Galley Steam Extraction - Bilge pumps, Cooker Hoods and more?

[DangerousPirate]

Current set up is to just open the hatch and use a 12v fan to blow steam that way. It works, quite alright actually, except now the sprayhood gets it! Dripped in my neck the other night when I got out. Not pleasant, I tell you.

Now, I do have a quite useless vent-hole above the galley, which leads me to believe that the previous owner wanted to build some sort of extraction there. The hole is closed off right now, about 95mm. All I have been looking for is a cooker hood or some sort of galley extraction fan that fits in there. There have been a few hits on the google machine through general research, but nothing REALLY fits the job?

I found a comet mushroom vent, but that only works at
Airflow: 60m3/h


Which seems to be vastly inadequate to move the steam from a cooking season. However, the fit would be absolutely perfect.

Are there no direct products for boats for galleys? Surely someone thought of this before. Someone who didn't want their whole boat steamy, smoky or just generally humid.

So far I've been looking for domestic and caravan cooking hoods (which seems to not actually vent outside and just disperse the steam into the room. Their purpose is to eliminate odour, I guess?), bilge fans that seem difficult to install for this purpose, and general extraction fans that seem to be meant for regular venting and not fit for the galley.

If nothing can be found, I am sure to go with the comet mushroom vent as it's better than nothing and has the right dimensions without costing an arm and a leg. Perhaps additionally, I'd install a steam "disperser", working in combination with the comet.

But I do hope for a better solution.

How did you solve this, if you addressed it?

 

[geem]

Current set up is to just open the hatch and use a 12v fan to blow steam that way. It works, quite alright actually, except now the sprayhood gets it! Dripped in my neck the other night when I got out. Not pleasant, I tell you.

Now, I do have a quite useless vent-hole above the galley, which leads me to believe that the previous owner wanted to build some sort of extraction there. The hole is closed off right now, about 95mm. All I have been looking for is a cooker hood or some sort of galley extraction fan that fits in there. There have been a few hits on the google machine through general research, but nothing REALLY fits the job?

I found a comet mushroom vent, but that only works at
Airflow: 60m3/h


Which seems to be vastly inadequate to move the steam from a cooking season. However, the fit would be absolutely perfect.

Are there no direct products for boats for galleys? Surely someone thought of this before. Someone who didn't want their whole boat steamy, smoky or just generally humid.

So far I've been looking for domestic and caravan cooking hoods (which seems to not actually vent outside and just disperse the steam into the room. Their purpose is to eliminate odour, I guess?), bilge fans that seem difficult to install for this purpose, and general extraction fans that seem to be meant for regular venting and not fit for the galley.

If nothing can be found, I am sure to go with the comet mushroom vent as it's better than nothing and has the right dimensions without costing an arm and a leg. Perhaps additionally, I'd install a steam "disperser", working in combination with the comet.

But I do hope for a better solution.

How did you solve this, if you addressed it?

It will never work on a boat. We used to design them using 0.5m/s face velocity on the area of the cooker. Assuming a 500x500mm cooker you would need 125l/s extract volume flow rate. 60m3/hr is 16l/s.
We swapped to all electric cooking and this vastly reduces the amount of moisture in the boat

 

[DangerousPirate]

It will never work on a boat. We used to design them using 0.5m/s face velocity on the area of the cooker. Assuming a 500x500mm cooker you would need 125l/s extract volume flow rate. 60m3/hr is 16l/s.
We swapped to all electric cooking and this vastly reduces the amount of moisture in the boat

It's great that this solved your problem. But if liquids are boiling and evaporating, there is not a difference between a flame and induction stoves. I do know that there is a lot of condensation coming from gas, but this is secondary humidity and has little to do with steam from the pot itself, which is what I am trying to address.
There are many advantages of your way of doing things, absolutely not trying to talk down on it.

Just the fact that I could make the swap, and boiling my rice is still going to fill the galley with steam as soon as I open the lid.

It just baffles me that this is an issue that's being left unaddressed. A solution shouldn't be technically difficult. But by the sounds of it, you looked into it and turned up empty as well.

All it needs is a little fan that fits above the cooker and sucks the steam right out to a vent.

Sounds like something I have to design and DIY myself some way or another. For now, I keep looking. Maybe I find a product that solves this problem. It would be a low priority project.

 

[LittleSister]

. . . Now, I do have a quite useless vent-hole above the galley, which leads me to believe that the previous owner wanted to build some sort of extraction there. The hole is closed off right now, about 95mm. All I have been looking for is a cooker hood or some sort of galley extraction fan that fits in there. There have been a few hits on the google machine through general research, but nothing REALLY fits the job?

I found a comet mushroom vent, but that only works at
Airflow: 60m3/h


Which seems to be vastly inadequate to move the steam from a cooking season. However, the fit would be absolutely perfect.

. . .

Remember that you are not trying to take air out of the boat, but to create a flow through it.

An important part of effective ventilation is that to shift air out of a space, you also have to allow fresh air into it somewhere, otherwise any extractor fans will be fighting a losing battle, or at best work at a severe disadvantage dragging in air in through cracks etc., or even backwards through another extractor fan somewhere else. (Someone should tell pub, restaurant and nightclubs owners this!)

I think a pretty standard fan and vent above the cooker, where you have an existing blocked up vent hole should make a very valuable contribution to keeping humidity down (and should be a relatively simple installation), provided you have a another vent elsewhere letting air in.

A vent (with or without fan) above the cooker will be aided by the heat of the air/steam pushing it upwards.

The Vetus Fan is listed as shifting 70 cu m per hour (whether 12v or 24v versions), about 17% more than the Comet fan you mention. VETUS electric ventilator, type FAN, 12 Volt, 2 speeds (Other manufacturers and retailers available.)

On my own previous boat and a friend's boat we've managed just fine with no fans, but they did both have lots of passive ventilators (variously mushroom, dorado, etc.) throughout the boat, allowing air to pass through, and perhaps you do a lot more boiling than we did.

 

[geem]

It's great that this solved your problem. But if liquids are boiling and evaporating, there is not a difference between a flame and induction stoves. I do know that there is a lot of condensation coming from gas, but this is secondary humidity and has little to do with steam from the pot itself, which is what I am trying to address.
There are many advantages of your way of doing things, absolutely not trying to talk down on it.

Just the fact that I could make the swap, and boiling my rice is still going to fill the galley with steam as soon as I open the lid.

It just baffles me that this is an issue that's being left unaddressed. A solution shouldn't be technically difficult. But by the sounds of it, you looked into it and turned up empty as well.

All it needs is a little fan that fits above the cooker and sucks the steam right out to a vent.

Sounds like something I have to design and DIY myself some way or another. For now, I keep looking. Maybe I find a product that solves this problem. It would be a low priority project.

Do you not cook with a lid on the pan? Or use a pressure cooker?
Do you know that you can cook rice for 5 mins then leave it to stand off the stove and it will continue to cook perfectly with no gas with the lid on so no steam released as its no longer boiling?
I used to design commercial kitchen ventilation systems. There is no solution on a boat. You need a canopy to collect steam. This would create a headroom issue on most boats, even large ones. Learning how to minimise steam by modifying your cooking habits when living in a cool environment like the UK helps a lot.
A little fan above the stove will help a little but it doesn't solve the problem. Any steam will simply bypass the fan as a small fan cannot create a negative pressure even a short distance from the fan inlet as the steam has it's own driving buoyancy that will bypass the fan and move horizontally once it meets the ceiling.
Cracking the hatches to encourage a high air change rate in the boat will disperse any high humidity air but i am aure you already know this.

 

[DangerousPirate]

Remember that you are not trying to take air out of the boat, but to create a flow through it.

An important part of effective ventilation is that to shift air out of a space, you also have to allow fresh air into it somewhere, otherwise any extractor fans will be fighting a losing battle, or at best work at a severe disadvantage dragging in air in through cracks etc., or even backwards through another extractor fan somewhere else. (Someone should tell pub, restaurant and nightclubs owners this!)

I think a pretty standard fan and vent above the cooker, where you have an existing blocked up vent hole should make a very valuable contribution to keeping humidity down (and should be a relatively simple installation), provided you have a another vent elsewhere letting air in.

A vent (with or without fan) above the cooker will be aided by the heat of the air/steam pushing it upwards.

The Vetus Fan is listed as shifting 70 cu m per hour (whether 12v or 24v versions), about 17% more than the Comet fan you mention. VETUS electric ventilator, type FAN, 12 Volt, 2 speeds (Other manufacturers and retailers available.)

On my own previous boat and a friend's boat we've managed just fine with no fans, but they did both have lots of passive ventilators (variously mushroom, dorado, etc.) throughout the boat, allowing air to pass through, and perhaps you do a lot more boiling than we did.

That Vetus Fan looks better than the one I found so far. Thanks. The main idea is to get the steam out of the vent instead of up the hatch. I am sure, if I open the hatch and turn on the vent, it'll be alright, sufficient suction provided. Airflow is guaranteed that way.

Do you not cook with a lid on the pan? Or use a pressure cooker?
Do you know that you can cook rice for 5 mins then leave it to stand off the stove and it will continue to cook perfectly with no gas with the lid on so no steam released as its no longer boiling?
I used to design commercial kitchen ventilation systems. There is no solution on a boat. You need a canopy to collect steam. This would create a headroom issue on most boats, even large ones. Learning how to minimise steam by modifying your cooking habits when living in a cool environment like the UK helps a lot.
A little fan above the stove will help a little but it doesn't solve the problem. Any steam will simply bypass the fan as a small fan cannot create a negative pressure even a short distance from the fan inlet as the steam has it's own driving buoyancy that will bypass the fan and move horizontally once it meets the ceiling.
Cracking the hatches to encourage a high air change rate in the boat will disperse any high humidity air but i am aure you already know this.

Well, I put on a lid for many things but there are moments when you're frying in a pan and you're constantly tossing things, or the moment you are draining the pasta in the sink without wanting to climb up the hatch to do it outside (it might be "very british" outside). Those are moments an extraction fan/method would be convenient.

I am not living a total horror here, where I am struggling to even cook and breathe or anything like that. It's not THAT dire . Just a little inconvenient, and I am trying to make it a little better.

Are you positive that this is just not possible? I don't mind thinking about cooking hoods (which was actually the first thing I looked up) if it has an extraction vent that I can connect to my "skylight".

Heck, I might even consider connecting it to the converter to run it off 220v if there are no 12v solutions.

 

[geem]

That Vetus Fan looks better than the one I found so far. Thanks. The main idea is to get the steam out of the vent instead of up the hatch. I am sure, if I open the hatch and turn on the vent, it'll be alright, sufficient suction provided. Airflow is guaranteed that way.

Well, I put on a lid for many things but there are moments when you're frying in a pan and you're constantly tossing things, or the moment you are draining the pasta in the sink without wanting to climb up the hatch to do it outside (it might be "very british" outside). Those are moments an extraction fan/method would be convenient.

I am not living a total horror here, where I am struggling to even cook and breathe or anything like that. It's not THAT dire . Just a little inconvenient, and I am trying to make it a little better.

Are you positive that this is just not possible? I don't mind thinking about cooking hoods (which was actually the first thing I looked up) if it has an extraction vent that I can connect to my "skylight".

Heck, I might even consider connecting it to the converter to run it off 220v if there are no 12v solutions.

If you can use 220v then you can buy a decent centrifugal fan but you still need to create a good face velocity

 

[PetiteFleur]

I fitted a small opening hatch immediately over the cooker which seems to help. Slightly off centre actually to avoid a reinforcement rib in the ceiling.

 

[oldbloke]

We have a briefcase style camping stove nearly all frying and boiling off happens outside. Also a short period of really vigorous ventilation ti give a complete air change can be pretty effective for treating humidity. Admittedly, in a yachting context, not so helpful beating into a force 8