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IKECA membership is the number one criteria to look for in your commercial kitchen exhaust cleaner.

Are you looking for a contractor you can trust to clean your commercial kitchen exhaust system? Make sure you choose an IKECA member. Companies who have earned membership in the International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association do better work and provide better peace of mind. Here are the top 5 benefits of hiring a certified company like Flue Steam.

We Clean to the Highest Standard

The number one reason to always use an IKECA-certified contractor for your commercial kitchen exhaust system cleaning is that our employees are fully trained in proper cleaning techniques and held to a high standard in their work.

Being able to trust your kitchen exhaust cleaning contractor to do excellent work is extremely important, because it can be difficult for you to visually confirm that the work has been done properly. Some uncertified companies take advantage of this and only clean the easy-to-see areas, but Flue Steam really will clean every inch of your exhaust system to the bare metal every time.

We Keep Up with Industry Advances

Unlike many trade skills organizations, IKECA does not award certifications for life. Instead, member companies and their workers must continue their education to maintain their certification. This means that if a company has an IKECA certification, you know that they are completely up to date on the latest best practices for proper exhaust system cleaning and will be implementing those techniques in your kitchen, not plugging along with some decades-old strategy.

We Won’t Guess at Your Cleaning Needs

Some companies may advise all their clients to get monthly service, regardless of whether their grease accumulation actually merits this. At Flue Steam, we have learned how to use the IKECA comb to measure grease deposits in your ducts, determine the rate of accumulation, and set a cleaning schedule accordingly. This schedule will ensure you get cleanings before grease deposits reach critical levels but also save you from the cost of unnecessary cleanings.

We Can Improve Your Exhaust System

Your average exhaust cleaning contractor is satisfied to just do the best job they can based on the architecture of your ducts. This may leave some areas improperly cleaned. As an IKECA-certified contractor, we understand the requirements for access panels and how this affects cleaning. If your system is missing access panels, we can install new code-compliant ones at the proper intervals for you.

We Keep Code Inspectors Happy

One final reason to always choose a certified kitchen exhaust cleaning company is that our work will always satisfy your local fire code inspectors, saving you from costly code violations and restaurant closures.

Get answers to commonly asked questions about commercial kitchen exhaust system cleaning.

Are you considering opening a new restaurant? While brainstorming ideas for the menu and décor is a lot more fun than considering more mundane things like code compliance, nonetheless you cannot afford to overlook the practical side of things.

One activity that is absolutely vital for the new restaurant owner to understand and implement is commercial kitchen exhaust system cleaning for fire code compliance. The following FAQ will help you understand the requirements and benefits of this activity.

What Does Commercial Kitchen Exhaust System Cleaning Include?

There are two types of commercial kitchen exhaust system cleaning: exhaust hood scraping and steam cleaning. Exhaust hood scraping tackles only the areas accessible by hand but is useful because these same areas have the fastest rate of grease buildup. A steam cleaning includes a complete system cleaning, including not just the exhaust hoods but also all of the interior duct work and the rooftop exhaust fan.

What Are the Benefits of Cleaning?

The main benefit of commercial kitchen exhaust system cleaning is to reduce the risk of a grease fire in the exhaust system. This can bring many additional side benefits such as improved kitchen air flow, improved exhaust fan performance and service life, and even the potential for better insurance rates. Cleaning is also necessary to keep code inspectors happy and your restaurant open.

How Often Do I Need Service?

The rate at which you will require cleaning depends on the type and amount of foods prepared and how they are cooked. Most restaurants require monthly exhaust hood scraping and semi-annual steam cleaning.

What Does a Clean Duct Look Like?

The industry standard is to clean to bare metal. Grease may be allowed to accumulate to a depth of no more than 0.125 inches between cleanings.

How Do I Find a Contractor?

The best way to find a qualified kitchen exhaust system cleaning company is to visit the IKECA website and search for member companies in your area. IKECA membership signals that a company has expert cleaners that are fully trained to the highest industry standard. You can rely on IKECA member companies like Flue Steam to provide superior cleaning service every time.

What Documentation Do I Need for Code Compliance?

After a cleaning, you should be furnished with a certification sticker showing the date the system was cleaned as well as inspection reports as needed.

Does This Activity Automatically Protect Against Liability for a Fire?

Yes, but only if the cleaning has been done correctly and completely by a certified contractor. Sloppy or incomplete cleaning from a sub-standard contractor will not protect the owner against liability, because it is ultimately the owner’s responsibility to ensure the work gets done right, according to the National Fire Protection Association Standard.

Incident serves as a reminder to stay on top of your exhaust fan maintenance.

Earlier this month hundreds of employees and tourists got a scare as alarms sounded in the US Capitol and an adjacent visitor’s center, triggering an evacuation.

Fortunately, within an hour the employees were back at work and the tourists were back to enjoying their visit to the Capitol. According to a spokesperson for the US Capitol Police, the alarms were triggered by a “known problem with environmental controls with the kitchen exhaust fan” in the visitor center. Officials did not clarify what the problem was exactly, but were careful to state that there was no smoke or fire.

Federal buildings are always going to take safety and security very seriously, but the decision to evacuate may have been helped along by the fact that another odd cooking-equipment-related incident had just occurred near the Capitol two days prior. In this incident a pressure cooker was found in an unattended vehicle parked nearby on the National Mall and had to be destroyed by a bomb squad.

What Commercial Kitchen Operators Can Learn

Now, if you operate a commercial kitchen, chances are you are not going to have the same level of security concerns as a facility in the US Capitol complex. However, you are going to have the exact same kitchen air control needs.

Like the officials at the Capitol, you need to know when your kitchen exhaust fan is malfunctioning.

Why?

Because a malfunctioning exhaust fan can spell big trouble for your commercial kitchen. At a bare minimum, it may cause heat and odors to build up in your kitchen, which will cause your employees discomfort and may even result in accidents and errors in food prep. More importantly, without an exhaust fan sucking hot, greasy air away from your cooking equipment, more grease is going to precipitate out of that hot air onto various surfaces in your kitchen, including the ductwork. The more grease you have accumulating, the faster fire hazards will develop and the more frequently you will need grease removal services.

What Can You Do To Keep Your Fan in Top Shape?

You can of course watch out for common signs of a malfunctioning exhaust fan, such as poor air flow or a hot, smoky kitchen and then get the necessary exhaust fair repairs. However, whenever possible it’s better to prevent problems rather than wait for them to become noticeable in the kitchen.

At Flue Steam, we offer several important services to help reduce your fan’s risk of premature failure. First of all, we always clean the exhaust fan whenever a steam cleaning is ordered. Secondly, we offer a free exhaust fan inspection during this same visit. We will grease the fan bearings and check various vital parts such as the belt. If the belt is worn and you have a spare one on hand, we will be happy to replace it for you at no extra charge.

When Was The Last Time You Checked on Your Fan?

Get your exhaust fan the attention it needs by calling Flue Steam today.

Analysts predict drought restrictions may cause consumers to change hygiene habits.

According to a report drafted by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, the ongoing drought and water restrictions in California and other parts of the Western US may have residents skipping showers. The analysts predict that sales of traditional soaps and shampoos are going to suffer while dry shampoo sales will see an uptick.

This phenomenon has already been seen in Brazil, where residents in areas plagued by water shortages are showering 15 percent less according to the CEO of Unilever. He reported that sales of Unilever products that help consumers to use less water when cleaning are growing twice as fast as the company’s traditional products and are more profitable to boot.

One Cleaning Task You Can Never Skip

Whether you want to skip a shower because you are saving water voluntarily, or you live in one of the handful of communities under strict water restrictions and you don’t fancy a visit to the portable showers, that’s you decision.

But if you are a restaurant owner and operator whose commercial kitchen is due for an exhaust system steam cleaning, you need to get this service done, drought or no drought.

Why Skipping a Steam Cleaning is a Bad Idea

Exhaust system steam cleaning is a necessary service for fire safety reasons. Skipping this service can cause all kinds of problems that would far outweigh the benefit of saving a little bit of water:

Code Violations: First of all, periodic exhaust system cleanings are required under local fire codes. Failing to have your exhaust hoods scraped every month or so and your exhaust ducts steam cleaned a few times per year by a qualified contractor such as Flue Steam could put you in a situation where you risk getting cited for a fire code violation.

Increased Fire Risk: If you do not get your ducts steam cleaned when they need it, you are basically leaving a stockpile of fuel inside your ductwork. Any stray spark or flame that gets into the ducts could ignite the grease and cause a dangerous fire that could easily spread throughout the building. Then, a whole bunch of water would be used putting the fire out, so skipping a steam cleaning could potentially use way more water than the cleaning itself.

Poor Air Flow: One final problem with letting ducts get dirty is that this will affect your air flow. You may begin to have a problem with odors or heat in the kitchen and greasy air won’t get draw out of the kitchen as efficiently.

Why Risk It? Call Flue Steam for Service

Flue Steam employs experienced kitchen exhaust cleaning technicians who can provide the thorough service you need to keep your commercial kitchen code-compliant and fire-hazard-free. Please call us at 800-700-FLUE to schedule a cleaning at a time that is convenient for your business.

Flue Steam’s services can help protect against the #1 cause of commercial kitchen fires.

Restaurants are full of potential fire hazards, including both items that could spark a fire and items that could fuel it. For example, a fire could be sparked by an open flame, a faulty electrical connection, or hot cooking equipment. That fire could then feed on any number of fuel sources such as cooking oils, grease buildup, cleaning chemicals, and paper products.

However, one commercial kitchen fire hazard does stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of its danger, as shown by the following list of the top 5 causes of restaurant fires according to the National Fire Protection Association:

1. Cooking Equipment—responsible for 57 percent of restaurant fires
2. Heating Equipment—responsible for 10 percent of restaurant fires
3. Electrical Distribution & Lighting Equipment—responsible for 7 percent of restaurant fires
4. Smoking—responsible for 7 percent of restaurant fires
5. Arson—responsible for 5 percent of restaurant fires

The fact that one single hazard outstrips all others in causing the majority of restaurant fires is actually helpful to restaurant owners in a certain sense. It provides the ability to focus fire prevention efforts in one single area and see a big impact from those efforts.

Flue Steam Helps You Tackle the Top Cause of Restaurant Fires

At Flue Steam, we offer a variety of essential services that can greatly reduce the risk of cooking equipment causing a fire in your commercial kitchen, and help reduce the amount of damage done by any fires that do manage to break out.

Exhaust Hood Scraping: The exhaust hoods over your cooking equipment can get hot! In some cases, they may get so hot that any grease that has accumulated on them could be in danger of igniting into a flash fire. You can reduce the risk of this possibility by hiring Flue Steam to provide routine exhaust hood scraping services.

Exhaust Duct Steam Cleaning: Vaporized grease can also make its way past your exhaust hood and accumulate on the walls of your ductwork, though at a much slower rate. If flames every reach this fuel source, fire could spread throughout the building very quickly. Flue Steam offers thorough steam cleaning services to help prevent such a scenario.

Automatic Fire Suppression Systems: All commercial kitchens are required to have equipment in place that can automatically extinguish flames that break out on the cooktop or in the exhaust hood and prevent the fire from entering the ductwork. Flue Steam can install and service this equipment for you.

Portable Fire Extinguishers: As a backup to your automatic fire suppression system, you should always have Class K portable fire extinguishers on hand for staff to use in putting out fires that may start anywhere in the kitchen. Flue Steam sells and services this type of fire prevention equipment too.