Some may make it look easy, but opening a restaurant is a huge and daunting task. From choosing the right theme to picking out the right equipment, everything needs to be spot on or customers can easily go to the next restaurant on the street.

Your kitchen is one of your biggest investments for your restaurant. After all, it’s the heart of your business; it’s where the magic happens. Unfortunately, getting your kitchen ready is more complex than just buying a fryer and some pans. So, if you’re wondering where to put your money first, here are four things you should invest in:

Commercial Hoods

You will typically need two types of hoods for your kitchen: a good commercial exhaust hood and grease exhaust hood. Since kitchen equipment like ovens and stoves produce high levels of heat, you need an exhaust hood to filter out smoke and fumes to maintain good airflow in your kitchen. A good grease exhaust hood is necessary, especially if you’re operating with fryers, broilers and griddles.

HVAC

Your kitchen will be packed with cooking and dish washing equipment that can easily increase its temperature. It even gets worse during peak hours when your kitchen is busy and packed with people. To ensure that your space is getting enough “makeup air” to maintain your staff’s comfort and compensate the air being exhausted by your hoods, you need to invest in a good HVAC system. Aside from putting your kitchen in an area with a separate thermostat, you might also want to invest in a portable air conditioning unit that can provide additional cooling for peak hours and on hot days.

Exhaust Fans

Your commercial exhaust hood can get the job done when it comes to venting out smoke and fumes, it would be smart to invest in exhaust fans to provide additional ventilation to your kitchen. This is especially important if you have several equipment that produce high heat like double convection ovens.

Fire Suppression

When you’re working with fire, you need to find ways to address fire risks to protect your business. Most building codes also require fire suppression systems that connects to a hood system and use either inert gas or dry chemicals to put out a fire in the kitchen. These systems are either automatically activated or can be switched on manually to extinguish fire, should they occur. Make sure to discuss this requirement with whoever you choose to install your hood when buying a commercial exhaust hood so it can be integrated into your system.

Studies showed that an overly hot workplace decreases employee productivity, which is why building code regulations suggest that thermostats in work areas should be between 68 to 76 degrees. With this in mind, it’s very important to choose the right ventilation system for your kitchen to keep your employees productive and comfortable, and your business in good shape at all times.

The good thing is, shopping for the right commercial exhaust hood has become a lot easier with Exhaust Hood Depot! Contact us today to customize hoods according to your exact needs.

Exhaust Hood Depot is proud to offer its services Nationwide and to the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland and their major cities and surrounding areas: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Erie, Baltimore, Frederick, Annapolis, and Rockville