Commercial Kitchen & Restaurant Balancing

Eliminate Smoke, Odors, and Drafts with Certified Hood Verification

In the restaurant industry, air balance isn't just about comfort—it's about keeping your doors open. If your kitchen hood isn't capturing smoke, you fail your Health Department inspection. If your building pressure is wrong, you lose customers to a freezing cold dining room.

At Northwest Energy LLC, we specialize in the unique "Air Physics" of commercial kitchens. We provide certified Test and Balance (TAB) services for restaurants, bars, and fast-casual dining across Chicago and the suburbs. We ensure your Exhaust Hoods and Make-Up Air Units (MAU) work in perfect harmony.

The "Air Budget": Why Your Restaurant Needs Balancing

Think of your restaurant's air like a bank account. Your Kitchen Exhaust Hood is "spending" air (removing it from the building). You must "deposit" an equal amount of air back in through your Make-Up Air Unit (MAU) and RTUs.

If you spend more than you deposit, you go into debt (Negative Pressure). This is the #1 cause of comfort complaints in Chicago restaurants.

Signs Your Kitchen is Unbalanced:

• The "Ghost Door": Your front entrance door is hard to pull open, or it slams shut dangerously fast.

• Cold Drafts: Customers near the windows or hostess stand complain about freezing ankles (even when the heat is on).

• Smoky Kitchen: Smoke from the charbroiler spills out of the hood and lingers in the kitchen.

• Sewer Smells: Negative pressure sucks foul odors up from the floor drains.

Deep Dive: Want to understand the physics? Read our guide on Understanding Negative Pressure Issues in Your Business.

Our Restaurant TAB Services

We verify every piece of equipment in the "Air Ecosystem."

1. Kitchen Hood Exhaust (Type I & Type II)

We measure the airflow (CFM) of your Black Iron grease ducts and dishwasher hoods.

• Capture Velocity: We ensure the fan is pulling enough air to suck up smoke and grease vapors, meeting IMC and NFPA 96 fire codes.

• Fan Inspection: We check belt tension, pulley alignment, and rotation to prevent premature motor failure.

2. Make-Up Air Unit (MAU) Balancing

The MAU is the most critical (and ignored) unit on your roof.

• We adjust the MAU to replace 80-90% of the air exhausted by the hood.

• We verify that the fresh air is tempered (heated) so you aren't dumping freezing winter air directly onto your line cooks.

3. Dining Room Comfort (RTUs)

While the kitchen needs air replacement, the dining room needs comfort.

• We balance your Rooftop Units (RTUs) to ensure even temperature distribution.

• Ventilation Assessment: We verify fresh air intake to keep CO2 levels low and customers alert.

Local Code Compliance

Different towns have different rules for kitchen ventilation. We know them all.

• Chicago Restaurants: The City of Chicago Department of Buildings strictly enforces the 2022 Energy Transformation Code. We ensure your Outside Air (OA) calculations meet the city's rigorous standards for new restaurant build-outs.

• Naperville Dining: In Downtown Naperville and Freedom Drive, inspectors look closely at energy efficiency. We ensure your system complies with the 2021 IECC.

Frequently Asked Questions (Restaurant Owners)

Q: My kitchen is hot, but the dining room is cold. Can you fix this? A: Yes. This is a classic "Transfer Air" issue. Your kitchen hood is sucking the heat out of the dining room. We fix this by increasing the airflow from your Kitchen Make-Up Air unit, so the hood stops stealing from the dining area.

Q: Do I need a TAB report to open my restaurant? A: Yes. Nearly every municipality in Northern Illinois (including Hoffman Estates, Oak Brook, and Evanston) requires a Certified TAB Report to obtain your Certificate of Occupancy. You cannot open without it.

Q: How much does it cost to balance a restaurant? A: We use a simple Flat-Rate Model based on the number of hoods and RTUs. We don't charge hourly. Check our Pricing Guide or email us your plans for a quote today.

Get Your Kitchen Inspection-Ready

Don't let a "Red Tag" from the inspector delay your Grand Opening. Contact Northwest Energy today for a fast, flat-rate proposal.