How Important is Kitchen Exhaust Fan Lubrication?

If you work in a commercial kitchen, you are no stranger to the importance of an exhaust fan. Now, that exhaust fan cannot just be operated all of the time and never receive any attention. Maintenance is important if you want the kitchen exhaust fan to keep running. Lubrication is one of the more important types of kitchen exhaust fan maintenance.

Lubricating your exhaust fan

If you care about the kind of service you are providing to your customers and the environment you are providing for your workers, lubricating your exhaust fan in your commercial kitchen is something that needs to happen on a regular basis.

Does this mean you always have to lubricate your exhaust fan? Of course not, if you choose one of the exhaust fans created with a lifetime lubricated seal. What does this mean you might wonder? Well, it means that until your exhaust fan needs to be replaced, it will not need to be lubricated.

What it really comes down to is what kind of exhaust fan you have installed. You can either have one installed that does need to be manually lubricated or you can install one that is pre-lubricated.

Installing a pre-lubricated exhaust fan

A pre-lubricated exhaust fan is a great option for a commercial kitchen. It takes the hassle out of finding the time and energy to lubricate your exhaust fan. This is an exhaust fan that really doesn’t require much maintenance at all. Depending on the exact type of fan you have installed, you just have to replace it once every seven to ten years.

You do have to be careful if you install fans that have to be lubricated. Unfortunately, it is not a guessing game as a specific fan will need a specific about of lubrication. If you over-lubricate your fan, it is going to cause the bearings to fail prematurely. This just means that you’ll end up needing a replacement fan a lot sooner than you had originally planned.

There are a lot of things that need to be thought about when deciding how much lubrication a fan needs and how often. This includes what kind of fan it is, how big it is, and how many hours it operates. An exhaust kitchen fan that operates 12 hours a day, every day of the week would need to be lubricated anywhere from two to four times every year.

What you really have to decide is if you want to go through the hassle of remembering how often to lubricate your fan or if a pre-lubricated one would be a better value of your money. Don’t forget the importance of hood cleaning!

Photo By Adamantios