Benefits

Mitigates risk of fire

When hardened, built-up grease is removed from all areas of a grease duct, the risk of fire throughout your building is greatly reduced. Small electrical fires can occur anywhere in your building. If they don't have fuel to spread them they will burn out. However, because grease is acidic, it can cause the rubber jacket covering on an electrical wire to become brittle and cracked. This then would allow grease to come in contact with the copper wiring inside of these lines, which would then eventually arc and start a grease fire outside of the grease duct. It happens.

Increases safety for building tenants and surrounding businesses

Grease ducts not only move grease fumes out of a building but also smoke and carbon monoxide gases from commercial cooking. Blockages in the duct slow down the exhaust system's airspeed. This leads to smoke and carbon monoxide escaping through gaps in the grease duct. This smoke and gas are then free to move throughout the building into tenant living spaces above kitchens and surrounding businesses. Please note that most monetary damages from a restaurant kitchen grease fire arise from smoke. Smoke damages alone can easily total millions of dollars.

NFPA 96 and fire code compliant

According to the NFPA, no longer is it acceptable for hood cleaning companies to mark areas as "INACCESSIBLE" as this practice allows grease to build and harden. Grease ducts must be cleaned to bare metal.

Mitigates risk of legal and financial liability

It is no longer acceptable to ignore the risks associated with "Inaccessible Areas." If a fire erupts in a system that was previously identified as "Inaccessible" the owners of the system could be both legally and financially liable. Neither the hood cleaning company of record nor the restaurant operator wants the liability, nor do they resolve the issue.

That creates a dangerous situation and a legal and financial nightmare.

Improves kitchen and restaurant air quality

Grease duct blockages also cause bad air to remain in the kitchen and flow into the restaurant space. Leaving staff and customers to breathe it.

Decreases fire risk

Grease Lock Filters collect up to 98% of airborne grease in disposable cartridges in the kitchen hood. When the cartridges are full, they are disposed of as regular trash. This means little to no grease buildup in areas previously labeled "Inaccessible."

Decreases required hood cleanings

Hood cleanings do not prevent grease buildup. The day after a cleaning, grease starts building up again in inaccessible areas. With Grease Lock it doesn't. And in most cases, only one hood cleaning per year is required after installing Grease Lock. This nearly eliminates all of the headaches associated with hood cleanings. Especially with tenants above kitchens and surrounding businesses.

Positively impacts your tenants and surrounding businesses

With Grease Lock, nearly all of the grease fumes are captured in the hood filters and thrown away before the grease can start to rot. This is the reason grease ducts in big buildings stink. Hidden grease is rotting in the ductwork as it spreads throughout the building.

Increases safety

By preventing grease from spreading throughout the entire grease duct, the possibility of a ventilation system fire is greatly reduced. This increases the safety for the entire building including tenants, surrounding businesses, and restaurant customers.

Protects investment in complete restoration

The Grease Lock System will protect the investment made in the grease duct restoration work. Grease Lock Filters keep ducts clean after they've been restored down to bare metal.

Mitigates risk of legal and financial liability

Restaurant Operators are responsible for keeping their systems clean. If unclean systems cause a fire, they open themselves up to both legal and financial liability.

NFPA 96 and fire code compliant

According to the NFPA, grease ducts must be cleaned to bare metal and be maintained accordingly.

Supports EPA standards

Grease Lock filter pads are all-natural, carbon-neutral, and break down in landfills.

Decreases fire risk

Restaurant hood filters are the single most important, yet ignored, piece of safety equipment in a commercial kitchen. Exhaust hood manufacturers state in their warranties that these filters must be replaced every 2 years, at a minimum. And as often as every 6 months for specific categories of cooking equipment. However, in our more than 20 years of experience, this requirement is universally ignored by everyone involved.

The job of a hood filter is to remove airborne grease fumes from the exhaust air and prevent a cookline fire from spreading into the exhaust duct. However, filters must be clean, undamaged, and not have any gaps between them. Otherwise, they will not work.

Positively impacts your tenants and surrounding businesses

Do the restaurants in your building give off a sour smell? It could be from grease rotting in their hood filters and grease ducts. It is not appealing to think of something rotting in restaurants, but grease is organic and if left untouched it will decay and give off an unpleasant smell. This alone, is another very good reason to not ignore hood filters.

Increases safety

Clean hood filters are capable of removing up to 70% of liquid grease from the grease duct. This increases the safety for the entire building including tenants, surrounding businesses, and restaurant customers.

Protects investment in complete restoration

Clean hood filters will protect the investment made in the grease duct restoration work. While a clean hood filter will not be as effective as our Grease Lock System, it will help keep the grease ducts clean after they've been restored down to bare metal.

Mitigates risk of legal and financial liability

Restaurant operators are responsible for keeping their systems clean. If unclean systems cause a fire, they could be opening themselves personally to legal and financial liability.

NFPA 96 and fire code compliant

Per NFPA, grease ducts must be cleaned to bare metal and be maintained accordingly.

NFPA 96 and fire code compliant

According to the NFPA and fire codes, all commercial exhaust fans must have grease containment units to prevent flammable grease from draining onto rooftop surfaces, and access panels must be installed in every commercial kitchen grease duct if it does not run directly out of a building within 12' of the exhaust hood with no turns or bends.

EPA compliant

The EPA requires that every commercial kitchen must prevent grease from draining into storm sewers. Properly installed and maintained grease containment units prevent grease from draining onto rooftops, which prevents it from draining through downpipes into storm drain systems. Additionally, access panels are installed to facilitate the removal of grease from inside otherwise inaccessible grease ducts. This is the grease that is slowly pulled to the roof, and subsequently into grease containment units if they are present, maintained, and properly installed.

Increases safety

When flammable grease is kept from draining onto the rooftop, the risk of an unseen rooftop fire is greatly reduced. This increases safety for staff, customers, neighboring businesses, and first responders who do not need to turn out for a fire.

Mitigates risk of legal and financial liability

Grease is acidic and it damages all types of commercial rooftops. If your building has a roof leak anywhere within 25' of a restaurant exhaust fan–the leak was most likely caused by grease damage. Additionally, because grease is so flammable, NFPA 96 mandates that only "listed" grease containment units are installed to mitigate fires. Properly installed and maintained units prevent such damage.

Reduces risk of kitchen fires

Regularly scheduled inspections can detect problems early; thus, mitigating the risk of fire.

Improves kitchen air quality

When grease ducts are kept clean, exhaust fans can operate as they are designed keeping air quality optimal throughout your entire property. The only way to ensure that a system is in top working order is to have it inspected regularly.

Mitigates risk of legal and financial liability

Restaurant Operators are required to comply with health regulations, safety standards, fire codes and local laws. Regular inspections will ensure the applicable standards are being followed.

Increases safety for staff and customers

When companies are not compliant with safety standards and fire codes, they put staff and customers at risk; while opening themselves up to legal and financial liability. One way to ensure standards are followed is with regular inspections.

Increases safety for first responders

If commercial kitchens have accurate grease duct diagrams available on-site for first responders, this expedites the time it takes to extinguish the fire.