Do Bathroom Exhaust Fans Work For Kitchens?

In most homes and even commercial restaurants, both the bathrooms and the kitchens have exhaust fans. Both fans serve to extract the air in the room, give it a refresh and recirculate the air. Both types of fans remove the moisture from the air and from the home. So if both bathroom and kitchen fans do the same thing, can I install a bathroom exhaust fan in my kitchen? In short, no, bathroom exhaust fans will not work in your kitchen. 

Purpose Of A Bathroom Exhaust Fan 

A bathroom exhaust fan is a mechanical device that helps ventilate your home, drawing air from the bathroom through ducts to the exterior of the home. It draws out stale, impure, or humid air, which is then replaced with fresh, clean air through the home’s ventilation system. The main purpose of the bathroom exhaust fan is to remove excess moisture and humidity after showers, baths, or using the water, although it can also help remove odors and other pollutants. 

Purpose Of A Kitchen Exhaust Fan 

Much like the bathroom exhaust fan, the kitchen exhaust fan also helps remove air from the kitchen, drawing it through ducts to the exterior as clean air replaces the polluted air. However, kitchen exhaust fans have a more extensive job than bathroom exhaust fans. Kitchen range hoods or other exhaust fan systems help remove moisture, odors, and heat, as well as pollutants such as grease and food particles. 

Do Bathroom Exhaust Fans Work For Kitchens? 

The short answer is no, bathroom exhaust fans will not work for kitchens. Kitchen range hood fans and bathroom exhaust fans have different purposes. While the general purpose is the same – remove polluted air and replace it with clean air – kitchen ranges need to do more work and remove more pollutants than bathroom exhaust fans. Some reasons you will want to stick to an exhaust system that is made for kitchens include: 

• Filter Grease – All types of cooking have some sort of airborne by-product. Whether you are using a fryer basket in a commercial kitchen or cooking on the stove in a residential home, cooking produces grease and debris that will get into the air around you. Kitchen exhaust systems have filtration systems that help filter out these airborne pollutants and grease before returning air to the kitchen.
  
• Handle High Heat – Cooking gets hot! Kitchen filtration systems help manage the temperature by removing excess heat. As such, these exhaust systems and fans must be built to handle high heat, which bathroom exhaust fans are not made to withstand.
  
• Clear Any Co2 – Another byproduct of cooking, especially with a gas stove, can be Co2, or carbon dioxide, which can be deadly in high quantities. Kitchen exhaust systems are built to help remove carbon dioxide from the air.
  
• Remove High Heat and Perform Temperature Management – In addition to being able to handle the high heat, kitchen exhaust systems are built to remove high heat from the kitchen area. This helps with temperature control for the kitchen and the entire building. 

Contact AirPro Indoor Solutions!

Questions about your ductwork or kitchen exhaust system, or are you ready to schedule annual maintenance and cleaning for your commercial kitchen? Contact the team at Airpro Indoor Air Solutions today to schedule your appointment.