. Stainless steel European design. Almost $600 w/shipping. Will install myself when it arrives.

Always been a big fan of venting outside. I Specified outside venting in some earlier homes I bought. This house had the microwave/inside exhaust already installed. Updates later.

Edited June 8, 2008 by hankster (see edit history)

[yemmie]

....a dinner would be even better!

 

No dinner, cook is still 8,000 miles away, but vent is installed.

It is a little noisier than I expected, but very nice.

 

Heres link to pictures with captions for the install.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/Credzba/KitchenVent02

That is really cool. Thanks for posting the installation pictures.

[hankster]

Work order has been issued. My apprentices are eager to begin work.

Edited June 13, 2008 by hankster (see edit history)

[hankster]

Pacair up and running great.

Little Lao Po thought a little Granite would look nice while we were at it!

 

Before:

During:

 

After:

 

[Urkidding]

Damn...that looks nice...almost looks lke a new kitchen too!

[Smitty]

That's pretty high up! How effective is it that high?

[Guest WenDylan]

That's pretty high up! How effective is it that high?

Reminds me of that show Monster House. They remade a home into an island retreat, with a shower that was a cave (with so many nozzles that the water pressure just dripped water) and a Tiki grill as a center island in the kitchen.

 

The funny thing and why I remember this, is because the Monster House team made a hood, but only connected it to the attic, so the first time the family used it, it filled the house with smoke for days, less the fire that was almost started. Their opinion after the remodel was that it was all good, except for the experts that had to call in order to fix the mistakes made by the Monster House team.

 

Maybe that's why its not on television anymore. I just thought it was funny, I laughed so hard when I heard the after story of the family.