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Kitchen to Dining Room Pressure
- Thread starter jaymechee
- Start date
- Featured
2021 IMC SECTION 508.1
Makeup air shall be supplied during the operation of commercial kitchen exhaust systems that are provided for commercial cooking appliances. The amount of makeup air supplied to the building from all sources shall be approximately equal to the amount of exhaust air for all exhaust systems for the building. The makeup air shall not reduce the effectiveness of the exhaust system. Makeup air shall be provided by gravity or mechanical means or both. Mechanical makeup air systems shall be automatically controlled to start and operate simultaneously with the exhaust system. Makeup air intake opening locations shall comply with Section 401.4.
The unscientific way to determine if you have enough makeup air is that if the exterior doors are hard to open, you don't have enough. It's not super accurate if there is a small imbalance, but large imbalances are easy to detect this way.
Aside from this, there is really no code on this. I think that best is to have a very minute negative pressure between the kitchen and dining room, but close enough to be "approximately equal".
Aside from this, there is really no code on this. I think that best is to have a very minute negative pressure between the kitchen and dining room, but close enough to be "approximately equal".
ASHRAE 154
It's a "referenced standard".
www.ashrae.org
ashrae.iwrapper.com
It's a "referenced standard".
Read-Only Versions of ASHRAE Standards
Learn more about Read-Only Versions of ASHRAE Standards at ashrae.org
www.ashrae.org
iWrapper
klarenbeek
REGISTERED
Nothing in the code on this. 403.2.2 actually allows the occupancy air for the dining area to serve the dual purpose of also being makeup air for the kitchen exhaust as long as there is an open path of travel between the two spaces like a serving window or an open walkway with no door or saloon doors. The main thing to make sure of is that the air handlers providing occupancy air to the dining area is running and bringing in the required air whenever the hoods are on, not just during business hours.
Paul Sweet
SAWHORSE
Many moons ago I designed the HVAC for a restaurant and used the ventilation air for the dining area as part of the makeup air for the hood. Some time after it was finished I was looking at something else in the basement and noticed flames coming out of the water heater's draft hood. The hood exhaust was on but the dining area HVAC hadn't been turned on yet, so the water heater vent became part of the makeup air system!