Ventilation and home appliance: is it compatible?
A ventilation system for each situation
Ventilation is a key element for a good indoor air quality because it permits to eliminate the pollution sources generated by the home inhabitants, the activities that take place there, or simply the materials that are used in the dwelling. However, we can wonder whether certain everyday equipments such as fireplaces, kitchen exhaust hoods or gas appliances are compatible with the ventilation systems in place in the housing. The main question being, before air quality, housing security: what are the risks of this equipment combined with ventilation, both in terms of health and the housing itself? Are there any measures to consider? Here are some answers and tips on this subject.
If you have any doubt please refer and comply with the regulation in force.
Is a chimney compatible with ventilation?
In the presence of mechanical exhaust ventilation, an automatic device should cut the ventilation off as soon as the chimney is used, in order to avoid any backdraft from the chimney.
In the presence of natural ventilation, there is no risk of the smoke being pushed back or being reversed from the chimney to the inside of the dwelling: since the chimney is operating, its stack effect is much greater than the natural stack effect of the ventilation ducts.
Please refer and comply with the regulation in force.
Is an exhaust hood in the kitchen compatible with ventilation?
According to the kind of hood, the possibilities vary:
- Recycling hoods and double-flow hoods: can be used with natural ventilation and centralised mechanical exhaust ventilation
- Passive hoods connected to the air duct: only in centralised mechanical exhaust ventilation
Please refer and comply with the regulation in force.
In case of gas appliance in the kitchen, what steps should I take in order to be compatible with the adopted ventilation?
Depending on the type of gas appliance, the steps to be taken vary. When the gas appliance located in the kitchen has an airtight circuit (autonomous), that means it takes the combustion air directly on the outside and then extracts the burnt gases directly to the outside without going through the ventilation ducts, no air inlet is usually necessary in the kitchen. On the other hand, when the gas appliance uses the air which enters the kitchen as a combustion agent, a direct or indirect air duct is then usually necessary.
To select the proper air duct dimensions, please refer to applicable regulations.
