Kitchen Ventilation
Hood exhaust capture, makeup-air balancing, and code-compliant airflow for restaurants and food service across Clark County.
Commercial kitchen ventilation is its own discipline within HVAC, governed by its own code (NFPA 96, IMC Chapter 5), and routinely botched by general HVAC contractors who treat it like any other rooftop. The problem is that a kitchen exhaust hood is half the system. Without correctly sized makeup air feeding the space at a balanced rate, the kitchen becomes a giant negative-pressure zone, the back door slams open, gas appliances misfire, dining-room HVAC pulls hot grease-laden air across the line, and the health inspector writes you up. Get it right and the kitchen runs cleaner, cooler, and safer than the dining room.
Constant Air Balancing and Services has been measuring airflow on commercial kitchens across Las Vegas for 28 years. Our scope covers new hood installations and inspections, exhaust-fan service and replacement, makeup-air-unit (MAU) commissioning and balancing, and the certified test-and-balance reports that Clark County plan reviewers require for restaurant tenant improvements. We work with restaurant operators, mechanical contractors, design-build firms, and property managers who own restaurant buildings in their portfolio.
What we test: capture velocity at the hood face, exhaust CFM per fan, makeup-air supply CFM, kitchen-vs-dining pressure differential, hood static pressure (which tells you if your filters need cleaning before they catch fire), and electrical performance of every motor. We document every measurement in a TAB report formatted to the standards Clark County plan reviewers and your insurance carrier expect to see, not a one-paragraph email.
Common failures we fix: undersized makeup-air units that leave the kitchen 15°F hotter than it should be; oversized exhaust fans pulling so much air the restaurant front door slams every time it is opened; grease-loaded hood baffles that have not been cleaned in years and are running at half their rated capacity; backdrafting on natural-draft water heaters and gas ranges (a real CO hazard). Commercial air balancing on a restaurant is not optional, it is the difference between code compliance and a closure notice.
Hood and Equipment Inventory
We catalog every hood, exhaust fan, makeup-air unit, and gas appliance under the hoods. Each piece of equipment gets a make/model record so spec sheets are at hand for every measurement that follows.
Capture and Pressure Testing
We measure capture velocity at the hood face per NFPA 96 and IMC standards, exhaust CFM at every fan, MAU supply CFM, and kitchen-to-dining pressure differential. Numbers go on the report; we do not eyeball anything.
Balance Adjustment
Makeup-air dampers, exhaust controls, and dining-room HVAC are all balanced together so the kitchen runs at slight negative pressure relative to the dining room without back-drafting any natural-draft appliance.
Verification and Re-Test
After adjustments, we re-measure every value and confirm capture velocity is at or above code, kitchen-dining differential is correct, and no gas appliance is back-drafting. Re-test data is documented alongside baseline.
TAB Report Delivery
You receive a certified Test, Adjust, Balance report formatted for plan reviewer and insurance-carrier review. Every measurement, every adjustment, every brand and model is documented for future reference.
Code-Literate
We balance to NFPA 96 and IMC Chapter 5, the codes Clark County plan reviewers actually enforce. No gray-area certifications, no copy-paste reports.
Hood + MAU + Dining Together
A kitchen is not a hood, it is a balanced system. We commission the exhaust, the makeup air, and the surrounding HVAC zones together, not in isolation.
Restaurant-Owner Reports
Our TAB reports are written for plan reviewers and insurance carriers, not just contractors. You get the documentation you actually need to defend the install.
A commercial kitchen lives or dies on its ventilation. The exhaust hood has to pull the heat, smoke, and grease-laden air out fast enough to keep the line working and the inspector happy, and the make-up air has to replace it without starving the space. Get the balance wrong and you fail inspection or cook in a sauna.
We measure the hood’s exhaust capture and the make-up air delivery, then balance the two so the kitchen runs at the right pressure. An exhaust system that overpowers the make-up air pulls conditioned air out of the dining room and slams doors, all symptoms of numbers that were never measured. We set it by the readings, not by feel.
Properly ventilated kitchens are safer, more comfortable, and pass code. See ventilation projects in the gallery.
Our kitchen was smoky and the front door kept getting sucked open. Constant Air measured the exhaust and make-up air and balanced it properly. The line is comfortable now, the smoke clears fast, and we passed our health inspection without a hitch.
Still have questions? Contact us directly or call (702) 840-5163, we are happy to help.
Ready to Get Started?
Contact Constant Air Balancing & Services today for a free, no-obligation quote. We look forward to working with you.