How to clean the ventilation in the apartment yourself?

Prophylaxis

The main way to prevent the system is to remove grease and other contaminants from the grate and chimney paths.

Particular attention will be required during the winter season, when ice freezes and snow accumulates on the air paths

If the problem occurs in an apartment building, then independent actions will be prohibited. To correct the reverse thrust, you will need to call a specialist. The owners have the right only to clean their own ventilation grill using a broom or vacuum cleaner.

If the apartment blows in a panel house, then the reason may be illegal redevelopment from neighbors. Such actions can be carried out by grazing the riser, which is why the air is pulled in the opposite direction. Because of which, all the smells from the bathrooms and toilet rooms come to other apartments. The problem can be solved with the help of back plugs, selected depending on the area of ​​the room.

Incorrect operation of the ventilation system is found among residents of the last floors. This is provoked because of the ventilation principle. Air circulation is possible only if it rises not several meters up. The problem can be corrected by increasing the individual channels.

Backdraft is not only the cause of odors and mold, but also a source of harmful substances that do not go outside, but enter the room. Once the owners have discovered a ventilation problem, it should be resolved as soon as possible.

What is ventilation for?

The main task of ventilation is to maintain clean air in living quarters.
It must be kept in good condition and for hygienic reasons. With poorly working ventilation, not only the condition of the apartment worsens, but also the health of the people living in it. The exhaust air that goes into the ventilation takes with it dust particles, various harmful microorganisms, and unwanted substances contained in the room. Thanks to normal ventilation, it is possible to regulate heat and humidity in the house - with timely ventilation, the excess of them leaves, preventing the occurrence of mold and rot.

With the timely cleaning of ventilation, the ventilation process turns out to be regular, which is correct in sanitary terms. With additional equipment with different types of fans, cleaning can be performed less often, but this does not negate the need to regularly clean the ventilation system as a whole.

Basement and basement ventilation

The basement is one of the most important elements of the ventilation system of an apartment building. After all, the ventilation shafts that permeate all the floors begin exactly in the basement.

Typically, an apartment building is organized on natural draft.

To remove raw air from the basement, common ventilation ducts are used, which come out with openings on each floor and in each apartment.

The supply of fresh air is equally important for the ventilation of the basement of an apartment building, where it is often damp and cold. Air vents or holes in the walls of the basement, located slightly above the ground, serve this purpose. The number of airflows is calculated based on the area of ​​the building.

The air area is 1/400 of the building area.

If the building is located in an area with a high content of radon or a maximum background radiation, the air area increases to 1/100 of the building area.

The area of ​​one vent can vary from 0.05 to 0.85 sq. meters.

Air vents with a diameter of 30 x 30 cm must be reinforced.

The shape of the vents can be any shape, but most often they are rectangular or round.This form is easier to perform and looks better.

The distance from the corner to the nearest vent is 90 cm. It is advisable to make an even number of vents and place them opposite each other. The distance to the ground is at least 20 cm. If the holes are lowered below, they can be flooded with rain or spring floods.

The higher the air vents are above the ground, the better.

If the foundation of the house has internal bearing surfaces, air vents should be made in them so that the entire basement floor of the apartment building is ventilated.

The vents must not be closed, otherwise the whole principle of ventilation in an apartment building will be violated. To prevent cats and rodents from entering the basement, the holes are closed with a metal mesh.

So, the ventilation of an apartment building is a single system, the device of which begins in the basement and ends above the roof. Any attempts by residents to independently interfere with its work, such as cleaning ventilation in the apartment, dismantling its elements or alteration entail administrative responsibility!

Learn more about how the ventilation of an apartment building works video:

Ventilation cleaning methods

Before determining how to clean the ventilation in the apartment, it is worth checking it using the methods described above. If it doesn't work, you should start the process.

External cleansing

Often, the need to clean the ventilation openings is visible to the naked eye. The grates are covered with a layer of dust, dirt or soot. It happens that the reason for the lack of air draft is precisely in this small detail.

Before starting work, it is important to spread newspaper or plastic sheets to avoid staining the floor covering. The ventilation grill is unscrewed with a Phillips screwdriver

Self-tapping screws must be folded in a safe place so as not to lose.

First, all significant dirt must be removed from the grate. A metal or plastic scraper is suitable for this. After initial cleaning, the element can be vacuumed. It will take a lot of power for the process to be efficient.

For example, laundry detergent, scouring powder, and dishwashing detergent will work.

If the grate is heavily soiled and does not clean well, it can be left in warm soapy water for a while. When the dirt has become limp, it can be gently rubbed with a brush and rinsed. Rinse the grid out of detergents under running water.

The element can be reinstalled only after complete drying. However, cleaning the ventilation in an apartment building does not end there. There are several more actions that can be carried out without the special permission of the maintenance services.

Internal cleaning

When thinking about how to clean the ventilation in an apartment, one must not forget that any dimensional devices or tools must not be lowered into the ventilation shafts. Although it is forbidden to carry out large-scale work on your own, it is quite possible to clear the channel leading to the common branch.

At first, the hole should be carefully examined. Perhaps there are some fragments of crumbling plaster or brick near the exit. It is better to remove all this yourself than to let it fall and clog the air duct. If there are no such problems, you can proceed to the next stage.

First of all, the walls of the ventilation shaft are cleaned with a scraper.

It is important that no pieces of debris or dirt fall down. Then the duct can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner

Although the use of any reagent is prohibited, dry ice can be used. This substance is excellent for dissolving dirt and grease. The ice itself gradually evaporates without leaving any traces. It is noteworthy that the use of this tool makes it easier not only to restore ventilation, but also allows you to get rid of unpleasant odors.

You can take a ruff or a stiff cable and clean the channel with these tools. It is worth remembering that wasps and other insects often settle in ventilation shafts.Therefore, we must not forget about personal safety measures.

Preparatory stage

Preparation consists in disconnecting the hood from the power supply and disassembling. Be sure to read the instructions before handling the rags and brushes and reading about washing. Some devices can be damaged if the wrong detergent is chosen.

Read the instructions carefully before starting work.

After reading the instructions, making sure that the hood is not connected to the power supply, you can get down to business. The preparatory part is carried out in the following sequence:

1. Remove the hood from the hood. Usually the mechanism is arranged with latches, flip them off, and the lid will pop out by itself. In some other cases, you will need to unscrew the screws with a screwdriver;
2. Next, we get the filters;
3. Then we take out the air pipe located between the hood and the vent. It can also be cleared of fat;
4. Removing the air filters. You need to be especially careful here, not all devices can be washed. For more confidence, consult your instruction manual.
5. Finally, we check the case itself for the presence of grease and other contaminants.

Moving on to the main thing: how to clean the hood in the kitchen. Each part is accompanied by a wash of the removed part. And do not forget that the body of the device must also be washed from grease. You just need to wipe it with a sponge and soapy water. The pipe, due to its large size, will be more convenient to wash in the bathroom. And with filters, you can experiment.

Checking the performance of the ventilation duct

Before cleaning the ventilation shaft, you must first make sure that the work of the air ducts is really broken. To do this, you can use a burning match - bring it to the grate and see if the flame deviates to the side. If this does not happen, then the ventilation system is functioning poorly.

Using a lighter near ventilation can cause unwanted effects

Utility workers do not recommend evaluating ventilation systems in this way, as it is dangerous. The fact is that in buildings with main gas pipelines, gas leaks occur, falling precisely into the air duct. If you bring a flame to a ventilation shaft, where the gas has not yet escaped, an explosion can occur. Gasmen are advised to resort to a safe way to check the ventilation:

cut a piece of paper 30 cm long and 3 cm wide from a newspaper;
bring a paper strip to the grill of the ventilation shaft, closing the windows and doors in the room;
pay attention to whether the piece of paper is pulling towards the grate.

If the strip pulls, then you should not doubt the functionality of the ventilation. In the absence of the necessary response of the air duct, you should clean the ventilation system.

The performance check of the ventilation duct can be carried out in three stages.

How to clean the grate

Before starting hygiene procedures, you need to carefully remove the grill:

1. If a pipe is attached to the grill, it must be moved aside.
2. Pry off the grate with a screwdriver or knife.
3. Remove the grate from the hatch, being careful not to shake, so as not to brush dust, cobwebs and dirt into the air.

Important!

Much depends on the purpose of the room where the grill is located. We are considering a home space. If this is a bathroom, then fat does not accumulate on it and you can simply rinse the grate in running water, drain it and put it back.

For the kitchen grate, you must first prepare everything you need for cleaning:

• rubber gloves for hand protection;
• sponge;
• dry cloth;
• brush, you can use a toothbrush or any other;
• dishwashing detergent or grease remover.

Then you can proceed:

1. Wear gloves.
2. Treat the wire rack on both sides and leave for a while up to half an hour, depending on the degree of soiling.
3. Rinse the grate with a sponge.
4. In hard-to-reach places, brush.
5. Rinse with clean water.
6. Wipe the wire rack dry.

Fact!

The cleaning time and the amount of grease remover depends on how often the dust extraction grilles are removed. If you carry out hygiene regularly, then the process itself will be faster and easier.

Fundamental rules

It is impossible for individuals to clean the main ventilation shaft of the building on their own, since it belongs to the common house property (it is better to file a complaint about poor ventilation to the management company and entrust all the work to their masters). When the experts arrive, notify all the neighbors whose apartments are located above you about this, so that they are not surprised by the suddenly "activated" ventilation, pouring out black dust.

But the ventilation duct leading from your apartment to the general mine shaft can (and even need to) be cleaned by yourself:

• Move the kitchen furniture aside (if you are cleaning a channel in the kitchen) and slide the ladder against the wall. It is better to put a layer of newspapers on the floor, as something can sprinkle from the ventilation.
• Attach a newspaper sheet to the bottom of the ventilation duct on masking tape (so that you do not have to wash the wallpaper or ceramic tiles later).
• Remove the grill covering the ventilation. Rinse and wipe it off (you can replace it with a new one if you wish).
• Put on construction gloves and carefully scoop out whatever you find in the ventilation duct, as there is no other way to clean the ventilation in the apartment. Be careful, glass or nails can get caught, so it is better to arm yourself with a small putty knife. If the ventilation duct is made in a panel or brick wall, it can contain a lot of "interesting" things, ranging from pieces of frozen solution to the corpses of mice and birds.

• Residual dirt can be removed from the canal with a vacuum cleaner.
• Refit the grille and re-check the draft with the window open. If the situation has not improved, contact the management company for help.

Installing a fan in your bathroom is a very good idea. Thanks to him, you can ventilate the room in a matter of minutes. Thanks to the fan installed in the exhaust duct, the draft of the hood itself is increased, which is useful when the humidity in the bathroom rises or after a smoke break.

However, over time, especially if people smoke in the bathroom or toilet, the exhaust fan becomes very dirty. As a result, cravings are weakened. In addition, over time, the lubrication in the motor bearings runs out and the fan starts to work poorly, and may even burn out. Therefore, from time to time he should do prophylaxis.

If your fan starts to creak and change the speed due to jamming, do not rush to throw it away, it can still extend its service life. First, remove the fan. It is usually mounted on four self-tapping screws. It is connected to the power supply using a conventional two-wire terminal. It is convenient to connect the fan to a switch so that you can turn it on and off as needed.

And so the fan is very dirty, the engine wedges and overheats, so it needs to be lubricated and cleaned.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

And we remove the engine, it is mounted on two screws.

Fig. 4.

Here is the fan motor itself.

Fig. 5.

Let it cool down. Then we clean it with a brush and grease it. To lubricate the fan, you literally need two drops of engine oil, you don't need to pour a lot. One drop is needed for the front bearing, the second for the rear. Next, we rotate the rotor (shaft) of the engine by hand so that the lubricant is distributed. It is immediately felt that it has become much better to rotate. Now the engine will not wedge and overheat.

Fig. 6.

Now we assemble its fan and install it in place.

Fig. 7.

We've seen how easy it is to bring an old fan back to life. In most cases, fan failure is due to contamination and lack of lubrication in the motor bearings.By cleaning and lubricating the motor, you can regularly extend the life of the fan. All the work takes no more than 10-15 minutes, and saves time and money that could be spent on a new fan for the bathroom or kitchen.

Comments:

The concept of ventilation was known in ancient Rome and meant measures for the ventilation of premises. Things are much more complicated nowadays.

For example, many residents of apartment buildings, where common ventilation shafts are installed, sometimes have very serious problems with the air condition in their homes.

Additional ventilation device

When the ventilation of the house is working properly, but there is not enough fresh air, the following measures are required to improve the microclimate.

1. Plastic windows are airtight, but it is advisable to purchase window systems with micro-ventilation function.
2. Fresh air can be supplied with valves, grilles, filters, air heaters and forced supply fans.
3. Partially will help out the air conditioner, refreshing and drying air.
4. Install a supply and exhaust ventilation system.

When choosing a way to ventilate the premises, you should determine its effectiveness and which devices are already working. A preliminary check of the exhaust ventilation must be carried out and the need for the installation of additional equipment that increases the quality of its work must be identified.

No matter how efficiently the hood works, a supply of fresh air is needed. For this, valves are installed behind the batteries. The diameter of the holes facing the street is 6-10 cm. A plug is installed in them, which can be manually or automatically controlled. The incoming air can be cleaned using filter elements installed in the valves.

Ventilation is classified according to the following criteria:

• forcibly or naturally the air in the premises moves;
• exhaust or supply type of device;
• what kind of service is provided: local or general;
• the presence of channels for air transmission;
• type-setting or monoblock design.

The choice of the type of ventilation depends on the area and purpose of the premises, the amount of equipment and people in it, and the type of their activity. In all cases, natural extraction is preferred as it is the most economical option.

5 What products to use when cleaning

For local cleaning tasks at home, you can use conventional detergents (Persil, Gala, Domestos). But for cleaning ventilation systems from grease and plaque, it makes sense to resort to specialized formulations that have a thick consistency. The most effective, even with a complex degree of contamination, are handled by products intended for washing kitchen hoods and filters.

Cleaning products

In any case, the channel will have to be disassembled. After drying the internal parts and elements, they are wiped with hydrogen peroxide for disinfection. But the branched air duct system can be processed only with the help of specialized equipment.

How to clean the ventilation yourself with improvised means ↑

One of the most common reasons due to which the ventilation in the apartment does not work well may be the usual blockage: fatty deposits, dust, dirt, small debris that accumulate in the mines of ventilation ducts for years.

According to the rules for the operation of multi-apartment residential buildings, access to the main engineering systems of general use is prohibited for residents. Therefore, cleaning ventilation in an apartment, as a part of an apartment building, is a function of professional services licensed to perform such work and are well familiar with the ventilation system in a particular house.

On the other hand, each apartment owner must keep all the engineering systems located in it in order and know how to clean the ventilation in the apartment, or rather, perform preventive cleaning of the ventilation duct from the apartment to the common riser.

This is how the ventilation duct looks like before and after cleaning. You can only perform preventive cleaning of the ventilation duct located directly in the apartment on your own.

To do this, carefully remove the ventilation grill and wash off grease, dust and dirt from it. You can use neutral detergents. Dirt and grease from the channel walls adjacent to the hole must be scraped off with a scraper, and then, inserting the vacuum cleaner hose into the ventilation hole, vacuum it well for 4-5 minutes, moving up and down the channel. After completing dry cleaning, wipe the accessible section of the ventilation duct with a slightly damp cloth and close the hole with a grate.

2 Consequences of clogged ventilation mines

Such problems, especially in old houses, seem common to many. If they have appeared a long time ago, then it may seem that nothing can be done about it. However, given what harm to health can be caused by dirt in ventilation mines and a spoiled microclimate in an apartment, you should not let this issue go by itself. Here are some of the consequences of poor ventilation:

• once it appears, the mold will spoil things and spread further, and it is much more difficult to remove it than to initially avoid its appearance;
• being in rooms with stale air, which contains an insufficient amount of oxygen, a person may feel weak, lethargic, his performance decreases;
• high humidity in the room can cause respiratory diseases;
• moisture and mold spoil various objects - metal and wood surfaces, finishing materials;
• smells of fatty food or cigarette smoke penetrating through a poorly working ventilation duct easily eats into fabric products - curtains, linen, furniture, clothes - and it is very difficult to remove them;
• If hoods or fans are installed in the kitchen and bathroom, they will work worse, which will require them to be left on longer, which leads to higher energy costs.

How to check ventilation

First you need to check the existing ventilation system. By all the rules, ventilation is sufficient if the room provides two or more air changes per hour. And when there are constant drafts and unpleasant odors, the system does not perform its functions and requires surgical intervention.

First of all, check that your ventilation system is working properly.

Ventilation of apartments in the house

To do this, it is enough to bring a small piece of newspaper or other loose paper at a distance of 5 millimeters from the ventilation vents. The free edge of the leaf should be slightly tightened into the hole. If this happens, you are unnecessarily worried. If not, then we are looking for the cause of the malfunction.

Another popular way to check the health of the system is to bring the flame of a match or candle to the hole in the hood, but we strongly do not recommend doing this, as this can lead to disastrous consequences in view of possible flammable gas.

Next, you need to check the ventilation ducts. Open all windows and doors in the apartment and do the same operation with a piece of paper. If the paper begins to suck in, then everything is in order with the moves, but if not, then a gap has formed there, and it must be cleaned.

Signs of a blockage

It is important to be able to determine when cleaning of ventilation in the apartment is required. The obvious signs of poor system performance include the following:

• fast fogging of windows;
• the spread of cooking odors throughout the apartment;
• the appearance of mold and the smell of dampness;
• feeling of lack of oxygen;
• accumulation of dust and cobwebs on the ventilation grill.

Of course, it is better not to wait until visible signs of blockage appear, but to regularly service the system. Poor ventilation in the apartment leads to damage to the repair, the appearance of fungus and a deterioration in the microclimate in the room.

A way to check the quality of ventilation

To understand if the hood works in an apartment, a simple test can be carried out. You will need a thin strip of newsprint. It should be brought to the hole.

if the sheet is attracted, then everything is in order with the system

Otherwise, ventilation does not work in the apartment - ventilation needs to be repaired in an apartment building

It is important to check every ventilation hole in your home. It is advisable to do such checks every month. This will allow you to notice problems in time and fix them.

Helpful hints and tips

To begin with, we will give the main advice - you cannot clean the ventilation in the apartment on your own. But if there is no other way out, then do not climb into the vertical riser. Your options are limited, so you can only clean the horizontal ventilation duct that connects the shaft to the apartment. You now know how to do this.

Sometimes the apartment owners themselves are to blame for the fact that the internal air exchange is reduced or completely absent. In the process of the repair being carried out, they cover the ventilation openings with finishing materials. First, you can't do this. Secondly, if it did happen, then try to fix the situation and bring it back to normal. Otherwise, high humidity, unpleasant odors, mold and mildew cannot be avoided.

If, nevertheless, a decision is made to clean the air ducts with your own hands, then try to prepare thoroughly for this event. To do this, you need the above tools and devices, as well as a reliable ladder.

Types of pollution

Dust collects in the ventilation, bacteria and fungus spores start in the dust

Ventilation system contamination can occur for a number of reasons. The technology and tools that will be used in choosing a method to clean the ventilation in an apartment depend on them.

Dust and dirt

Ingressing dirt and dust from the street and entrance is deposited in layers both on the filters and on the air duct itself. This problem is especially aggravated during the summer period, when the air outside is dry and hot.

Mold, fungus

If there is high humidity in the room, water deposits, fungi and mold are formed in the air masses. They can also develop within the system due to sudden changes in temperature.

Rust

Rust deposits form on the walls of the duct due to moisture. Over time, this can lead to equipment failure completely. In addition, cracks can form on the walls due to rust.

Accumulation of fat

It is necessary to clean the grease traps on the hood so that grease does not enter the ventilation.

Greater damage to the duct is caused by layers of fat. They can completely clog passages, damage valves. Because of this, ventilation performance decreases. Most often, this situation is observed in the kitchen. To avoid this situation, it is recommended to clean the grease traps at least once a month.

Deposition of chemicals

If the ventilation system is installed in laboratories, offices where they work with chemicals, their deposits also damage the equipment. All components must be removed in a timely manner so as not to harm human health. Chemical contamination of the system can cause serious poisoning.

After a flood or fire

Emergency cleaning of ventilation ducts should be carried out if there is a fire or flood in the room. Lumps of fire smoke will accumulate in the system. This is very dangerous for people's lives, as they will breathe fire fumes and released chemicals.

The principle of air discharge into ventilation

ventilation scheme of an apartment building

Most of the complaints about the work are caused by ignorance of how ventilation is arranged in a panel house.

There are 2 schemes for removing dirty air from apartment buildings:

Scheme 1. The ventilation duct reaches the attic, here it goes into a horizontal box

Several sealed boxes are combined into one shaft ending above the roof. With this principle of operation of ventilation in an apartment building, air masses from all floors rush to a horizontal box, from there into a common shaft and onto the street. In the process of movement, the air hits the surface of the box and an area of ​​increased pressure is formed. Air rushes into the nearest opening leading out.

Sometimes the fifth floor ventilation duct is the nearest exit. Normally, this should be a general ventilation mine. Even with the optimal cross-section of the horizontal duct, backward thrust can be observed if the duct cover is set too low. The air bounces off the lid and squeezes out odors coming from below into the kitchen on the top floor. To avoid such an undesirable effect, 2 methods are used:

• Method 1. It is necessary to increase the diameter of the horizontal box in the attic by 2.5 times. In addition, "incisions" are installed inside the box. All alterations should only be carried out by trained people. You must first consult with a specialist, since it is not always possible to use this method of improving ventilation;
• Method 2. The ventilation ducts of the last floor are equipped separately, they are brought into the ventilation shaft above the duct. A separate channel should be well insulated.

Scheme 2. All ventilation ducts are brought out to the attic

illustration of scheme No. 2

The attic room is used as an intermediate chamber. The only ventilation shaft leads through the roof.

This method of air extraction is very common in modern construction.

Most often, there is no reverse thrust in the network, but on the upper floors it is very weak. This is due to the low height of the vertical channel (no more than 40 cm). When the doors of the attic or between sections are open, there is practically no air movement either.

The standard diameter of air ducts with such a ventilation system in an apartment building is 140 mm. To improve its work, the channel outlets are lengthened due to the pipes put on them. The joints are sealed. It is enough to add 1 meter of pipe and tilt it slightly towards the central shaft.

Forced ventilation

Since natural ventilation for an apartment does not fully cope with its functions, they are increasingly beginning to use a forced ventilation system. For this, special devices are used that provide air supply. Such systems are divided into types:

1. Air outflow occurs due to the operation of mechanical devices;
2. Air entering the room is cooled or heated if necessary.

The main advantages of forced ventilation are that it is possible to supply the required amount of fresh air to the apartment, and at the same time prevent the waste air from entering the neighboring rooms.

A significant drawback of such systems is the need to install grilles on all doors in the room, which will help to compensate for the difference in pressure.

If the air outside is too dirty, then you will have to use supply and exhaust ventilation. It makes it possible to provide the necessary microclimate parameters. Most often, a central air conditioner is used for these purposes.

How to clean ventilation in an apartment

At first glance, with the timely fulfillment of their duties by representatives of utilities, there is no need to independently take measures to clean the air ducts. But in reality, everything is somewhat different. The ventilation structure must perform the following functions:

The scheme of ventilation in the apartment: 1 - air flow zone; 2 - air flow zone; 3 - air exhaust zone

• ensure that a sufficient amount of air enters the room;
• give along with the air spent in the cleaning process, harmful microscopic particles that can have a negative impact on human health;
• perform the functions of a thermal regulator, control the humidity in the apartment.

Cleaning the ventilation risers in an apartment building should be carried out only by specialists, but you can urgently clean the air duct in your own apartment yourself. With the low efficiency of these actions, the fact of the need to clean the ventilation riser is once again confirmed. This means that you need to contact the building company with this request as soon as possible.

To clean the ventilation well inside the apartment, remove the protective grill from it and wash it well. It is advisable to use a detergent capable of breaking down grease: it will create a film on the surface of the grate, which will help it stay clean longer. Remove dirt and debris from the outside of the open hole. If deposits stick to the wall, use a trowel, but do not use chemical cleaners.

How to check for traction in a simple way

The ventilation is checked periodically as soon as dust appears on the grilles. To do this, they are removed and washed from dirt. After the grilles are installed back and the transom or window is slightly opened in the kitchen or in the room next to it. If the check is done in a bathroom or toilet, leave the doors open to create an air flow. To check the efficiency of the extraction, a piece of paper is placed on the ventilation grill. He must "pull" to her, which is a signal of the presence of cravings. The piece of toilet paper should be self-supporting on the grate. Alternatively, you can check the presence of thrust by deflecting the flame of a lighter or candle. The procedure is repeated in all areas. Cleaning the ventilation is required if the sheet is not attracted to the grate.

You need to know that in hot weather, the draft in the ventilation duct deteriorates and it is useless to check it. It depends on the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures. In this case, forced ventilation is activated.

The most radical remedy

So, we buy a pipe cleaner (for example, Mole) and prepare it in accordance with the instructions.

Extremely aggressive cleaning agent

Let's consider how to properly and safely clean the hood in the kitchen with a pipe cleaner. You can carry out the procedure in a bathroom, a closed sink or a saucepan. Place the filters in a bowl and fill them with an alkaline solution. You will see the result in a second.

The pipe cleaner is extremely corrosive and does not need to be left in it for long periods of time. It is enough to stand for 1-2 minutes and rinse the filters well with running water, with the addition of a few drops of eucalyptus oil. Otherwise, the chemical can simply corrode the metal.

Perform the procedure with rubber gloves.

This procedure is carried out only with rubber gloves. And we use this method only if it is already impossible to wash the hood in the kitchen from fat, using all of the above methods. Although the method is radical, it fights old grease and dirt with a bang. This procedure can be carried out no more than once a year.

Check features

Now let's look at how to check the ventilation in the apartment and decide on the need for repairs. The system is organized so that each apartment has a separate outlet from the common channel for the inflow of fresh air and the extract of old air.

If everything is done correctly, ventilation should work without interruptions and update the air in the room in a timely manner.But in practice, the capacity of the existing ventilation may not be enough. The question is how to make sure that the system is functioning correctly, or to confirm the suspicion that there is no hood at all in the apartment. There are two options:

• Open a window in any of the rooms, then bring a napkin or a piece of paper to the opening of the ventilation duct. If it is kept on the surface, everything is normal. If the "tool" has fallen, there is only one conclusion - the apartment is not air-conditioned, that is, the capacity of the exhaust system is insufficient or none at all. In such a situation, the only way out is to clean the channels or install additional ventilation in the apartment.
• Take a source of flame (it can be a candle or a match), and then bring it to the opening in the ventilation duct. The active displacement of the fire towards the hole confirms the serviceability of the system. If the ventilation is not working, the flame will not move at all. The salvation also lies in clearing the clogged channels.