What Type Of Fume Hood Should I Specify?

By Kelly Williams, Labconco Technical Specialist

The answer to the question of "What type of fume hood should I specify?" gets more complicated each time a new type of fume hood or ventilated enclosure is introduced to the market.

Today in many laboratories large volumes of toxic chemicals are being replaced by much smaller volumes of less harmful chemicals. The need to safely accommodate a large flask of boiling acid is not a common occurrence in many labs today.

A concern for most laboratories is the amount of tempered air that is lost operating a fume hood. As a lab designer or architect you have the task of selecting the most energy efficient laboratory ventilation system available while maintaining a safe laboratory working environment and staying within a budget. Having an energy efficient Green building is the goal of many laboratory construction projects.