Fume Hood Guide
When remodeling or designing a new laboratory it’s important to consider the individual demands and workloads fume hoods will face. No one fume hood is built the same so it’s imperative to find the ideal application for your research or lab work at your specific location
What are You Using the Fume Hood for?
Intended use of your fume hood should come well before style or design to ensure proper safety within your laboratory. Demonstration fume hoods and acid fume hoods are all designed with unique uses in mind. While they can meet various demands it’s important to consider every possible demand your fume hood could face before ever deciding on a hood application. Also sash configurations vary greatly for various designs and uses.
What Size Fume Hood Do you Really Need?
One of the first questions covers both work environment and overall lab space; how big of a fume hood do you really need. Each fume hood requires is available in a number of dimensions and are designed to work ideally within these dimensions. One you know the demand you’ll be placing on the hood, it’s important to get the size fume hood necessary to handle the workload it will face safely.
What Are Your Energy Needs?
One of the key attributes of specific fume hoods is their efficiency. Some fume hoods such as our Trilogy Fume Hoods and VAV Fume hoods are designed to maximize safety while reducing the amount of exhaust required to safely meet performance standards. This is key to laboratories looking for the most economic fume hoods, or those with limits on energy usage. Others are less economic for the sake of providing the most accurate, controllable exhaust volume possible. Energy needs are a long term aspect of fume hood decisions and laboratory furniture as a whole.
Mechanical Demands?
Plumbing, HVAC exhaust and electrical confines largely dictate what fume hood applications will work in your laboratory. With Variable Volume Hoods, High performance fume hoods, reduced air volume hoods, and washout hoods it’s important to consider the electrical, plumbing and HVAC demands and what you have available in your lab.
While fume hoods will vary in price, many will make up for their upfront cost in efficiency, convenience and safety. These are four simple starting points to consider when planning your lab and fume hood placements.