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All you Need to Know About Fume
Hood Construction and Installation

2. © GD Vanguard. All Rights Reserved.
Laboratory fume hoods are a type of ventilation that acts as a protective
barrier. It prevents you from toxic inhalation exposures, chemical spills
and laboratory accidents.
To make your fume hood function smoothly, you need to maintain
pressure in the interior of the hood to prevent contamination from
escaping through the hood opening. Excessive face velocities can lead to
turbulence and affect hood performance.
While constructing or installing a fume hood, you need to keep track of
some of the following guidelines to improve performance and
productivity:
➔ The average air velocity at the fume hood face should range from
80-100 linear per minute. While some experiments might need
higher velocities of about 125 linear feet per minute. Make sure the
velocities don’t exceed 150 linear feet per minute.
➔ Your exhaust fan should be large enough to filter air out from your
building or room.
➔ The minimum number of air changes for a chemistry lab should be
6. Keep track of the ‘air changes per hour’ on a case-by-case basis.
➔ Changes in air supply is a symbol of poor lab ventilation design. The
type of chemicals used, heat load and type of fume hood can affect
your ventilation.
➔ You might have difficulty in balancing the air supply and exhaust of
supply hoods adequately. If the air supply is intemperate, then the
employees might feel discomfort. During such conditions, the
supply vent should be either shut or blocked off completely. Also,
frequent movements can hinder the stream of air supply and
degrade the fume hood performance.

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➔ The interior fume hood surfaces should be made of corrosion-
resistant, non-combustible and non-porous materials like stainless
steel or any other unique composite materials.
➔ Say no to plastic or fibreglass proof hoods.
➔ Opt for a recessed type fume hood to prevent work surface spills.
Such spills can be effectively contained by the retaining lip.
➔ Invest in baffles with horizontal slots that can be placed at the rear
and top interior of the fume hood floor. Choose two or more slots
with an adjustable width to acquire the required face velocities
inside the fume hood.
➔ All the newly installed or renovated fume hoods should be
compatible enough to pass the capture efficiency test. Make sure
you test each fume hood after proper installation.
➔ In chemical labs, exhaust fans should be connected to the
emergency power to overcome sudden power cut.
➔ During such placements, you should have an equivalent volume of
supply air, or it can be difficult to open emergency doors during
emergencies.
➔ We hope you know that the noise from fans and ductworks
shouldn’t exceed more than 65 dBA inside the laboratory.
Adhere to the above guidelines to improve your fume hood performance
significantly. Want to replace your old fume hood with a new one? GD is
at your service!

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GD is the first lab furniture manufacturer in the world to be SEFA certified
across 3 categories – SEFA 1 for fume hoods, SEFA 8M for metal lab
furniture and SEFA 10 for flexible and modular lab furniture. Contact us
now!