Protect Your Employees From Hazardous Contaminants By Installing Ducted Fume Hood

Does your business zone have a laboratory? If yes, then you must be using laboratory furniture and equipment which are essential for doing laboratory tasks. These days, the style of business is changing at a rapid speed. There are many business organizations which have laboratories and the laboratory equipment are used in a multitude of ways. When you have a laboratory in the premises of your business organization, then some safety measures must be taken so that your employees and business do not get affected by the toxic chemicals used inside a laboratory. Various lab furniture are used in a laboratory. One of the vital lab furniture’s which is used is a ducted fume hood. You need to be very careful when you install a fume hood. There have been mishaps in the laboratories earlier due to wrong installation of a ducted fume hood. You should have knowledge while purchasing this laboratory equipment. It is essential to safeguard the health of the laboratory professionals who work with dangerous chemicals. Therefore, installation of a fume hood is imperative in every laboratory. In this article, you will come to know a brief about fume hood and what you should consider before installing a fume hood in your lab. 

A Brief Note About Ducted Hoods 

Ducted hoods have ventilated enclosures which have ducting that further helps the contaminants to release outside the building. Using a ducted hood is considered as the safest option for the lab professionals as well as it is easy to maintain the ducted hood by a worker. In order to release the air outside, there is a blower, a work surface, ducting and a hood. The contaminants are pulled out with the help of the HVAC system. It is the engineer of the HVAC system which decides whether your room has sufficient air to cater the supply of the requisite volume of ventilation to the ducted hood. The professionals of the mechanical systems or the environmental health and safety team does the maintenance service or tackles the issues of ducted hood. 

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Ducted Hoods

Ducted hoods have their own positive and negative sides. Let us know about them in the lines mentioned below. 

Advantages:

• Not only in business organizations, but there are many educational institutions which install ducted fume hoods in laboratories which provide safety to students as well the laboratory equipment is safe for employees and workers. 
• You can operate the ducted hood with ease. Also, you do not have to spend countless bucks in maintenance service. Maintaining a ducted hood is quite convenient and affordable. 
• The ducted hood is capable of handling a plethora of chemicals. 
• There will be no contamination in the laboratory which means your lab professionals can work safely and there will be no health hazards. 

Disadvantages:

Let us look at the negative sides of ducted hoods. 

•  More improvements are needed in ducted fume hoods such as the need of exhaust fans, the mechanical systems need to be upgraded and the roofing elements need to be changed. 
• Ducted hoods consume more energy. 
• It is not easy to relocate or move a ducted hood from one place to another. 
• The installation process of a ducted hood is complex. 

Things To Consider Before Purchasing Ducted Fume Hood

Buying a ducted fume hood can be complicated if you do not have proper knowledge about the equipment. Which are the things you need to reckon before purchasing ducted fume hoods? 

• Take the size of a duct fume hood into consideration. The size of a fume hood may vary. Therefore, you should know the right size of the fume hood which would be appropriate for your lab. Generally, the size of a fume hood could be from 18' tall to 12' tall. 
• Know which type of fume hood you want. There are various types of fume hoods such as duct fume hood, power hood, explosion-proof hood, ductless hood and many other specialty hoods. You should know which chemicals would be the right fit for a fume hood you select. 
• How long will a filter of a ducted fume hood last? It is necessary to know the filter lifespan of a fume hood. Generally, a filter of a fume hood can last up to two years. Before you decide to buy the application, you need to find out the filter lifespan of a particular fume hood. Using the right chemicals, to what capacity chemicals can be used in a filter and the evaporation rate of every filter determine the filter life of a ducted fume hood. 
• Your employees' life could be at stake if you do not make use of the right fume hood while working in a laboratory application. It is advised to have consultation with an experienced and skilled Laboratory Fume Hoods manufacturer before installing the equipment in your laboratory.