Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Stilo rangehood with sleek lines and a thin profile

The Stilo rangehood by Faber with sleek lines, nice curves and a thin profile make this hood the ultimate focal point in your modern kitchen designs. As seen here in a photo provided by the folks at Aeg Canada and Euro-line Appliance, is a great example of a modern kitchen and the effect a beautiful hood can have on the rooms atmosphere. The Stilo comes in 4 widths, 24,30,36 and 48" wide to accommodate many sizes of cooking surfaces. Remember in order to keep the right lines in your kitchen, matching up the same width stove with the same width rangehood is important. You should never undersize the hood to the stove (24" hood to 30" stove). Over sizing the hood to the stove isn't wrong, sometimes it will throw off a design.

With 600 cfm of air movement, heavy duty baffle style grease filters and halogen lighting; the Stilo will provide excellent ventilation to fit the customers needs. One more deisgn element in this kitchen, notice how the sleekness of the cooktop matches the hoods sleekness? Even the tone of kitchen colors, is custom made for a stainless rangehood like the Stilo. To learn more about this hood and others visit our website.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Kitchen Ventilation 101, CFM - what is it?

CFM or Cubic Feet per Minute of air movement is a commonly misunderstood topic in kitchen appliances. There is a belief out there, that like most everything else in appliances, bigger is better, right? Well not necessarily. Using a hood with higher cfm (above what you need for your stove) means more air is being pulled out of your kitchen and your home than needed (like in the ducting diagram to the left). Therefore a lot of cooled or heated air is being pulled out your home, which would lead to higher heating / cooling bills.

Also, a situation of negative pressure could also occur when too much air is pulled out of the home and it is not replaced by air from the outside. In today's construction the homes are becoming more and more air tight and when too much air is pulled out of a home, you need to sometimes "make up" for that lost air by pumping outside air into the home. In colder climates this is a huge issue, in most parts of Canada there are laws in place about maximum cfm's before a make up air system has to be installed (typically 300 cfm is the threshold).

When choosing a hood for your cooking surface, if the hood has too much cfm you're not being energy efficient. A higher cfm hood will consume more energy to operate. The noise level or sone level (the noise measurement standard in rangehoods), is also a consideration. More cfm's = more air being pulled through the grease filters, which in turn creates turbulence and extra noise. If you've ever worked in a restaurant kitchen under the pro hoods they use, you understand the noise level.

The bottom line is buy a hood that properly takes care of the contaminants that are produced by your cooking (steam, grease, odor & smoke). The diagram seen below offers a good way to estimate how many cfm's are advised for your kitchen. Take a kitchen that is 10' high (Z) by 10' wide (X) by 10' long (Y) = equals 1,000 cubic feet. If you have a 500 cfm rangehood in this kitchen, in 2 minutes you will have completely exchanged all the air out of the kitchen (or 30 exchanges in an hour). The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), recommends 8-15 air exchanges in an hour for proper ventilation, so by this example, we're double the recommended level.

Another good rule of thumb is that 600 cfm is a good round number for use with a gas, all burners (no grill/griddle) cooking surface. Anything more substantial (like a 48" pro gas stove with 6 burners and a grill), then higher cfm's are advised, say 1,000 or above). Anything less than a gas all burner stove, requires less cfm's. An induction, ceran, coil electric cooktop would only need maybe 300 cfm's above it. So there you have it, an introduction to cfm's, and hopefully you can feel comfortable like the person below that your home is being vented properly!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Matrix rangehood - contemporary art on your kitchen wall

The Matrix hood by Faber is a piece of ventilation art for your kitchen. In this stunning red kitchen designed by Dekla Kitchen Cabinets in Toronto with clean lines and glass upper cabinets, the a rangehood by Faber perfectly compliments this kitchen. The Matrix fits very well in this installation with a square smooth top stove and the simple elegance of the four ventilation panels on the Matrix above it. With perimetric suction for advanced ventilation performance, a gallery halogen light bar, and several automatic shut off timers - the Matrix is loaded with features. In addition, the Matrix has a 24 hour mode - where the hood turns on for 10 minutes every hour and acts as a quiet operating whole home air purifier. This is certainly a green idea, but what else would you expect from the leader in green ventilation? For more information visit the Faber website.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Inca Pro 30 by Faber - an attractive and powerful insert with


The Inca Pro 30 by Faber was specified above this Wolf range for its power / design and the fact that the kitchen designer wanted to feature the cabinetry in this kitchen. This is a traditionally styled kitchen with natural wood tones and a pro range stove. The Inca Pro 30 insert fits perfectly into this kitchen style. When you don't want to see the rangehood and would rather focus on beautiful wood, a Faber insert hood is the right choice. You want quality ventilation with superior fit, finish, style and performance, then Faber will deliver. Visit our website for more information.