Make Up Air for a Kitchen Exhaust - Most Homes Suck. (Pun intended)

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[brantmacga]

Matt, I’m an electrician in Georgia. When I tell mechanical guys and GC’s they need make-up air, they look at me like I’m crazy. Had a customer on a recent job call me and ask why his house smelled so bad when the exhaust fans were on. His house was so tight, and with no make-up air, the exhaust was breaking the seal in a P-trap and you could smell the septic tank. Repeatedly told the contractor we needed make-up air on that one. Now they just crack the windows.

[goodselections]

New science for me. Thank you for the class Matt. I’m sure lots of us appreciate you not only as a mentor, but something like a brother.

[coldfingersub]

Excellent teaching video every customer should watch this

In all my decades I have only seen one properly installed fan that was not installed by me.

I like to boil for very large pots or frying pans of water on all four corners of the burner simultaneously with the fans off just as a demonstration to show the customer how much bleed of smoke or grease that would be coming into the house. And then I turned their fan on to show them how their improperly installed Fan it’s still rolling over and bleeding around the edges into the house if it was invisible burning cooking oil or other VOCs and particulates.

And then show them a before and after I correct the problem or just re-install their fan and ducting correctly if possible.

And show them the difference when you open up a kitchen window or adjacent room window. What happens to the airflow.

[edhoward]

Great content. I had assumed that a passive make up system using a fan triggered relay would be sufficient. Your video was very enlightening on this subject. Keep up the good work.

[TheSnekkerShow]

Great video. This answers a question I've had for a long time, and is directly relevant to your video about radon gas. I live in an older house with a non-encapsulated crawl space in a high-radon zone. When I turn on the kitchen vent or even a bathroom fan, I try to simultaneously crack a window, because I know that the negative pressure is going to suck crawl-space radon gas through every gap in the subfloor, un-caulked electrical or plumbing hole, space around HVAC registers, or even improperly sealed ducting in the crawl space.

[mcintosh.daughter]

Great video Matt. The use of the manometer really helped illustrate the concept of pressure differentials and the importance of balancing ventilation.

[BretClements]

Thanks Matt, this video comes at the absolute best time for me! I am getting ready to remodel my kitchen and I've been looking at cooktops/rangetops and corresponding hoods. Thanks for the valuable information!

[helmanfrow]

5:38 An eight-inch circle has an area of about 50.3 in². A circle with three times the area (i.e. ~151 in²) would have a diameter of 14 inches, not 16 or 24.

[ColeSpolaric]

I've seen systems that dump makeup air around the perimeter of the hood so that it doesn't mix much with the already conditioned air. That to me sounds like a much better solution. This one will dump hot, humid air in.

[ethelryan]

When eight inches isn't enough.
The 3:1 passive rule of thumb has served my company well over the years. Fighting with customers over the need has never been fun.
I appreciate these videos from Matt. I have customers who will believe the Internet over me. After all, I can't possibly be motivated by anything but greed, right?

[rayRay-pwgz]

He gives much great information for a weather tight home. My ranch house built in 1963 has a full below ground basement. Moisture and radon are a concern. In the winter the forced hot air furnace sucks the basement air into the furnace and out the chimney. The air gaps between the foundation and sill, plus the basement windows provide the needed air exchange . This also removes radon in the winter. In the summer I just open the windows. I am not using any extra electricity. Gas stove and exhaust fan . I do use an air filter system in the spring to remove pollen.

[BenjaminSahlstrom]

Good stuff Matt! This is a difficult thing for most homeowners to understand but really is important.

[KRM]

I installed this system in my house a few years ago and I can confirm that having the MAU is a massive improvement. The hood performance is much better than the higher cfm fan I had in my last house. I did have a problem with the outside air damper about 3 months after running this. I strongly recommend getting a higher quality actuator at some point. Other than that, this system has been great.

[Bryan]

Really interesting! It's always fascinating when you encounter something counter-intuitive like the passive make up system! Different note: I went with induction about a year ago and have never looked back. It's so much better in pretty much every way and the air quality issue has become one of the top selling points for me... and it wasn't even a consideration when I bought it.

[peep]

I put a large exhaust fan into a new room I built and the entry door which opens away from the space did not want to open with the fan turned on. I was impressed by that. I'm still trying to figure out a fresh air source for that which isn't ugly or drips in the winter, so I was glad to find this video.

[Malikar]

I really appreciate how you get more detailed than just the basics, Matt!

[stevenle]

Matt, great mention about induction. I was really on the fence about induction for my remodel and your videos about induction really helped change my mind. I love my new induction cooktop. It's faster, more responsive, and I feel is safer than any cooktop I have used.

[DD]

Similar science, albeit applied differently, to what I deal with at work. Indoor ranges for military training have precisely tuned intake and exhaust in order to flow a specific cfm, but at all levels. Floor, waist, head, and ceiling across an entire room and for the length of the facility. Sometimes as much as 100 meters. All to ensure that the spent gases and lead particles are exhausted and filtered properly, maintaining soldier health. Nice video showing the importance of fresh air, especially in tight homes.

[sebastiantevel]

When I was living in Japan most homes and apartment had this system as a standard feature. The one I had in my apartment was made by Panasonic and was really small yet effective and was switching on automatically when necessary.

[TrustworthyExpert]

I built a house listening to this guy in San Antonio. I love when I meet another fan boy of matt! I have not installed this system yet. I just crack a window to let all the cedar in for my wife's allergies.