Fire suppression systems for restaurants are a necessity for everyday activity in the foodservice industry. Unfortunately, fires are more prevalent in restaurants than in any other business. Fires can start harmlessly enough from any number of sources but can quickly get out of hand. A fire suppression system is an absolute must for restaurants and other commercial kitchens.  

A Kitchen Fire Could Shut Down a Restaurant

When your livelihood is at stake, you can’t afford to take chances. Your cooking equipment is the lifeline of your restaurant, but also the apparatus most used when involved in fires. Fires often happen from old equipment, poor installation and maintenance, and a lack of a good cleaning regimen. Rags are plentiful around the kitchen but can present a fire hazard when left around. Be sure to store clean and dirty rags separately in metal containers with lids that can close. A fire can happen even from a small amount of oil or grease.  

Detect Fires Before They Start

Fire suppression systems detect fires and heat almost before they start. By using heat sensors, fire detection happens immediately. Fire suppression systems identify problem areas before they start. They work by shutting off access to gas lines immediately once a fire is detected. This mechanism not only saves lives but the restauranteur’s business as well. In the recent past, dry chemical systems most frequently, but now wet systems are here to stay. It’s quite amazing to consider how much damage could have happened had it not been for these fantastic systems.  

Pick the Right System

It’s important to note that all fire suppression systems are not appropriate for every industry. Some made are for warehouses meant to extinguish paper, while others are engineered explicitly for the restaurant industry and grease fires. Some functions are essential for a commercial kitchen or restaurant, like mechanical gas shut-off, remote pull station, and distribution piping. A rapid response system is especially crucial in smothering a fire and limiting injuries or death. It is not easy to install a system and should only be done by industry professionals. Survey of the space includes inspecting the kitchen equipment, allowing for the size of the hood, accounting for the length of the duct, and will be able to prescribe the best suppression system for your needs. 

Pick the Right Company

When choosing a fire suppression company, pick one that supplies all of your needs, whether you work in restaurants, healthcare, or warehouses.  Atlantic Fire Protection is here to help and can cater to your needs.  

A fire extinguisher plays a vital role in the fire safety of any residential or commercial property. As the name implies, this fire-protection device controls and stops small flames before they escalate into a fire outbreak during emergency situations. It works by cooling the burning materials, preventing oxygen from touching the flame, and blocking chemical reactions. This is why it’s easy to see them installed in various places, whether in business establishments or residential communities.

According to manufacturers, the average lifespan of a fire extinguisher ranges from 5 to 15 years. However, there are a few factors that can influence its longevity. While some variables prolong its lifespan, a few others can make it wear out prematurely. 

When you are trying to determine the lifespan of your fire protection device, here are four factors to consider:

1. Disposable fire extinguishers for homes

Most homeowners opt for disposable home fire extinguishers. As the name implies, they can be disposed of because they are typically made of plastic valves and aluminum cylinders. Most of these devices have a shelf life of twelve years as per most manufacturers. To identify this, all it takes is to check the cylinder and read the manufacturer’s dates and instructions. Of course, with constant fire extinguisher service, expect them to last longer than usual.

2. Commercial fire extinguishers for business

Similar to disposable home fire extinguishers, commercial fire extinguishers are expected to last for twelve years on average. They are typically installed in various areas in a given building for fire safety and protection. These devices can also last longer with regular upkeep, where they should be internally inspected every six years. For the most part, they should be hydrostatically tested to ensure that they’re in top shape and working condition. Finally, keep in mind that they must be inspected by licensed fire protection professionally and annually per the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

3. Uses and applications of fire extinguishers

For the most part, fire extinguishers are installed per fire safety guidelines in your commercial property. Even if you have one in your home, know where to position it visibly. However, part of the overall equation is to have proper installation and use because you don’t want your family members or employees to play with them that can potentially lead to injuries and damages. To make them last longer than usual, be sure to take good care of them.

4. Maintenance service and its frequency

As fire extinguishers aren’t designed to last forever, scheduling regular maintenance for them makes all the difference. As mentioned above, they must be inspected once a year by professionals and be internally tested every six years to see if they still can be used. With this required upkeep, expect them to last for as long as possible!

Conclusion

At this point, you now know what to consider when assessing the lifespan of your fire extinguisher. When you consider the factors mentioned above, you’ll be able to predict how long your fire protection devices will last. Ultimately, you have to ensure they are highly functional and useful just when you need them the most!

We offer a wide selection of fire protection systems and services for your restaurant, commercial business, and apartment buildings. If you need a fire extinguisher inspection in New Jersey, get in touch with us today to see how we can help!

In an emergency, you need to find your way out of a facility in the quickest way possible. A property owner or manager should ensure that their building has fully-functional exit signs and emergency lights. 

These signs and lights keep people orderly and put them at ease while they evacuate. These also help keep your building LIFE SAFETY and OSHA-compliant. Keeping yourself up to code will also help you avoid fines. 

When you get exit signs installed, take it as a chance to have fire extinguisher inspections as well. Fire inspection personnel can instruct you or your building manager on how to care for fire protection devices, and they can replace these if they fail or burn out. You can also replace the damaged lights yourself. Here are some things to keep in mind when replacing emergency exit lights.

Why do emergency lights burn out?

You need to keep emergency lights on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Naturally, exit sign bulbs will wear out faster and burn out. There are three components to emergency signs that might cause burning out: the primary bulbs, the low-voltage ones, and the reserve batteries.

The primary bulb ensures that people can read the sign at all times. It is the first thing you should inspect if you notice issues with your emergency light. Meanwhile, the device uses low-voltage bulbs when you are on emergency light systems. Finally, the reserve battery powers the low-voltage bulb when the power goes out. If your low-voltage bulb is not working, you should check the battery for issues.

How to fix your emergency exit sign

If the light is not working, there are two things you could do to fix your sign. You could either replace the broken part or the entire device. Before buying a new emergency light, see if you can isolate the malfunctioning part. If you figure it out, you can buy a replacement for the defective piece only. Remove the front panel of the sign and find the bulb or battery that is causing the issue. If you need help with it, you can call a fire extinguisher service for assistance. If the repairs do not work, you can replace the sign outright.

Keep in mind that some types of bulbs burn out faster than others. If your exit sign uses incandescent light, you have to replace the bulbs at a faster rate. Save resources and install an LED sign; these lights consume less energy and save you money over time.

Conclusion

Building owners want to guarantee their occupants’ safety, and fire protection devices like emergency lights and extinguishers help with that. Apart from keeping your facilities compliant with regulations, these devices help you keep things orderly during an emergency. 

Ideally, you want your exit sign working at all times. When it does burn out, it could be because of several things. Before changing your emergency lights, check with your local fire protection company if you can still have the sign repaired. If not, there are plenty of shops where you can get a replacement.

Don’t keep people using your building in the dark; install Atlantic Fire Pro emergency lights and exit signs today! We are a New Jersey and Pennsylvania fire suppression installation service, helping facilities protect themselves and keep their systems up and running. We have you covered from emergency lights to Ansul suppression systems; get in touch today for a free estimate!

Businesses often overlook commercial kitchen hood installations on their premises due to their lack of knowledge and experience. This results in many business problems, such as exposing employees to dangerous and unbearable smoke fumes. Some unfortunate businesses have even been affected by fires due to the lack of preventative measures. That is why you should make well-informed decisions with your commercial kitchen hood to maximize profitability and safety. 

This article will discuss four key commercial kitchen hood buying tips to help you through the process. Take this as an opportunity to invest in long-term assets that will define your business’s future scalability by maintaining your employees’ and customers’ welfare and safety. 

• Find the best hood designs for your commercial kitchen needs 

There are many kinds of commercial kitchen hoods that you can pick for your business, but you have to make the best choice. You can do so by doing comprehensive research on the different commercial kitchen hoods and consulting with kitchen systems experts. 

For example, let’s say your commercial business is mainly composed of a food truck fleet that serves Mexican food in New Jersey. You need to design the best kitchen for that kind of setup and choose the best commercial kitchen hood. You can research, but you may have limited industry knowledge.  

Fortunately, there are experts that you can approach to assist you. Consult with our food truck build experts to make the best cost-effective kitchen designs for your business. 

• Decide on an ideal exhaust rate

You need a commercial kitchen hood with the most efficient exhaust rate, which depends on the heat, smoke, and grease produced by your appliances and the different cooking methods you use. Doing so ensures that no harmful fumes or odors stay in your commercial kitchen, granting safety and well-being among your employees and customers. 

To calculate the ideal exhaust rate, look into the cubic feet per minute or CFM ratio within your commercial kitchen setup. You should also determine the kinds of kitchen appliances and cooking methods you use to ensure you can pick the appropriate hood. That way, you can design your commercial kitchen for maximized efficiency and profitability. 

• Consider commercial kitchen hood add-ons 

Some commercial kitchens require certain hood add-ons suitable for your business setting. For example, you may need a charcoal filter because you require grilling setups for your business. However, make sure that the add-ons you purchase are also compatible with the kitchen hood and exhaust system that you installed. 

As such, consult with kitchen hood suppliers and experts to make cost-effective add-on purchases that will benefit your business. You can also look at different review websites and commercial kitchen online forums to lead you through your commercial kitchen designing process. 

• Prioritize fire suppression installations 

Your commercial kitchen is highly susceptible to fires, meaning you need to invest in fire suppression installations to ensure that no kind of fire-based disaster can ruin your business. For your convenience, our experts can also provide you with the best commercial kitchen solutions. Contact us to make the best-informed decisions about commercial kitchen hoods. 

Conclusion

Deciding on a commercial kitchen hood can be a challenge, but this can easily be accomplished if you access the best sources. You also now know the tips that will guide you through the process. Remember all the previously mentioned information and design the best commercial kitchen for your business today!

Atlantic Fire Protection can provide you with the best fire suppression installations for your commercial kitchen hoods in New Jersey. We can also replace, upgrade, and clean your hood to assure you of convenient, cost-effective measures to protect your business from fires. We can also provide you with other solutions, like our Ansul systems, to upgrade your business’s fire prevention. Contact us today to ensure that your business is prepared against any fire incident. 

If you run a restaurant, it’s important to comply with your local building codes and regulations. One vital safety measure is to have a robust fire protection system set in place. When it comes to this, installing an Ansul fire suppression system on your restaurant hoods is a must. Having this will quickly and easily suppress and stop a fire before it escalates into a major outbreak.

In this article, we’ll cover what you need to know about the Ansul fire suppression system, how it works, and why you should have one installed on your restaurant hoods.

What an Ansul fire suppression system 

The Ansul R-102 Restaurant Fire Suppression System is designed to suppress a fire in your restaurant, particularly in your kitchen. It works by promptly knocking down flames, quickly cooling hot surfaces, and simultaneously generating a vapor-securing blanket to prevent re-ignition. The system typically connects to cooking and ventilating equipment pieces such as restaurant hoods, ducts, filters, and plenums, among many others. 

Ansul consists of special hazard fire protection products designed to meet strict standards and tested by independent labs and approval agencies. It also caters to the aviation, hospitality, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and not to mention the restaurant industries. 

Why it’s effective for restaurant fire outbreak

It’s essential to avoid any potential fire outbreak in any restaurant, which is more likely to happen due to the constant use of fire and regular exposure to heat. 

When a fire starts, it’s vital to suppress it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, using water isn’t a viable solution in stopping a fire, as grease flame spreads when mixed with water. Using a fire extinguisher also won’t do the trick as it will affect the kitchen’s products. That is where a fire suppression system comes into the picture.

How an Ansul fire suppression system works

In most cases, a fire suppression system is connected to the hood over the cooking station and the gas line through it. When it is tripped, it will automatically be triggered to turn the gas line off.

When a fire breaks, this system will quickly knock down the flame. Furthermore, it will promptly cool the hot surfaces to prevent any flare trigger, and it creates a vapor securing blanket to prevent the fire from rekindling. 

What to know about a restaurant hood

An exhaust hood is a device with a mechanical fan that hangs above the stove or cooktop in the kitchen. It is designed to get rid of airborne grease, combustion products, fumes, smoke, heat, and steam from the air. As it essentially provides proper ventilation to enhance the kitchen safety and foster everybody’s good health in the establishment, be sure to have it installed along with your fire suppression system.

Conclusion

At this point, you now know what an Ansul fire suppression system is. Be sure to have this system installed on your restaurant hoods and consider all the valuable information discussed above. 

Because of this, it’s best to hire a professional service to have this installed in your restaurant’s kitchen. If you already have one, it’s a good idea to set a regular Ansul fire suppression system maintenance in place to ensure it’s working optimally. To that end, the Ansul system aims to protect your property, your employees, customers, and the business in general!

Are you looking to have an Ansul system installation in New Jersey for your kitchen? You’ve come to the right place as we offer a wide range of fire protection systems and services. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help!

If you run a restaurant business, your commercial kitchen is the area that’s most vulnerable to a fire outbreak. This is mostly because it gets subject to constant heat and flames during cooking and food preparation. If your chefs aren’t highly critical and your kitchen appliances aren’t properly maintained, a sudden flare can easily occur. The good thing is that most business establishments have fire protection set in place. However, the problem is that they tend to commit some mistakes when it comes to their fire suppression system.

If you want to avoid burning down your establishment, here are five common mistakes your restaurant must avoid with the fire suppression systems:

1. Your cooking appliances aren’t positioned properly

This is one of the most common mistakes usually committed by staff members, as your kitchen appliances and equipment pieces are constantly moved around for food preparation and cleaning. The problem is that they aren’t used or put back in place within the range of your fire suppression system. When an unexpected flame occurs, your system is rendered useless. For this reason, be sure that all your kitchen appliances are inspected and maintained for proper positioning.

2. You have expanded your kitchen without considering the fire suppression system

It’s inevitable for you to add space in your commercial kitchen and upgrade your appliances for ample workspace and overall efficiency. The problem, however, is when you tend to neglect your fire suppression system during these upgrades. The chances are that the equipment pieces are moved out of the system’s range, making them prone to flare. As a rule of thumb, be sure to have a fire suppression installation or upgrade when updating your commercial kitchen.

3. You don’t regularly clean your walls and floors

It’s quick and easy for kitchen surfaces to have grease buildup as a result of constant cooking. This buildup gets spread on the floors, walls, and other surface areas. Because of this, regular cleaning is a must. Unfortunately, some staff tends to neglect this vital aspect of a restaurant business and fail to perform cleaning for long periods. As a result, the greasy surfaces serve as a route for the flame to spread. Hence, the best course of action is to clean your kitchen regularly!

4. You haven’t set regular upkeep

Apart from cleaning, the regular maintenance of your kitchen appliances and equipment is also imperative. Poorly maintained ones lead to a potential hazard that even your suppression system won’t be able to handle. Keep in mind that the fire safety codes require regular inspection and cleaning of commercial kitchens. For this reason, you must always remember to schedule a routine inspection, and should there be damages or issues with your appliances that could cause a fire, have them fixed as soon as possible.

5. You have a malfunctioned fire suppression system

If your suppression system isn’t working as expected, you risk the flame growing bigger than you can contend with—that defeats the purpose of having one in the first place! Be sure to have your system inspected regularly. If it’s already malfunctioned, have it repaired or replaced as soon as possible.

Conclusion

At this point, we’ve covered the five common mistakes associated with the fire suppression system in a restaurant business—improperly positioned appliances, expanded kitchen without considering the fire suppression system, uncleaned walls and floors, no regular upkeep, and malfunctioned system. Ultimately, you or your property manager must be wary of all these to ensure your fire suppression system works properly and avoid a potential fire outbreak!

At Atlantic Fire Pro, we provide a wide selection of Ansul suppression systems in New Jersey, along with inspection, installation, and maintenance services. If you’re looking for a fire suppression installation, get in touch with us today to see how we can help!

Prevention is always better, especially when it comes to fire. Fire is the most dangerous thing that can happen in one’s home. Once your house burns down, you can never bring it back. Before preventing a fire from happening, you should learn about its common causes first. This article will tell you the three common residential fire incidents to watch out for.

#1. Electrical Fires

There are two ways electrical fires happen. One is when short circuits cause a spark that ignites building materials, and the other one is when circuits overload with an electric current. 

In the US, electrical problems take up 10 percent of all residential fires, but it is also the most deadly type. In fact, it is responsible for almost 19 percent of deaths due to home fire. One reason behind it is the fact that electrical fires often start in hidden locations. The fire turns massive even before the homeowners realize it. It also often happens at night while they are sleeping.

Fire Prevention Tips:

• Make sure that your home’s electrical system is properly installed. 
• Your electrical system should have built-in protective features to protect it from short circuits and current overloading.
• Have a professional electrician check your electrical wirings regularly, especially if you live in an older home. 
• Never perform electrical repairs and improvements on your own unless you have the experience and knowledge.

#2. Heating Appliances-Related Fires

Heating appliances are the second leading cause of home fires in the US, taking up 14 percent of the total home fires. In a data shared by the Consumer Products Safety Commission, 25,000 home fires occur in the US each year, causing around 300 deaths. 

Appliances such as home space heaters or baseboard heaters can cause a fire when fabrics and other flammable materials are left too close to them. Fuel-generated heaters that require kerosene is one of the most dangerous appliances to have at home. If not correctly used, they can ignite or blow up. Even electric heaters can burn your house down if it has faulty electrical wiring or when fabrics come in contact with its coils. 

Fire Prevention Tips: 

• When buying and using a heater, make sure to read and follow its instructions carefully. 
• Have a regular appliances inspection to make sure they are always in good condition.
• Do not leave your appliance unattended. Make sure there is no heater running when leaving your home. 
• For critical appliances such as space heaters, make sure to leave a printed notice or instructions on their proper usage.
• Leave flammable materials away from all types of heaters.

#3. Cooking-Related Fires

Fires that started from cooking is the leading cause of house fires in the US. It makes up 48 percent of the total fire accounted. The main cause behind cooking-related fires is the grease. Grease can be a highly flammable material when it gets around 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it reaches that temperature, it will combust instantly even when not in direct contact with fire. This dangerous grease is commonly found on stoves or ovens at home. 

Other causes of residential fires related to cooking are portable cooking appliances like electric griddles and toasters, as well as unattended barbecue grills. 

Fire Prevention Tips: 

• Never leave the kitchen or outdoor barbecue grills on a wooden deck unattended, especially when cooking food that produces grease, like bacon.
• Never leave any appliance running and unsupervised.
• Make sure all home devices are cool enough to touch before storing them.
• Regularly clean your toasters, ovens, and other similar appliances to prevent crumbs from building up inside. 

Conclusion

Your home is one of your life’s biggest investments, and one mistake can burn it down and hurt everyone inside. Now that you know the common fire causes to watch out for and some tips to prevent them, you have the control and better advantage in keeping your home safe. 

Be responsible and have fire extinguishers around your house. Always schedule fire extinguisher inspection to ensure they are functioning properly. Atlantic Fire Protection can help you with this. We have fire extinguishers services in New Jersey from annual inspections to refills and recharges. Contact us to learn more about our services.

Retrofitting your property with the necessary emergency measures is an excellent way to anticipate the worst. Natural calamities like earthquakes, storms, and floods can damage the integrity of your building. Besides these environmental threats, you should also protect your building from fires.

Building fires generally occur in buildings that house electronics and flammable chemicals. However, you shouldn’t count yourself safe from them, especially if you’re next to any of these establishments. Thankfully, you can install a fire safety system to minimize your potential damages and losses.

Maintaining your fire safety systems

A fire safety system ensures that your building is capable of preventing any fire-related emergency. However, installing one in your property doesn’t mean that it isn’t fool-proof. This is why you need to perform maintenance on your emergency systems to ensure that your preventative measures will be available when you need them.

If you want to keep your property fire-proof, here are three ways to prepare your building’s fire safety system:

Keep a secure and reliable water supply for your fire pumps

Having a fire safety system with sprinklers in your rooms and hallways won’t be useful if you have low water pressure. It prevents you from minimizing a compromised area’s damage due to having too little water at the scene. It’s best to connect to the nearest reliable water source, such as rivers and lakes, for your system. If you have cooling tower basins, make sure to routinely test it so that it can release the adequate output of pressure when you need it.

Design adjoining systems for your fire pumps’ sprinklers

Installing water sprinklers at key locations in your property is necessary to avoid the spread of fire. Many buildings segment their fire safety systems to respond only to specific areas. However, disjointed systems can cause your building’s fire pump to have insufficient water for all your sprinklers.

The best way to go about this issue is to ensure that you’re using adjoining systems to accommodate multiple fire pumps. Doing so will ensure that all systems are receiving the amount of water and pressure they need.

Test your building’s different gas-based suppression systems

Besides the damage that fire can inflict on your building’s occupants, you should also be cautious of smoke. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major contributor to fires’ dangers since it can induce nausea, suffocation, and fainting. Fire safety systems detect smoke through the accumulation of CO2 in an area. An alarm triggers once the amount of CO2 reaches the threshold. However, its detecting capabilities can wear down over time.

Different rooms will have varying CO2 accumulation thresholds. For example, a kitchen or boiler room will regularly have smoke around, so it’s best to adjust their smoke alarm settings. Besides managing the unit itself, you must also consider fan and ventilation within these areas. By testing all your enclosures, you can see if some units demand different signal discharge levels over others.

Conclusion

Remember to perform frequent fire emergency drills to ensure that your system won’t degrade due to inactivity. Although you can perform these tests on your own, it’s best to let professionals perform repairs or adjustments to your fire safety system if necessary.

You need to employ a professional company to ensure that all your emergency systems are in working order. By choosing a reputable fire protection firm, you can trust that your fire-proofing solutions are up-to-date and can protect your building when you need them.

Atlantic Fire Pro performs professional fire inspection in NJ to keep residential and commercial establishments safe from harm. We offer services on emergency and exit lighting, kitchen hoods, kitchen fire suppression systems, and more. Contact us today to learn more about how our experts can fire-proof your property.

Your pork wine reduction may perhaps be your customers’ latest favorite dish, but the presence of too much fire can place your restaurant at risk. Unfortunately, that’s just how the industry works. Cooking requires fire and heat, making it the very heart and veins of your restaurant business. 

Restaurants experience fire losses more often, especially since kitchens are stacked with highly flammable materials. In other words, all commercial kitchens can quickly burn out of control, with menacing fires devouring the entire establishment within minutes. 

While kitchen fire suppression systems exist to minimize damages and injury, not all businesses properly maintain the process. Most operate under ineffective measures, which causes fire to spread further. And while your kitchen may be too busy to pay any mind to fire protection, it’s important to keep your staff focused on the possibilities of fire. 

To begin your efforts, here are some fire protection mistakes most people make. It’s best to avoid them from now on:

Mistake #1: Failing to properly train your staff

While you can give fire safety fliers and presentations to your staff, theoretical knowledge of safety rules and regulations can only do so much if your staff isn’t properly trained to follow these protocols. It’s one thing to know what to do, and quite another to actually act on it. Actually following the proper protocol regarding fire prevention and safety is more crucial than being able to recite the rules word for word. 

It’s best to allow some time and resources to train your staff on how to prevent and manage kitchen fires. You can monitor your staff and make sure that they can properly practice the fire safety protocol, as well as know how to operate fire safety equipment. 

Mistake #2: Failing to keep the entire kitchen clean 

Commercial kitchens are stacked with highly flammable materials, but those that should not catch fire also become damaged due to a failed upkeep. Most kitchen floors operate in hardened shortening, whether it be plastered in floors or the walls. This is particularly true for kitchens that specialize in frying, ones that even a fire suppression system cannot save.

Having hardened oils in your kitchen floor and walls will cause the flames to rapidly spread, as the grease will fuel the menacing fires. That said, make sure to clean regularly and thoroughly. By ensuring clean surfaces, you save your restaurant from being devoured by potential fires. 

Mistake #3: Expanding kitchen without proper fire safety measures 

As your restaurant flourishes, so will your kitchen. You’ll eventually need to expand your kitchen space, prompting you to buy bigger and better equipment. Unfortunately, your existing fire suppression system may not be equipped to handle such changes. 

Bigger and bulkier equipment needs new fire safety plans, and without catering to the needs accordingly, you leave your kitchen at risk. Before making any plans of purchase, make sure to adjust your fire suppression systems accordingly. 

Ensure That a Good Fire Safety Plan is in Place

A flourishing restaurant business is a call for celebration, but make sure to keep your establishment and staff safe by having a good fire safety plan in place. Knowing these mistakes to avoid is just a single part of the important equation—the next step is to develop an evacuation plan, followed by investment in fire fighting tools, and so on. Disaster can strike any time—make sure that you’re well-equipped to save lives. 

If you’re on the hunt for fire suppression installation and fire safety other services, Atlantic Fire Pro is the place to go. We are a licensed company in New Jersey, dedicated to helping our clients maintain, repair, and inspect fire safety necessities. Reach out to us today to learn more. 

Indoor cooking is the method of choice for many people in New Jersey, especially during winter and rainy seasons. While some houses have a backyard area for grilling, indoors is where most cooking is done each year. It is rare to see people in their backyards cooking every day because this is an area saved for barbecues and get-togethers with friends and family. 

Knowing that most time anyone will spend cooking is indoors, this is where the proper kitchen exhaust system comes into play. These exhausts are hooked up to a power source that sucks smoke and keeps your home safe from sparks and other fumes caused by cooking. Having a kitchen hood over a stove can save homes from burning down. However, kitchen hoods only work at their best with the regular maintenance done as indicated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). 

The NFPA’s Recommendations

Because kitchen hoods are electrically powered and suck up plenty of smoke in each cooking session, it is recommended to clean these exhaust systems regularly. The number of cleaning sessions needed is relative to how often you cook and to what degree. 

For solid fuel cooking that is heavy on use each day, a monthly cleaning job will ensure proper fire safety. High-volume cooking such as those in fast-food restaurants will need quarterly cleaning. Moderate-volume cooking can use a deep clean twice a year, while low-volume cooking like home-based ranges can make do with an annual clean. 

However, take note that the kind of food being cooked will warrant more cleaning as per NFPA’s instructions. Food like beef is heavy on smoke when being grilled, which means the ducts will need cleaning every two weeks for restaurants that use massive amounts of beef products. 

Cleaning Never Stops

Remember that after cooking, grease from oils splatters all over the kitchen hood and the range’s surface. When dried up, these can be difficult to clean and can pose health and fire hazards. It is always recommended to clean ranges and stoves after every use, or during closing hours in restaurants. 

Running a mild detergent liquid through a spray bottle and wiping down the surfaces should easily clean out gunk and grease. Make sure to pick up food items that have spilled out of cooking pans and pots and dispose of them accordingly. 

When it comes to grease extractor filters, you’ll want to clean these regularly by soaking them in a cleaning solution. Scrubbing and scraping are also effective at removing grime. Some kitchen hood filters are washer safe, which means that cleaning these will be much easier. 

Cleaning a range will ensure proper fire safety and better sanitation due to less bacterial buildup. 

Duct Cleanliness Is Important

Ducts are responsible for leading smoke out of the kitchen. When these turn black because of soot and smoke, this can be hazardous to health. When conducting regular cleaning, a power washer is best for an effortless strip down and a deep clean. Your local contractor is equipped to clean out any dirt and grime deep into the duct system, as this takes skill and experience.

By ensuring that all parts work correctly, everything is clean, and that the electricals are in great shape, you’ll provide the best fire safety for your kitchen. 

Conclusion

Cooking isn’t just about firing up your stove and forgetting about it once you’re done. It generates plenty of smoke as fires heat up ingredients, so ensure that your home or restaurant continuously monitors your kitchen components. When working with flames or heat, fire protection must be at its most optimal to reduce risks and threats. 

Atlantic Fire Pro is a premium fire suppression installation company in New Jersey that deals with the field of kitchen activity, fire extinguisher products, and other emergency fire systems. Contact us to know more about our services and available fire protection essentials.