How does demand control affect air volume design?

Demand control does not change sizing principles for commercial kitchen ventilation. Design air volume must still be sufficient for the kitchen’s highest planned load. With demand control, design air volume is available capacity—not the air volume at which ventilation runs continuously.

At FlowHero sites, ventilation often runs well below design air volume most of the time. At many sites, actual air volume has consistently been about 30–80% of design air volume, and full design air volume is needed only rarely.

This reduces the need to downsize design air volume only to cut energy use. The designer can still size the system in accordance with standards knowing that ventilation in normal use may not run continuously at design air volume.

Commercial kitchen ventilation sizing already accounts for simultaneous use of appliances. For example, EN 16282-1 uses a simultaneity factor because not all kitchen appliances are assumed to operate simultaneously at full load at all times.

Demand control applies the same principle during operation: simultaneity at peak load is assessed during design, and ventilation adapts to the kitchen’s actual load during use.