Plastic air ducts are a novelty that, due to a number of advantages, has become very popular. They are used in everyday life for organizing hoods for the kitchen, and for creating a ventilation system in public buildings.
Application: from apartments to shopping centers.
Air ducts are used:
- For kitchen hood... In this case, air ducts are used to provide outlet to the ventilation shaft. Advantages: ease of installation, aesthetic appearance, the ability to paint in different colors, noiselessness;
- For the organization of ventilation. They are installed in private houses, apartments, shopping centers, restaurants and other public and commercial buildings. Advantages: non-conduction of electricity, resistance to corrosion, aesthetics, efficiency.
Usually decorated in order not to spoil the look of the room with unnecessary details. It can be painted in a color that matches the tone of the kitchen or covered with wallpaper. For camouflage purposes, a decorative box is often used.
Variety of diameters and shapes
Plastic air ducts come in two shapes: rectangular and round. Consider their features and sizes:
- Rectangular. Their dimensions are: 110x55mm, 120x60mm, 204x60mm. They are used for the organization of ventilation in industrial premises, residential buildings, kitchen hoods. Rectangular pipes are easy to install due to their shape. It is so easy to fix them that such ducts are often used for installation in difficult conditions, for mounting under false ceilings. A rectangular duct can have an atypical design: the width is 4 times the height. Such flat structures are assembled by hand. They can be used for hoods, but they are distinguished by a high noise level and high resistance to air flows;
- Round. Plastic can have diameters of 100, 125 and 150 mm. Such a duct is distinguished by increased efficiency achieved due to lower resistance to air flow, as well as a lower noise level. Moreover, if rectangular shapes fit well into the interior of the kitchen, then plastic round air ducts do not have such a neutral appearance.
What plastic structures for hood or ventilation are better to choose? It all depends on your requirements. If you wish to provide increased efficiency and low noise, it is better to prefer a round duct if the aesthetics are rectangular.
Plastic pipes are further subdivided into two types:
- Flexible. They are used in chemical laboratories, for organizing permanent and temporary ventilation systems, for removing smoke and removing polluted air from construction sites. Plastic products flexible type withstand temperatures from -35 to +90 degrees. Their inner diameters can be from 60 to 500 mm;
- Tough. produced in widths from 100 to 1000 mm. Plastic rigid structures are made of 3 mm and 5 mm thick material.
Elements of a plastic duct
Advantages and disadvantages of plastic products
Plastic air ducts are not in vain so popular, because they have unique advantages:
- Corrosion resistant. If the corrugated metal duct, so often used to organize the hood, quickly corrodes, then plastic products in this regard are much more durable;
- Smooth inner surface. Plastic products have no roughness on the inner walls. The smooth surface reduces the resistance to air flow, which increases the efficiency of extraction or ventilation. This duct is less noisy. After proper treatment, it does not attract dust, and this reduces the frequency of cleaning the system and saves on its maintenance;
- Low cost. Plastic constructions are quite cheap. In addition, such air ducts are economical in operation;
- Simple installation. You can cut, correct plastic pipes before installing them;
- Safety. Plastic air ducts are environmentally friendly, they do not contain harmful additives and are safe for the environment;
- Convenience of transportation. Ease of transportation is achieved due to their strength and lightness;
- Versatility. They are suitable for hoods, ventilation and other systems. They can be operated at temperatures from -40 to +90 degrees. Rectangular, rigid, flexible - their use is almost unlimited;
- Durability. The service life of polypropylene pipes reaches 50 years, PVC products - 100 years;
- Other unique qualities. The structures are resistant to wear, moisture, UV radiation. They can be used in aggressive chemical environment.
Nothing is perfect, and the air ducts in question are also not without drawbacks. Their main disadvantage is low level fire resistance.
This limiting factor often leads to a preference for the reliability of metal over the advantages of plastic. For this reason, such a duct is rarely used for industrial ventilation in fire-hazardous departments. Also, air ducts are quite difficult to install in private houses, which have steam protection.
Despite their shortcomings, air ducts are in great demand and are widely used in a variety of industries. Experts are confident that with a high-quality installation, the duct will serve for a very long time and will ensure the efficient operation of the ventilation system.
The service life of some products can be up to one hundred years. They are ideal for residential installations. Plastic, due to its unique qualities, has long taken a leading place in the organization of many types of communication systems.
Comments:
The hood has long been considered an indispensable component of the kitchen. This is a mechanism designed to forcibly withdraw from working area cooking smells and vapors.
Having such a device, it is possible to significantly reduce the fogging of glasses on the window from the side of the kitchen, as well as to get rid of the spread of "aromas" (especially unpleasant) from cooking and burnt dishes throughout the home. Hoods also have one more functionality, no less important, which is appreciated by many housewives, lighting the hob.
Self-installation of an air duct with an exhaust hood is very feasible as part of an undertaken repair in the kitchen. The work, although it seems a little painstaking, but it is simple. It is necessary to consider how everything is in reality.
When the installation of the hood in the kitchen is carried out with high quality and in accordance with all the rules, they provide for the installation of a ventilation duct, which will run from the hood to the ventilation outlet from the kitchen.
Installation of a cooker hood without air duct
Not all hoods require a duct connection. Flat appliances with a distinctive visor purify kitchen odors through special internal filters.
All other devices need a duct connection.
Mounting flat hood consists in attaching a hanger under the exhaust device to the wall surface and in hanging the device itself.
Back to the table of contents
Installation of a kitchen hood and an exhaust duct
To carry out all the work with your own hand, you will need:
- drill;
- jigsaw;
- pencil with tape measure;
- screwdriver.
Connecting an extractor hood inside the household electrical network means preparing tools or seeking qualified help from a professional electrician.
Installation of the exhaust structure is carried out either on the wall surface or on the lower edge of the kitchen cabinet. In both situations, it is required to ensure that the duct is laid from the hood of the hood to the entrance to the general ventilation system. In the kitchen of apartment buildings, this is necessarily available. When arranging an exhaust device in an individual sector, you will need to lay an air duct outside in advance. This can be done both through the outer wall and along interfloor ceilings to the attic and roof.
Back to the table of contents
Preparing the duct box
You can purchase a soft box (like an aluminum corrugation) or hard (plastic). Mounting plastic boxes with the help of connecting elements that allow you to change the direction of the duct and lengthen it, it is considered a more reliable option.
Installation of plastic air ducts is not particularly difficult. They can be sawed, like any plastic object, connected by means of fasteners that are purchased the day before. To avoid mistakes, a diagram of the duct route is indicated on paper in advance, indicating the exact dimension of the knees. The knee is the part of the duct from turn to turn. It is worth immediately paying attention to what size and shape the ventilation hole in the kitchen has. To examine it, remove the grille before viewing. It is necessary to study the outlet hole, because often the lattice is rectangular, and the hole itself is round. Then you will have to take care of purchasing an adapter from a rectangle box to a round ventilation hole.
Advice: if there is a single ventilation outlet in the kitchen, you should provide for incomplete closure of the hole with a box. The remaining space will be needed to supply the kitchen space with natural ventilation. It is covered with an additional grille. If natural ventilation can be solved differently, then the dimension of the box, in comparison with the ventilation channel, will not matter.
The joints between the duct elbows must be absolutely tight. An acrylic or silicone compound is used to seal the airway openings. This sealant is applied to the edges of the box before inserting the box section into the structure.
Advice: before you finally fix the air duct, you need to try to assemble the entire structure as a whole so that each element takes its own "route". After that, the system must be disassembled and designed with the participation of the sealant.
Back to the table of contents
Step-by-step instructions: self-installation of the duct
Air duct installation includes the following steps:
- The first step is to determine the installation site and prepare it. The hood is mounted in place, depending on the selected model. For this, measurements are made using a tape measure of the required installation level. Marking is applied. In a situation where the surfaces of the cabinet, located above the hob, do not allow the required level of the mark to be reached, they are filed a little. Basically, the required height of the lower part of the hood above the cooker is entirely determined by the power of the installed motor. On average, this value reaches 50-70 centimeters.
- After the control of the device placement level has been completed and the necessary markings have been made, the sides of the cabinet are sawed off to the desired length. For this, a jigsaw with a "clean cut" file for wood will do. Using such a power tool, you can get a fairly high quality cut. If such a tool cannot be found, then a joiner's hacksaw may well replace it.
- All work is carried out after dismantling the cabinet from the wall surface and giving the object kitchen furniture maximum stability. To get the best possible surface, when working hand tool try to provide an angle between the working blade of the tool and the surface of the cabinet in the range of 20-30 °. Otherwise, chips will appear on the opposite side, which will not fail to spoil the appearance of the piece of furniture.
- The next step is to form a hole with a large d for mounting a through metal duct. The latter is a corrugated pipe or a pipe with smooth walls. For this, a flange is applied in the place of the planned placement of the holes. It serves as a template for marking holes.
- Then, using a drill with an appropriate drill (d - at least 8 mm), a hole is drilled through the wood inside the marked marking.
- A file from a jigsaw is inserted into the resulting hole and the required element is carefully cut out in accordance with the markings.
- If a suitable file has been selected, it provides a high degree of cut quality. If there was no such file, then the edges are additionally processed sandpaper... Then the prepared cabinet with holes is installed in its original place.
- In order to provide power to the device motor and lighting system, the exhaust wires are connected to the power supply.
- The penultimate step is to attach the ventilation system to the location. Install the device body and markup for fasteners. Next, holes are drilled at the marked points, d of which corresponds to 2/3 d of screws. Then the body is hung.
- After the installation of the exhaust device is completed, the air duct is connected to it using steel clamps.
- In conclusion, the system is checked for operability.
Air ducts are needed for the outflow of exhaust air. Without them, all fats and other impurities would settle on many surfaces. Also, with the help of an air duct, unpleasant odors can be removed outside the kitchen. It is necessary to choose the right air duct in order to maintain the ventilation system at a high level of efficiency. This article will show you exactly how to do this; We will also consider what air ducts are (in particular, let's talk about a corrugated duct), their main advantages, disadvantages and much more.
Types of plastic pipes
There are many options for cooker hoods plastic pipes. They are classified into:
- polyurethane;
- pvc (polyvinyl chloride);
- polypropylene;
They are also the following shapes and sizes:
- Kitchen... Such designs are ideal for kitchens in style and size;
- Round... These air ducts are used in ventilation systems for long routes;
- Rectangular... Used in everyday life. The dimensions of such an air duct are mainly of two types: 60 * 204 mm and 60 * 120 mm;
- Flexible. This view air ducts are either rectangular or round. Rectangular is used for installing the hood. It is mainly used in various businesses. But a rectangular duct does not compare in efficiency with a round one. After all, the air flow that passes through it encounters much less resistance.
Besides these types, air ducts are of two types:
- Corrugated... The main disadvantage of this duct is its unattractive appearance. Not every person wants to have a factory element at home, because it still needs to be hidden in some way. But the corrugation is easily cut with scissors, and also does not emit extraneous sounds and hums. Corrugated air ducts are made of thin aluminum. The stretched corrugation is about three meters. Experts also say that the corrugation should bend only in a state of compression, otherwise it can simply be damaged.
- Plastic... The plastic air duct consists of various joints, the basis of which can be PVC, silicone and many other materials. Most often, pvc is chosen for the kitchen, since it is very light and it is not difficult to glue it or solder it. The most important advantage of pvc is hygiene. The service life of the PVC plastic air duct is over 100 years.
Polyurethane and propylene air ducts
Above, pvc air ducts were partially considered. In addition to this material, there are two more main ones, from which this equipment is made:
- Polyurethane... Their distinctive feature is strength and lightness. It is believed that a polyurethane duct, if used correctly, can last even longer than a similar PVC. They also have high chemical resistance to any aggressive environment and are difficult to catch fire.
- Propylene... Propylene is a white, thermoplastic solid material. The air duct from it is quite durable and plastic. From -45 to 85 degrees - it is at this temperature that the correct operation of such air ducts is possible. Their service life is over 50 years.
Air duct sections
The cross-sections of the ducts are selected based on what is the peculiarity of its location. The advantage of the plastic duct is that it can be easily placed between the space of the false ceilings. The appearance of the pipes is such that even if they are in a conspicuous place, the design of the room does not deteriorate at all.
Various fittings and accessories are produced. It is needed to cover certain areas of the hood. With this, it becomes possible to combine several air ducts into one network.
Manufacturers also supply many types of fasteners with which you can achieve strong fastening to wall surfaces.
Rectangular section
Let us consider in detail such a cross-section of air ducts as rectangular. Such a duct is most often used in private houses or cottages, as well as in laboratories and workshops.
What does this type of duct look like? These are several plastic boxes, in which their width is several times their own height. With the help of a profile, a plastic rectangular duct is quite easy to install.
Since there are a great many different fittings, there is no need to worry that the ventilation system will not be airtight.
Compared to round ducts, rectangular ones are more compact and easier to place so that it is not noticeable.
Round air ducts
Advantages and disadvantages of plastic pipes
pros
- the material is environmentally friendly, so you don't have to worry about any harmful substances getting into your home or the environment;
- in their properties, plastic air ducts are significantly superior to metal ones;
- installation of plastic pipes is easier than metal ones;
- plastic air ducts are not subject to corrosion;
- plastic air ducts cost much less than similar metal ones.
Minuses
What is good news, the plastic air duct has practically no drawbacks. The only drawback is that such air ducts have low fire resistance.
Air duct installation
Required tools
Basic installation rules
The duct must be stretched as much as possible when it is being installed. To cut the plastic, you first need to measure its length and mark it with a marker. Then you should cut it with a knife.
Before connecting the air duct to the hood, you need to carry out the sealing process. After that, it is required to fix the air duct itself with a clamp.
Attention! The sagging of the duct should be no more than 50 millimeters.
After these operations, the start-up and testing of the ventilation system begins. If you do this not with your own hands, but with the help of a wizard, then you will pay more than 1,000 rubles for installation and connection.
Are there any mistakes when installing plastic ducts? Yes, and the main one is the following: the spiral air flow is not taken into account. This error can result in rapid wear of the ventilation equipment.
To avoid this error, it is enough to consult with the seller and take a plastic air duct of a slightly larger diameter.
Conclusion
Today, the use of plastic ducting has grown tremendously. This can be explained by the fact that according to their technical specifications these products are distinguished by their high strength and long service life. In addition, they do not corrode, so they are not afraid of any small scratches.
From this article, you learned about what air ducts are and how to properly install and use them. Remember that their choice must be taken with special care, because a properly selected air duct will ensure almost complete absence of any problems associated with it.
Attention, only TODAY!
