ᐅ Exhaust hood in a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery: What are your experiences?

I also definitely wanted a vented range hood but was convinced otherwise. The amount of air that vented hoods exhaust can only be replaced by opening a window. However, with the window open and the exhaust running, the mechanical ventilation system doesn’t work effectively.
So, we decided to go with the recirculating hood Gutmann Campo. A Berbel was personally way too expensive for us (and the Gutmann is already quite pricey). Our kitchen will only be installed at the end of July, so we cannot share personal experiences yet.

Sheriff schrieb:
Odors and dirt stay outside

You mean the exhaust hood directs odors and dirt outside, and maybe you implicitly suggest that the filtering effect (odor and dirt) is less efficient with recirculating hoods. I wouldn't fully agree with that; even with recirculating hoods, you can effectively filter odors and dirt. With recirculation, however, you need to get rid of moisture, unlike with exhaust systems. That’s where mechanical ventilation with heat recovery comes in. With exhaust systems, fresh air must be supplied, which is often a hygienic concern in older buildings. In new constructions, it’s, in my opinion, only somewhat more complicated in combination with fireplaces (though still manageable). Then there’s the question of heat loss. Maybe there are good solutions for exhaust hoods—I’m not especially familiar with that. In any case, I prefer recirculating systems, whether combined with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery or not.

We have a controlled residential ventilation system (natural) along with a recirculating hood. Unfortunately, it’s not a Berbel or Gutmann, but the Siemens unit works very well. We have an open kitchen-dining-living area including a gallery, and we have no issues with cooking odors. Okay, raclette on New Year’s Eve was probably a bit too much, but no standard exhaust hood would have handled that either, especially since we weren’t using the hood while raclette was being prepared.

We have a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery and an exhaust hood. When I use the hood, I briefly tilt the window open for air exchange. I don’t mind that the mechanical ventilation system is not fully effective for those few minutes. I consider the mechanical ventilation system more of a comfort feature rather than for 100% energy efficiency.

Just like BratacDD, I see it the same way. We also have a controlled mechanical ventilation system with an exhaust hood. When cooking, the kitchen window is simply tilted open for the (short) time being (there are apparently special contact switches here that prevent the system from turning on when the window is closed).

This creates a kind of "cycle" in the roughly 15m² (160 ft²) kitchen area—fresh air in, cooking fumes out—which you hardly notice in the open living room. As I said, depending on what you cook, this might be 30–60 minutes a day in a space that makes up about 10–15% of the total living area. So I think it’s complete nonsense to portray this as an energy disaster.

And even if you forget to open the window (we don’t have a contact switch), the house doesn’t suddenly become a vacuum where you suffocate. Does the ventilation get thrown off? Basically, these are just "normal fans" that simply have to work a bit harder against the pressure. In terms of strain or durability, this affects the ventilation system no more than opening a window in the summer or in the bathroom. The idea that you can no longer open windows or something like that is just rubbish—we certainly won’t let a ventilation system forbid us from doing that. Honestly, we also don’t really care if the heating or ventilation no longer works exactly as efficiently as the energy certificate suggests. That certificate is based on assumptions about annual temperatures or climate depending on the region, assuming you want to feel comfortable at xx degrees in the living room, yy degrees in the bathroom, and zz degrees in the bedroom, then calculates a value based on insulation, window area and orientation, solar effects, and who knows what else.

Let’s be honest—you build a house for €300,000 plus the land (so the total investment is usually over €400,000), and then argue over whether the monthly heating bill is $68 or $75? Seriously?

Hello Dirk,

Which Berbel do you have? Edge 2? We are considering whether we should treat ourselves to the fun of the effect lighting.

What did you decide?

Best regards,

Manuel