We’ve got the perfect solution for your passive home ventilation system

In recent years, the demand for passive homes has risen dramatically. We’re more aware then ever of our ecological footprint on the environment and consequently more people are looking for ways to reduce it in clever and innovative ways. 

Exhaust air systems are recommended for low-energy buildings such as passive houses.

The recently released Naber THERMOBOX is a nifty little product that packs a big punch when it comes to this relatively new way of designing and building homes.

Designed to close when it’s not in use and open when air pressure builds, Thermobox has been approved for passive homes as they prevent flow and heat loss when the vents are not in use and closed. Ideal for areas that can be windy, as well as avoiding rain and preventing rodents, their insulation effect is comparable with that of double glazed windows. With their defined opening pressure of >65 Pa, they won’t vibrate or rattle with high wind loads, but they’ll also fully open even with low air flow rates. Their innovative magnetic opening and closing mechanism ensures smooth transitions.

When compared to standard backflow traps, they lose 20x less heat and this combined with their heat insulating reflective layer makes them extremely energy efficient.  They fully seal when closed, which ensures that cold air from outside doesn’t come in, while at the same time preventing heat loss from the warmer inside environment your home. They are compatible with almost all ventilation appliances available on the market and offer several options for installation. The air ducts can be installed invisibly in ceilings and cabinets or as visible room elements.

This is one of those products that might be easily overlooked if you didn’t know what you were looking for. Don’t let this small, seemingly insignificant item fool you, it’s one of the keystones to having an energy efficient ventilation system.

Get better results and reduce noise with Naber ducting

Ducting can make a significant impact to the performance of a rangehood. We all know that rangehoods are required now in any new homes, or existing homes where these are rented out. However a lot of people actually don’t realise that the ducting can make a significant contribution to the overall performance of the rangehood.  

Most often people will pick a rangehood that they like the look of, has all the bells and whistles and is priced within their budget, and they think that is the end of the matter. However in the 18 years we’ve been in business, the majority of complaints we get around rangehoods is for what people believe is poor performance.  However in a high percentage of these cases, it’s not actually the rangehood at fault but more the way in which it was installed or ducted.

Quite often trouble begins when a run-of-the-mill ducting kit is picked up from the local DIY store and it’s installed without any calculation to how this will affect the performance of the rangehood. Bends that are too tight, ducting too far and flimsy ducting which isn’t sealed are the main contributing factors when performance issues happen.

The traditional household only requires approx. 500 cubic m/hr of extraction.  Clearly this alters based on the size of the room, airflow, what they cook and how often they cook.  The design of the kitchen also affects the extraction of the rangehood efficiency. 

How can I improve my extraction to get better use out of my rangehood?

There are a number of things you can do to improve your performance so that your rangehood is working as effective as it possibly can:

1. The rangehood should have a larger width of ‘vents’ compared to the size of the cooktop

2. The further away the rangehood is placed, or motor for that instance, has a substantial impact

3. The ducting and type of ducting you use can have a significant impact.

Here at Ikon we always recommend rigid ducting.  This is because normal aluminium ducting creates hole-vents which allows the air to stop and get caught up in the creases of the aluminium, whereby Naber ducting is free from creases. 

The biggest issue we see is bends in the ducting.  When installing ducting we find to make installation easier, ducting can be bent too far. This means the air flow hits the edge of the bend and struggles its way around the corner, thereby reducing the air flow significantly.  With Naber, in all bends there are internal wind bends to allow the flow of air to move quicker around the corner.  The Naber ducting doesn’t pierce and is sealed within each other (male and female ends), so they clip in and air flow cannot exit the ducting. 

The last consideration is when a rangehood has to work harder to extract air that’s getting blocked in the ducting, this in turn also creates more noise.  So often we hear people saying ‘my rangehood is like a jet engine so we don’t use it’.  A 3 speed rangehood will always be noisier than rangehoods that have more speeds, but ducting will also have a huge impact on the noise levels.  It is now possible to filter rangehoods by the number of speed settings on our rangehood collection overview page. If you’re looking for some serious capacity, our IK79.6 and IK79.9 powerpacks have nine speeds!

AIRFLOW POWER

We are now seeing the kitchen industry taking particular care when planning kitchens making sure to discuss ducting with the homeowner at the design stage. Not many people know that you can achieve an extra 10-15% increase in flow and decrease in noise by using the right ducting for your rangehood.

The airflow power required normally depends on the size of kitchen and type of cooking. The correct airflow for your specific kitchen can be easily worked out.

Simply multiply the volume of the kitchen by ten and you will obtain the ideal airflow for that room.

For example, for a kitchen of 3m x 4m with a height of 2.7m: (3 x 4 x 2.7) x 10 = 324. In this case, any Ikon cooker hood with airflow equal to our superior to 324 m3/h will therefore guarantee the complete and efficient ventilation of the room. For a large family, for those who love cooking as an art, or where a group of friends are gathered together in a spacious kitchen to experiment with some exotic recipes, the hood capacity should be over 500 m3/h.

Effective capture of cooking fumes also depends on the correct use of the product, where the product is mounted, what you are cooking and how and how the rangehood is ducted.

PASSIVE HOMES

Exhaust air systems are recommended for low-energy buildings such as passive houses.

The Naber THERMOBOX is designed to keep the warmth inside when the extractor hood is not in use, while it effectively conducts the exhaust air to the outside when in operation. Naber systems are compatible with almost all cooker hoods available on the market and offer several options for installation. The air ducts can be installed invisibly in ceilings and cabinets or as visible room elements. They are energy efficient exhaust systems that have a vent that closes when not in use. They have been specifically approved for use in passive homes.

Kitchens are the heart of the home, and the kitchen island is the heart of the kitchen – a central hub where people gather to prepare food, to eat and chat. Therefore, it’s important that it is as functional and practical as it is beautiful. If you’re planning on installing a cooktop into your island benchtop we’ve a great option to keep the fumes at bay not only efficiently but also stylishly.

Illumahoods are the perfect solution for use over island benchtops as they’re easy to install – just hang, plug in and they’re ready to use. This is due to the fact that they’re recirculating, which means they don’t requiring ducting on the wall or ceiling. Unlike ducted rangehoods, which vent air to the outside, recirculating rangehoods consist of a fan with an activated charcoal filter.  The fan sucks up grease particles, heat, smells, and smoke – then the filter cleans the air particles and recirculates them back into the kitchen. These activated carbon filters are also easy to clean – just regenerate them in the dishwasher on a hot wash (without detergent).

Illumahoods also feature powerful LED lighting to beautifully illuminate any kitchen. The Neat models have an 87 watt LED stripe light which filters through the tempered glass and the Pure models have two 2.5 watt LED lights. Like most other Ikon rangehoods, Illumahoods are packed with helpful features like remote control, timer function (turns off after 15 minutes) and they’ll even tell you when the filters require cleaning.

We have two models to choose from Neat (square) and Pure (round). Both models are available in either black or white and have an adjustable height ranging from 650mm to 2000mm. Neat has a squarer shape and is slightly smaller (470mm wide) than the Pure model. They also have a marginally smaller net capacity of 659m3/hour. Neat Illumahoods also feature a USB charging remote control. As well as being a little larger at 502mm, Pure has a round design and a slightly more powerful net capacity of 697m3/hour.

So really, it just comes down to which shape and colour you prefer as either model will be perfectly suitable for hanging over your kitchen island bench cooktop.