One of the most puzzling choices ever is choosing between an exhaust fan and a kitchen chimney since both are used for kitchen purposes. The Indian cooking style is quite disparate from that of the other countries as it creates a lot of fume as well as greasy leftovers because of the methods involved like grilling and frying. Thus, if there is no outlet in the kitchen for the smoke to be released out, the kitchen may end up getting highly tainted. So it mandatory to have either an exhaust fan or a kitchen chimney to resolve your kitchen pollution and keep it neat and clean.
Now, out of the two which one to choose is a big question. But, you can choose yourself an option by doing a few things such as going through the individual details of both the appliances. Here, in this article, we are going to discuss both the positive as well as negative aspects of kitchen chimney and exhaust fan as this provides you a better knowledge about these appliances and will let you decide the perfect one for your kitchen.
What is an Exhaust Fan?
An exhaust fan is a leading option when it comes to preventing pollution in your kitchen. It functions by drawing out hot and steamy air from a confined area and restores it with fresh air from outside. However, an exhaust fan can be highly effectual in a small and compact area such as a kitchen.
What is a Kitchen Chimney?
A kitchen chimney is an appliance that runs on electricity and is fabricated to aid the eradication of toxic fumes and smoke emitted during cooking. Contemporary kitchen chimneys also contribute to the aesthetic appearance of your kitchen. It soaks up the fume and vapour from your kitchen thus decontaminating it.
Features of Exhaust Fan
Some features of an Exhaust Fan are mentioned below:
Can be fixed in several ways
An exhaust fan can be positioned in numerous ways, namely ceiling-mounted, exterior, or wall-mounted. If you need a fan that has to be fixed at a particular place, the best alternative is a wall-mounted fan. Exterior exhaust fans are very relatable to wall mounted fans with just one dissimilarity that the sound made is outside and not inside the fan. Lastly, ceiling-mounted fans aim at enhancing the airstream with the help of the ventilating system in the room’s ceiling.
- Has an attractive appearance
Earlier, exhaust fans were just a basic square-shaped fan with spacious grills made up of plastic. But, nowadays many additional features are included in such fans which make them look artistic.
- Makes lesser noise
Generally, exhaust fans are not too loud. However, some low-cost exhaust fans may produce a bit higher sound, but good quality and standard exhaust fans are known to make very minimal noise.
- Offers mechanized controls
The newest exhaust fans consist of several brand new technical features like automatic controls that are capable of switching themselves on when a high humidity level is detected. Although, for eliminating the unpleasant smell from the kitchen, the user will have to turn on the appliance physically.
- Has a good airflow capacity
There must be an assured amount of airflow for sufficient ventilation in every kitchen. The airflow capacity of exhaust fans is assessed in terms of CFM which stands for cubic feet per minute. The CFM rating varies according to the size of an exhaust fan.
Features of Kitchen Chimney
Some features of a kitchen chimney are as follows:
- Has an automated self-cleaning technology
All the chimneys nowadays have some or the other feather by which it can clean itself automatically and the user doesn’t have to struggle every alternative day to clean the appliance.
- Possesses LED lights
Generally, every kitchen chimney available in the market comes up with a brilliant lighting apparatus comprising of LED lights. The LED lights are positioned appropriately so that it centers on the precise cooking area.
- Has an oil accumulator
All kitchen chimneys in the market are provided a bowl that collects all the greasy remnants from the fume produced while cooking.
- Allows command over it with the help of a keypad
The kitchen chimneys have a keypad by which you can have your control over it as per your needs. While some versions are equipped with a touchpad, the others have buttons.
- Has various indicators
Once your chimney is full of grime and dirt and needs a servicing, it will indicate the user with the help of signals and alarms.
Advantages of an Exhaust Fan
Now, let us look at the advantages of an exhaust fan:
- An exhaust fan is a highly effective appliance that can be used to keep your washrooms and kitchens free from moisture. It provides excellent ventilation to the confined spaces of your home.
- An exhaust fan eradicates foul and unpleasant odour from kitchens and washrooms.
- It enhances the quality of air present indoors and makes it more fresh and breathable
- It prevents the accumulation of dirt, smoke, and soot.
- It increases the comfortableness of your home by carrying out proper air circulation and removal of unwanted moisture.
Advantages of a Kitchen Chimney
Have a look at the advantages of a kitchen chimney:
- A kitchen chimney releases contaminated air from the kitchen outside. Thus, it prevents the user from getting suffocated.
- It doesn’t let dirt and oil accumulate on the tiles near your cooking place.
- It doesn’t let the walls of your kitchen feel sticky and look grimy. It makes sure your kitchen looks immaculate. Thus, it adds to the overall appearance and well being of your kitchen.
- It dismisses bad smells out of your kitchen and freshens up the air.
- It can be used in both small as well as spacious kitchens. The kitchen chimneys are available in several shapes and sizes. So, you can choose one according to the size of your kitchen.
Disadvantages of an Exhaust Fan
Following are the disadvantages of an exhaust fan:
- An exhaust fan can sometimes make you feel uncomfortable by making a lot of noise. Generally, exhaust fans don’t make much noise but they aren’t much silent either.
- It doesn’t offer ventilation over a large area since it is more functional in small and compact rooms.
- It provides very low ventilation in comparison to an open window. Like, if you keep the window of your kitchen open, the air regulation is much better than provided by an exhaust fan.
- Cleaning an exhaust fan can be a bit difficult at times since it needs to dismantle at first. So, the user has to reach up to the fan, detach all the parts, and then clean it.
Disadvantages of a Kitchen Chimney
The disadvantages of a kitchen chimney are as follows:
- Kitchen Chimney is one such appliance that requires high-level maintenance. To maintain the smooth functioning of the chimney, it needs to get serviced by a professional chimney service provider.
- If any part of a kitchen chimney breaks down, it has to get replaced with a new one as soon as possible. Otherwise, its performance will be hampered and its durability will decrease.
- Cleaning a kitchen chimney requires a huge amount of time, patience as well as efforts. This is because it absorbs all the left out odour and dirt post-cooking due to which the air refiners present in the chimney become greasy and filthy. Thus, they need to be removed out and then cleansed with water and other cleaning solutions.
- A Kitchen chimney cannot be afforded by all since it doesn’t come at a very low cost. You have to pay a good price to buy your preferred kitchen chimney and then comes its maintenance, which again requires a good amount of money.
In the present scenario throughout the world, we can see how technology is ruling over the lifestyle of people and is turning up as an integral part of every aspect of a person’s day to day routine. Be it your home or your workplace, technology is making its place everywhere. Your kitchen deserves to well equipped with smart appliances such as exhaust fans and kitchen chimneys. But as we mentioned before choosing one of these two is quite confusing.
In this article, we mentioned every particular detail you must know about the two appliances individually. Certain things that you are supposed to keep in your mind while deciding between an exhaust fan and kitchen chimney are your needs, the amount you are willing to invest as well as the size of the room where you would fix the appliance. Henceforth, we hope our article turns out to be beneficial for you in letting you make a judicious choice between the two.
