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Portable range hood keeps kitchens smoke- and grease-free

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The AirHood is a portable range hood that effectively removes smoke and grease from the air while cooking
Smart Product Concepts
The AirHood is a portable range hood that effectively removes smoke and grease from the air while cooking
Smart Product Concepts
The AirHood uses an oil filter to remove fat and grease, and an activated charcoal filter to remove particulates
Smart Product Concepts
The AirHood has a handle for easy portability
Smart Product Concepts
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As important as ventilation is in the kitchen, it’s something that’s often not up to scratch. French designer Maxime Augay has now launched the AirHood, a portable range hood that can sit on a bench and efficiently pull grease and smoke out of the air.

A built-in range hood is a necessity for modern kitchens, but installing one into an older house or an existing building that perhaps wasn’t designed for cooking is a big task. Poor ventilation while cooking can set off smoke alarms, let odors linger, cause grease to build up on surfaces, and worst of all, lead to a wide range of potential health problems.

Augay designed the AirHood to counter all of those issues. Resembling a stylish speaker that stands 22 cm (13.1 in) tall, the device can be placed next to a hot plate where its powerful fan sucks in the fumes and smoke before they drift too far. That smoke first passes through an oil filter that captures the grease and fat, before then going through an activated charcoal filter that removes particulates. The filtered air is then blown out through the diffuser in the back.

The AirHood has a handle for easy portability
Smart Product Concepts

The oil filter can be easily washed by hand or in the dishwasher, the team says, while the charcoal filters are replaceable, with each apparently lasting 120 hours of cooking time. The AirHood comes with three fan speed settings, a handle for easy portability, and the option of either a wired or wireless model. An optional extension foot can also raise the device by 5 cm (2 in) so it can peek over the lip of larger pots, woks or pressure cookers.

The AirHood is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, where the campaign has raised more than US$300,000 from its initial $20,000 goal. Pledges start at $99, which includes a wired AirHood, one oil filter, and five charcoal filters. The wireless model runs an extra $20. If all goes to plan, the portable range hood should begin shipping to backers in October.

Check out the AirHood in action in the video below.

Source: Kickstarter

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5 comments
Jinpa
Heat rises, it doesn't go sideways, so to create enough air flow to capture the grease-laden air this device would have to be very fast and so very noisy. Bad idea. It should be mounted above the cooking surface, not beside it. Small devices like this typically are very noisy, so what is the dBa rating at each of its operating speeds, measured at say two feet from the device? Developers usually don't want to spend the money for a low-noise design for the fan blade. Also, no info about how easy is it to get inside to the fan blade and housing to clean it? Most restaurant fires are caused by grease buildup, because restaurant owners or managers are too cheap to hire professional cleaning services at least twice a year, then, when flames hit the grease, the fire destroys the kitchen, the restaurant and sometimes the building and its other occupants. Stupid people throw water at a grease fire, causing a worse fire.
michael_dowling
Jinpa "Heat rises, it doesn't go sideways, so to create enough air flow to capture the grease-laden air this device would have to be very fast and so very noisy".
Yes,that is the first thing I thought of too. There is a reason range hoods are situated over the stove,as you say.
SteveMc
Heat does go sideways if there is a strong enough convection current of air travelling across the top of the cooking vessel. I have worked with smoke machines in the entertainment industry and diverting vast amounts of superheated glycol steam was part of my job. This is no different.
Cooker hoods are above the cooker because it's the most convenient place to fit it in most cases and as it benefits from the heated cooking emissions rising, it requires a lower power and therefore normally quieter fan for the intake. Don't forget that what's 'up' also drips back down with gravity ;) So this 'gadget' has its uses and is a very convenient and cheap option for those who cannot fit a conventional hood, as stated in the very reason it was designed.
ljaques
Any device NOT directly above the hot oil vapor and/or steam rising from cookpots will miss the largest percentage of said oil and moisture.
Over-stove hoods without ducting will miss over half of the grease as it is, so this AirHood might be 25% effective, if that.
Caveat Emptor.
Longtermthinker
Capture area is tiny as are the filtration elements. I can’t see this doing enough capture to be worth it. Looks like a budding product designer taking a half baked idea and creating a half baked product.