Kitchen Extraction Installation
Commercial Kitchen Canopy Installation
What does a commercial kitchen canopy do?
A commercial kitchen canopy collects the heat, steam and grease-laden vapour coming off the appliance line and directs it into the extract ductwork. Its size is set by what sits underneath it and how far it overhangs, not by the space available on the wall. An undersized canopy lets the plume escape into the kitchen no matter how strong the fan is.
What size canopy do I need?
Three things decide it, and none of them is the room:
- Overhang. The canopy has to extend past the appliances on every open side. Cooking plume rises and spreads, so a canopy cut flush to the appliance edge will spill.
- Appliance duty. A char grill and a bain-marie of the same width need very different extract volumes. Sizing from footprint alone is how kitchens end up smoky with a brand new system.
- Mounting height. The higher the canopy sits, the wider the plume has spread by the time it gets there, so more volume is needed to catch it.
This is why we survey before quoting. A figure given over the phone usually has to be corrected later.
What does DW172 require?
DW172 is the specification covering kitchen ventilation systems, including canopy construction, duct sizing and access for cleaning. The part that matters most on installation day is the last one: access panels have to be designed in, because retrofitting them into a finished run costs more than fitting them at the start.
A system built without access cannot be properly cleaned later, which turns every future TR19 clean into a partial one.
Which type of canopy suits the kitchen?
| Type | Where it belongs |
|---|---|
| Wall canopy | Against a wall, over a single line of appliances. The common case. |
| Island canopy | Over a central cooking suite, open on all sides. Needs more extract volume because there is no wall to contain the plume. |
| Condense canopy | Over dishwashers and combi ovens, handling steam rather than grease. |
| Ventilated ceiling | For large or awkward kitchens where a canopy cannot cover the layout. It is more work to install, and it covers the space better once it is in. |
How long does a canopy installation take?
A straightforward wall canopy replacement in an existing kitchen with ductwork already in place is usually a one to two day job. A new run, a roof-level fan or an island canopy takes longer, and how much longer depends on what the survey finds above the ceiling.
Most of our installation work runs outside service hours so the kitchen keeps trading. We agree the shutdown window before the order, not on the morning of the fit.
What the installation includes
- Site survey and canopy sizing from the appliance line
- Canopy fabrication in stainless steel, with grease filters and lighting
- Ductwork routing, with access panels designed in for cleaning
- Fan selection and mounting, sized to the extract rate
- Commissioning, airflow readings, and a handover record
Where the kitchen runs gas appliances, the interlock has to be proven before the system is signed off. That work is Gas Safe registered and sits with a Gas Safe engineer, not with us. What we hand over is the ventilation side, proven and measured, so the interlock has something reliable to read.