Completed projects

Kitchens where the fans already follow the cooking.

University cafeterias, hotel banquet kitchens, a wok line in Beijing and a bank's staff canteen. Six completed DCKV installations, what each kitchen needed, and what went in.

Representative results

What DCKV has delivered so far

Representative results reported across more than 12 previous DCKV installations. They are averages and are not attributed to individual venues. A site survey measures what your kitchen would save.

Performance summary12+ installations

~50%lower exhaust fan electricity: From demand-responsive VFD control and fan-speed optimisation.
~42%less exhaust airflow: From automatic airflow modulation, in the operating conditions where it applies.
~40%lower ventilation-related HVAC electricity: From less conditioned air lost through the hoods and lower HVAC demand.

South China University of Technology

Guangzhou, China

Sector: Education and institutional catering
Scope: 11 kitchens and cafeterias

Eleven kitchens on three campuses, each ventilated for what it is cooking.

The kitchen

University catering cooks in waves. The cafeterias are packed around mealtimes and close to empty in between, and across a large campus that pattern repeats in many kitchens on slightly different timetables. Fixed-speed fans ignore all of it and keep drawing full power through the quiet hours.

What went in

The project covers eleven kitchens and cafeterias across the Wushan, University Town and Guangzhou International campuses. The system combines temperature, flame, smoke and opacity, and pressure sensing with variable-frequency drives under industrial control, plus electrical power metering and Modbus and MQTT communications.

What it shows

DCKV scales across a multi-site institution. Real-time sensor readings set the exhaust and make-up air speeds kitchen by kitchen, so each one follows its own cooking demand. Because every kitchen is metered and connected, performance can be monitored centrally and the energy savings verified over time.

System: Temperature sensing
Flame sensing
Smoke and opacity sensing
Pressure sensing
VFDs
Industrial controls
Power metering
Modbus / MQTT
Engineering focus: Multi-kitchen automation, VFD control, sensor integration and centralised performance monitoring.

Wyndham Grand Taixing Downtown

Taixing, Jiangsu, China

Sector: Hospitality
Scope: 5 food-service areas

Five food-service areas in one hotel, including a banquet kitchen for events of up to 960 guests.

The kitchen

A hotel mixes very different kitchens. Cafés, specialty restaurants, banquet kitchens and staff canteens each have their own equipment, their own ventilation load and their own hours. At Wyndham Grand Taixing Downtown the project covers five food-service areas, including a banquet kitchen that serves events of up to 960 guests.

What went in

Cooking-demand sensors feed PLC logic, which sets fan speeds through VFDs. Electrical power metering and gateway integration carry the data off site for remote measurement and verification reporting.

What it shows

One control system can coordinate ventilation across very different food-service operations, with each area's fans responding to its own cooking. Submetering tracks fan energy, and remote monitoring lets the team assess consumption and system performance without standing in the plant room. That gives the hotel a practical basis for cutting ventilation energy while keeping the kitchens' required operating conditions.

System: Cooking-demand sensors
VFD fan-speed control
PLC logic
Power metering
Gateway integration
Remote M&V reporting
Engineering focus: Multi-zone ventilation control, automated fan modulation, electrical submetering and remote M&V.

Xiangxi Vocational and Technical College for Nationalities

Hunan, China

Sector: Education
Scope: 3 student cafeterias

Three student cafeterias, ventilated around the meal rush.

The kitchen

Institutional kitchens work in concentrated peaks. The cafeterias fill up for meal service, then the kitchen moves on to preparation, cleaning and standby. Holding the exhaust at its full rate through every one of those phases uses fan energy the kitchen doesn't need.

What went in

The project covers three student cafeterias. The specified system includes cooking-demand sensors, VFD controls, kitchen pressure monitoring, fan electricity metering, and integration with the building automation system (BAS) or a gateway.

What it shows

Sensor-driven ventilation can be fitted to the rhythm of institutional catering. The controls evaluate kitchen conditions continuously and adjust the compatible exhaust fans, bringing airflow down in the quieter periods while holding the minimum ventilation the engineers specified. Fan metering gives a record for comparing operation and energy use over time.

System: Cooking-demand sensors
VFD controls
Kitchen pressure monitoring
Fan electricity metering
BAS or gateway integration
Engineering focus: Pressure monitoring, demand-based airflow control, fan energy metering and BAS integration.

Fairfield by Marriott Wuhan Hankou

Wuhan, China

Sector: Hospitality
Scope: Main hotel kitchen

A retrofit on the main kitchen, using the ventilation it already had.

The kitchen

The main kitchen supports all-day dining and the buffet. It needs strong extraction when service is busy, but its real ventilation demand rises and falls with the cooking. Adding intelligent controls to the existing equipment is the alternative to replacing the whole mechanical ventilation installation.

What went in

Hood sensors, VFD fan control and electrical energy metering were integrated with suitable existing ventilation equipment, together with alarm and bypass functions and energy-savings verification.

What it shows

DCKV works as a retrofit. With sensors, variable-speed drives and control logic added to the existing fans, fan operation follows cooking demand. Alarms and the bypass keep the kitchen team in control, and metering with M&V after commissioning gives a framework for checking energy performance.

System: Hood sensors
VFD fan control
Energy metering
Alarms
Bypass
Savings verification
Engineering focus: Retrofit integration, VFD commissioning, operational alarms, bypass functionality and energy verification.

Beijing New Century Tang Palace

Beijing, China

Sector: Restaurant and food service
Scope: Chinese and seafood kitchen

Wok stations and open flame, with extraction that keeps up.

The kitchen

Chinese and seafood kitchens are about as demanding as kitchen ventilation gets. Wok stations and open-flame equipment throw off intense heat and cooking emissions, and they need extraction that responds quickly and is carefully engineered.

What went in

The installation combines cooking-load detection, exhaust fan speed modulation through VFDs, electrical power metering and performance reporting.

What it shows

Demand control works in a specialist cooking environment. Sensor inputs follow changes in cooking intensity, and the controls adjust fan speed within the limits set at commissioning. In the lower-demand periods the fans use less electricity, and when the cooking picks up, extraction rises with it.

System: Cooking-load detection
VFD speed modulation
Power metering
Performance reporting
Engineering focus: Cooking-load sensing, dynamic fan-speed control, extraction performance and electrical monitoring.

Shouke Everbright Bank

Beijing, China

Sector: Corporate and institutional catering
Scope: Office canteen

An office canteen built around the lunch rush.

The kitchen

Office canteens are busiest at lunch and much quieter the rest of the day. A ventilation system that keeps running at high capacity through the quiet hours uses more electricity than the kitchen needs.

What went in

The project covers an enclosed main kitchen with customer-facing warming tables. Its scope includes hood sensors, VFD control where drives were available, fan power metering, bypass logic, and measurement and verification reporting.

What it shows

DCKV fits corporate and institutional kitchens as well as hotels and restaurants. Demand-responsive controls keep fan operation in line with what the kitchen needs, and power metering with performance reports lets the operator see energy use and judge how well the efficiency measures work.

System: Hood sensors
VFD control
Fan power metering
Bypass logic
M&V reporting
Engineering focus: Demand-based ventilation, fan power monitoring, control-system bypass and M&V reporting.

Partner

Quote pending approval

Desmond's quote goes here once he has approved the wording.

DesmondInfantron (S) Pte Ltd

Free kitchen energy audit

Let's put a number on your kitchen.

We walk the kitchen, meter the fans you have now, and come back with a site-specific estimate.

Book a site audit Estimate your savings