Commercial Kitchen Hood Installation in NWA — Done Right, Built to Pass
Breeze Heat & Air provides full-service commercial kitchen hood installation — including exhaust ducting, makeup air, and code-ready ventilation solutions for restaurants, cafes, food trucks, breweries, and commercial facilities across Northwest Arkansas.
NWA
Northwest Arkansas
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FIRE
Safety Focused
CODE
Compliant Installs
Who We Serve
Commercial Kitchen Ventilation for Every
NWA Operation
We work with a full range of food service and commercial clients across Northwest Arkansas. Here's who we serve and what we bring to each type of project.
Restaurants and Food Service
Full-service, fast-casual, fine dining, and franchise locations across NWA. We size exhaust systems to the actual cooking line — the equipment list, BTU load, and duty level — not rough square footage. New restaurant builds, kitchen remodels, equipment additions, and full ventilation system replacements. We understand what health department and fire marshal inspections look for in NWA jurisdictions, and we install accordingly.
Corporate and Institutional Kitchens
Schools, hospitals, corporate campuses, churches, and shared commissaries across the NWA metro. High-volume cooking environments place specific demands on exhaust capacity and makeup air balance. Healthcare foodservice and corporate dining operations run long hours with heavy equipment loads — the ventilation design has to match that reality, not the minimum code threshold.
Breweries, Cafes, and Specialty Operations
Craft breweries, coffee roasters, bakeries, food trucks commissaries, and ghost kitchen facilities across NWA. These operations often have non-standard equipment configurations that don't fit off-the-shelf ventilation packages. We design systems around what you're actually cooking or producing, not a generic template.
Contractors and General Contractors
We work as a mechanical subcontractor on new construction and renovation projects across NWA. We coordinate with your electrical contractor on hood controls and fire suppression integration, coordinate with plumbing on grease drain provisions, and keep our schedule aligned with the GC's overall project timeline. We handle our own permits and inspections — you don't have to manage that piece.
Residential — Custom Home Kitchens
Custom homes in NWA increasingly feature professional-grade or semi-professional cooking equipment that requires proper ventilation to perform correctly and safely. A recirculating ductless hood cannot handle a six-burner commercial-style range. We install properly ducted range hood systems in residential kitchens, coordinating with the builder on duct routing, exterior termination, and makeup air if the hood CFM requires it.
Food Trucks and Mobile Operations
NWA's food truck and mobile food service market has grown with the region's population. Mobile kitchen ventilation has its own set of requirements — equipment must be appropriately sized for the space and cooking load, properly secured, and able to perform in NWA's summer heat. We work on food truck builds and modifications across the region.
Why Choose Breeze
Why NWA Restaurants and Builders Choose Breeze for Kitchen Hood Installation
Commercial kitchen ventilation sits at the intersection of mechanical, fire safety, and health code requirements. Getting it right requires more than a hood and a fan — it requires a contractor who understands how all the pieces connect and what inspectors in NWA jurisdictions look for.
We're fully licensed and insured in Arkansas, LIC# 15474066. We understand NFPA 96, the International Mechanical Code, and the local inspection requirements that apply to commercial kitchen projects across Benton and Washington County. We've installed systems that passed inspection the first time because we designed them correctly from the beginning.
We size systems to the cooking line, not the room. The exhaust CFM requirement for a commercial kitchen hood is determined by the equipment under it — specifically the heat load, BTU rating, and type of cooking the equipment does. Fryers, charbroilers, and high-BTU ranges require significantly more exhaust than steamers or convection ovens. We calculate this correctly before specifying equipment.
We include makeup air in every commercial design. This is one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of commercial kitchen ventilation, and it's also one of the most consequential if it's wrong. Makeup air is not optional — it's required by code and by physics. We design makeup air systems as part of every commercial hood installation.
We coordinate with other trades and handle our own permits. Commercial kitchen installation involves multiple contractors. We show up on schedule, communicate changes before they become problems, and don't create rework for your electrician or plumber.
Type I vs Type II Hoods — What You Actually Need
The most common question we get from restaurant owners and GCs is which type of hood they need. The answer depends entirely on the cooking equipment, not personal preference. Here's how to think about it.
A Type I hood is required by NFPA 96 for any cooking equipment that produces grease-laden vapors. This is not optional and not negotiable with the fire marshal. Type I hoods must be constructed of stainless steel, include grease filtration and drainage, and integrate with an automatic fire suppression system. The duct system for a Type I hood must be grease-tight, constructed of specific materials, and meet clearance requirements from combustible materials.
The exhaust CFM is calculated based on hood length and the duty level of equipment underneath — light, moderate, heavy, or extra-heavy. Fryers and charbroilers are heavy duty. Most ranges and griddles are moderate duty. Getting this calculation right affects whether the system actually captures grease vapor or lets it escape into the kitchen and duct cavity.
Equipment requiring Type I- Fryers, griddles, charbroilers, and high-BTU ranges
- Commercial ovens with grease production
- Woks, salamanders, and solid-fuel cooking equipment
- Any equipment producing grease-laden vapor
- Requires integrated fire suppression system
A Type II hood is appropriate for equipment that produces heat and moisture but not grease-laden vapor. This is a significantly less complex and less expensive system than a Type I — no grease duct, no fire suppression system, and lower construction standards. However, misclassifying equipment as Type II when it actually produces grease vapor creates a serious fire risk and will fail inspection.
Type II hoods are also used in residential applications for standard kitchen ranges and cooktops where ductless recirculating hoods are not adequate for the cooking load or local code requirements. In custom residential builds in NWA with high-BTU range installations, a properly ducted Type II system — or in some cases a Type I — is the right approach.
Equipment qualifying for Type II- Commercial dishwashers and dish tables
- Steamers, kettles, and pasta cookers (no grease)
- Hot food holding and steam tables
- Coffee brewing and beverage equipment
- Residential range hoods for non-grease cooking loads
What We Install
Complete Kitchen Ventilation System Components
We Install
A commercial kitchen ventilation system is more than a hood. Here's everything we design, supply, and install as part of a complete commercial kitchen ventilation project.
Exhaust Hoods — Type I and Type II
Properly sized for the cooking line below — hood width, overhang, capture velocity, and CFM calculated to NFPA 96 and ASHRAE 154 standards. Stainless steel construction, grease filters, and grease collection trays for Type I installations. We do not size by room square footage — we size by equipment duty level and hood geometry.
Exhaust Fans and Upblast Units
Properly sized exhaust fans for the calculated CFM, static pressure, and grease duty of the system. Upblast exhaust fans for grease systems — required for grease-laden exhaust to prevent buildup at the roof termination. We size, specify, and install exhaust fans that match the hood and duct system design.
Grease Duct Systems
Type I grease duct systems must be constructed of stainless or black steel, grease-tight at all joints, sloped for drainage, and maintain required clearances from combustible materials. We design duct runs for cleanout access — a critical requirement for ongoing NFPA 96 maintenance compliance. Access panels at code-required intervals are part of every Type I duct installation.
Makeup Air Units
Makeup air replaces the air exhausted by the hood system to maintain neutral or slightly positive kitchen pressure. Without adequate makeup air, exhaust hoods underperform, building doors become difficult to open or close, gas appliance pilot lights blow out, and in some cases combustion gases can back-draft into the kitchen. Code requires makeup air at a rate matched to the exhaust volume. We design and install makeup air systems as part of every commercial hood installation — it is not an optional add-on.
Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems (DOAS)
DOAS units bring conditioned, filtered outdoor air into the kitchen to meet ventilation code requirements, stabilize pressure, and improve indoor air quality. They're increasingly common in new restaurant builds and high-occupancy commercial kitchen environments across NWA where straight makeup air without conditioning creates comfort and efficiency problems.
Fire Suppression Coordination
Every Type I hood installation requires an automatic fire suppression system — typically a wet chemical system designed for the specific cooking equipment under the hood. While fire suppression system installation is handled by a licensed fire suppression contractor, we coordinate the integration between the hood, duct system, and suppression system as part of our mechanical scope to ensure the installation passes the fire marshal inspection.
The Makeup Air Problem — What Happens When It's Missing
We see this on a surprising number of commercial kitchen installations in NWA. A contractor installs the hood and exhaust fan, skips or undersizes the makeup air, and the kitchen immediately has problems. Doors that are hard to open because of negative pressure pulling against them. Gas pilot lights that blow out because air is being drawn backward across the burners toward the exhaust. The hood that underperforms because it can't draw the rated CFM when the building is under negative pressure. In the worst case, gas appliance flue gases reverse direction and introduce carbon monoxide into the kitchen. Makeup air is not optional. It is required by code under IMC Section 508 and by the physical reality of how exhaust systems work. We include it in every commercial design.
Our Process
How a Kitchen Hood Installation Project Works With Breeze
Every kitchen ventilation project is different. Here's how we approach a typical commercial kitchen hood installation from first contact to final inspection.
01
Site Review and Equipment List
We start with a site visit or plan review — floor plan, cooking equipment list with BTU ratings, ceiling height, roof structure, and existing HVAC if we're integrating with an existing system. The equipment list is the most critical input. We need to know exactly what cooking equipment will be under the hood to size the system correctly. Send us your equipment list and layout, and we can start the design process from there.
02
System Design and CFM Calculation
We calculate exhaust CFM based on NFPA 96 Table 6.1 duty levels and the actual cooking equipment list. We design hood geometry for the cooking line — proper width overhang and capture velocity. We specify makeup air at the matched volume and design the duct routing from hood to exhaust termination point. If fire suppression integration is needed, we coordinate with the fire suppression contractor at this stage.
03
Detailed Proposal with Upfront Pricing
We provide a detailed, itemized proposal covering all equipment, materials, labor, and permit fees. Changes during construction happen — we handle them with written change orders so there are no surprise additions to the final invoice. Commercial kitchen projects rarely finish exactly as designed on paper, and we account for that honestly.
04
Permit Submission and Plan Review
Commercial kitchen hood installations require a mechanical permit in virtually all NWA jurisdictions. In many cases, the project also requires a fire department plan review before permit issuance. We prepare and submit the required documentation, coordinate responses to plan check comments, and get the permit issued before installation begins. No permit, no installation — that's how we operate.
05
Installation and Trade Coordination
We install the hood, duct system, exhaust fan, and makeup air components in coordination with the GC's schedule and other trade timelines. We coordinate with the electrical contractor on hood controls, fan wiring, and fire suppression interlock wiring. We communicate clearly when our schedule is affected by other trades and when our work affects other trades. We aim to be the subcontractor that keeps the project moving, not the one that holds it up.
06
Inspection, Commissioning, and Handoff
We schedule and pass all required mechanical inspections before calling the project complete. After inspection approval, we commission the system — verifying exhaust CFM, makeup air balance, fan operation, controls, and grease drainage. We walk through the system with the kitchen manager or owner and provide documentation on the system design and maintenance requirements, including the cleaning schedule required by NFPA 96.
NWA Local Knowledge
Commercial Kitchen Ventilation Specifics for Northwest Arkansas
Working on commercial kitchen projects across NWA has taught us things about this region's inspection environment, restaurant market, and operational conditions that affect how we approach every project.
NWA Restaurant Growth — A Different Market
Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, and its restaurant market reflects that. The concentration of Fortune 500 corporate headquarters, the University of Arkansas, and a rapidly growing population creates demand for commercial kitchen space that few regions its size can match. New restaurant builds, ghost kitchen facilities, food hall buildouts, and commercial kitchen renovations are a consistent part of the NWA construction market. We've been part of that growth and understand the pace and the stakeholders.
Permitting Across NWA Jurisdictions
Benton and Washington Counties have multiple separate municipalities, each with its own building and fire department. Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, and Fayetteville all have their own inspection processes and plan review requirements. Some jurisdictions process permits faster than others. Some have specific grease duct requirements beyond the model code. We know the differences and work within each jurisdiction's process — no surprises at permit submission or inspection time.
NWA Summer Heat and Kitchen Design
Northwest Arkansas summers are genuinely hot and humid — heat index values over 100 degrees are not unusual in July and August. Commercial kitchens already run hot. A kitchen that is improperly ventilated in NWA summer conditions becomes a serious working environment problem. Properly sized exhaust, balanced makeup air, and in some cases dedicated cooling for the kitchen space are all part of making a commercial kitchen safe and functional to work in through an NWA summer.
Health Department and Fire Marshal Requirements
Commercial kitchen ventilation in Arkansas sits at the intersection of mechanical code, fire code, and health department regulations. All three sets of requirements apply, and in some cases they interact in ways that create complexity for a contractor unfamiliar with the local inspection environment. We work in this environment regularly and understand what inspectors in NWA jurisdictions look for at mechanical inspection and fire marshal review. We design and install to pass all three the first time.
Why Choose Breeze
What Sets Breeze Apart for Kitchen Hood Installation in NWA
There are other mechanical contractors in Northwest Arkansas who install kitchen hoods. Here's what we bring to these projects
Proper CFM Sizing — Not Rules of Thumb
We calculate exhaust requirements from the actual equipment list and NFPA 96 duty levels. An undersized system doesn't capture grease vapor. An oversized system wastes energy and creates makeup air problems. We size it correctly.
Makeup Air Included by Default
We include makeup air design in every commercial installation. It is not an add-on or an afterthought. It's part of the system, it's required by code, and skipping it causes real operational and safety problems.
Permits and Inspections Handled
We pull our own mechanical permits and handle all required inspections across NWA jurisdictions. We coordinate with fire department plan review when required. You don't manage that process — we do.
Fire Safety as the Primary Concern
Every Type I installation is designed with fire safety first — grease-tight ductwork, correct clearances, proper grease filtration, and coordination with the fire suppression contractor. NFPA 96 compliance is the baseline, not the goal.
On-Schedule Trade Coordination
We show up when scheduled, coordinate with electrical and plumbing, and keep the GC informed of anything that could affect the project timeline. Restaurant builds and renovations have hard opening dates — we treat that as a real constraint, not a suggestion.
Locally Licensed and Fully Insured
LIC# 15474066, fully licensed in Arkansas. Full general liability and workers compensation insurance. Background-checked technicians. Every document your GC or insurance carrier needs.
Why NWA Restaurants and Builders Trust Breeze
We're a locally owned company based in Tontitown, and commercial kitchen ventilation is part of our broader HVAC and mechanical service work across Northwest Arkansas. We bring the same approach to commercial projects that we bring to residential work — proper design, clean installation, transparent pricing, and systems that perform the way they're supposed to.
General contractors tell us they appreciate that we handle our own permits and don't hold up the schedule. Restaurant owners tell us they appreciated that we explained the system before they signed off on it — what the exhaust capacity is, why the makeup air is sized the way it is, and what the NFPA 96 cleaning requirements mean for their ongoing operations.
We designed and installed the system so the kitchen passes inspection and so the team working in it can do their job safely and comfortably. Those two things are not mutually exclusive, but they don't happen by accident either. They happen when the system is designed correctly from the start.Here's what you can verify before calling. LIC# 15474066, fully licensed and insured in Arkansas. 5-star Google rating from real customers. Every technician background-checked and trained on commercial kitchen mechanical systems. For residential HVAC needs connected to a kitchen ventilation project — HVAC integration, kitchen makeup air from the main system, ductwork modifications — we handle that too. Visit our indoor air quality page for more on ventilation and filtration options for connected spaces.
Kitchen Hood Installation Across All of Northwest Arkansas
We work on commercial kitchen ventilation projects throughout Northwest Arkansas from our base in Tontitown. We serve all municipalities and communities across Benton and Washington County. If your project is located outside the cities listed below, contact us — we likely cover it.
Send us your equipment list and floor plan at info@breezehvacr.com or call 479.318.0107. We'll review the project and get back to you with a proposal timeline. For urgent projects or active construction timelines, call directly — we prioritize projects where scheduling is time-sensitive.
Kitchen Hood Installation Questions We Hear All the Time
From restaurant owners, GCs, and homeowners building custom kitchens across NWA — answered honestly.
It depends entirely on your cooking equipment. If any piece of equipment produces grease-laden vapor — fryers, charbroilers, griddles, woks, most ranges and ovens — you need a Type I hood. There is no exception to this under NFPA 96. Type II hoods are only appropriate for equipment that produces heat and steam but no grease vapor — dishwashers, steamers, some conveyor ovens. If you're not sure how to classify your equipment, send us the equipment list and we'll tell you exactly what you need.
It varies significantly based on system size, hood type, duct run length, makeup air requirements, and whether fire suppression is being installed concurrently. A basic Type II system for a smaller operation is a much lower investment than a full Type I grease system with makeup air unit and long duct runs to the roof. We always provide a detailed, itemized proposal before any work begins so you know exactly what you're agreeing to. The best way to get an accurate number is to send us your equipment list and floor plan.
Yes. We pull our own mechanical permits for every commercial kitchen project. Many projects in NWA also require a fire department plan review before permit issuance — we handle that process as well. We know the documentation requirements for each NWA jurisdiction and prepare the submittal package correctly the first time. You don't manage that — we do.
Makeup air replaces the air your exhaust system removes from the building. A commercial hood can exhaust thousands of cubic feet of air per minute. If that air isn't replaced, the building goes into negative pressure — and several bad things happen. Doors become hard to open. Gas pilot lights blow out. The exhaust hood underperforms because it can't draw full CFM against the pressure. In serious cases, gas appliance combustion gases reverse direction and introduce carbon monoxide into the kitchen. Makeup air is required by IMC Section 508 and is a standard part of every commercial kitchen design we do. It is not optional.
Hood sizing starts with the cooking equipment list. NFPA 96 establishes four duty levels — light, moderate, heavy, and extra-heavy — each with a corresponding CFM per linear foot of hood. Fryers, charbroilers, and high-BTU equipment are heavy to extra-heavy duty and require more exhaust than ranges or griddles. We calculate the required CFM from the actual equipment list, then size the hood geometry for proper capture velocity — the right width overhang and airflow to contain the thermal plume. Sizing by room square footage or general rules of thumb produces incorrect results.
Yes, if you're installing a Type I grease hood. NFPA 96 requires an automatic fire suppression system — typically a wet chemical system — for every Type I hood installation. The suppression system is installed by a licensed fire suppression contractor, but we coordinate the mechanical integration between the hood, duct system, and suppression system. We can recommend fire suppression contractors we've worked with across NWA if you don't already have one on your project.
It depends on the scope. A straightforward hood replacement on an existing system with an accessible duct run can sometimes be completed in one or two days. A full new installation with custom ductwork, makeup air unit, roof penetrations, and permit process typically takes longer — the permit and plan review timeline varies by jurisdiction in NWA and can affect the overall schedule. We give you a realistic timeline at proposal stage and flag anything that could affect it during the project.
Yes. Custom homes in NWA increasingly feature professional-grade or semi-professional cooking equipment that requires proper ventilation. A recirculating ductless hood cannot safely ventilate a six-burner commercial-style range. We install properly ducted range hood systems in residential kitchens — sizing the hood and exhaust fan for the actual cooking load, routing the duct to exterior termination, and addressing makeup air if the CFM rate requires it. We coordinate with the builder on duct routing during the construction phase, or we can retrofit a proper ventilation system into an existing home.
NFPA 96 requires regular cleaning of the hood, grease filters, grease duct, and exhaust fan at intervals based on the volume and type of cooking. High-volume operations with heavy grease production (fryers, charbroilers) typically require quarterly cleaning. Moderate volume operations may be on a semi-annual schedule. The cleaning must be performed by a qualified contractor and documented — health department and fire marshal inspections often verify cleaning records. We can refer you to qualified hood cleaning contractors in NWA. The cleaning requirement is an ongoing operational cost that every commercial kitchen owner should factor into their budget.
The best first step is to send us your equipment list and floor plan at info@breezehvacr.com. If you have architectural drawings, those are ideal — but even a rough sketch of the kitchen layout with equipment placement gives us enough to start. Alternatively, call us at 479.318.0107 and we'll set up a site visit or initial call to discuss the project scope. We'll come back to you with a design approach and itemized proposal before any commitment is required.
Ready to Get Started
Send Us Your Layout. We'll Build It Right.
Breeze Heat & Air installs complete commercial kitchen ventilation systems across Northwest Arkansas — Type I and Type II hoods, makeup air, exhaust ducting, DOAS, and residential range hoods. NFPA 96 compliant. Permit handling included. Clean installs built to pass inspection the first time.
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