Pretium News

Exhaust Vent investigation

A cold winter breeze + a high-rise building = a shattered glass stove-top?!

A tenant reported that their glass stove top cracked due to excessive cooling coming from the range hood. Pretium investigated the range hood and exhaust vents to find some clues as to what caused the air infiltration.

Can you guess the culprit?

During our review, the neoprene dampers were either missing, torn or too small at various locations. The baffles were also bent too high. The combination of the two deficiencies resulted in cold winter air entering through the exterior vents at the lower levels due to stack affect and from winds striking the building. We discussed with the unit owners, and it turns out that a recent duct cleaning most likely caused all of these disturbances.