Chinese Manufacturer Fotile Designs an Exhaust Hood That Actually Exhausts

The two most problematic appliances in the kitchen today are the dishwasher and the kitchen exhaust hood. I have called the kitchen exhaust The most screwed up, badly designed, inappropriately used appliance in your home and noted that Worrying about kitchen fans is exhausting. Because for the most part, they just don't work very well.

© Fotile

In China, they have a bigger exhaust problem than we do because of the way they flash-fry food; it needs a lot of exhausting in a hurry, and they need a hood that works. That's why I was so surprised to discover the Fotile booth at the National Home Show in Toronto. Fotile is the biggest appliance company I had never heard of, a high end Chinese manufacturer with ten thousand employees that devotes 5 percent of sales to research and development, and it shows. It has a shelf of design awards too, including six Red Dot awards for industrial design.

fotile-stove from Lloyd Alter on Vimeo.

The shape of the hood lets it sit quite low at the back; when you turn it on a flap opens up and the fan pulls in the exhaust very effectively; they had a steaming pot on the next stove and you can see it being sucked up in my short video. It's very quiet, considering that it is pulling 1000 cubic feet of air per minute. That's a lot, but in Chinese cooking it's not on for that long. In a tightly sealed house that much exhaust could cause some problems. But still, it is the most interesting (and effective) residential exhaust hood I have seen yet. It's expensive, but resistance is Fotile.

© Fotile

And then there is their amazing integrated sink and dishwasher. Oh wait, it's not just a dishwasher, it comes with a different rack that you can use to wash your fruits, vegetables and even fish in it. According to Fotile it can effectively remove pesticides (a worry with local vegetables in China); There are four powerful jets coming up from the bottom.

Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0

It's also a very efficient dishwasher, using just 0.32 kw and 6 liters of water. There is something to be said for being in the countertop, too, as this hilarious google translation notes:

In addition, the side too sink dishwasher according to ergonomic also adopted the “clamshell” design, combined with the sink, embedded in the table, put a bowl, take the bowl without bending squat, but it also uses amazing dish rack design, greatly compatible with the shape tableware market, even if the design is very unique dishes can also be freely placed. While adding simple operation of “PTT” button layout, easy to use, peace of mind, even children will use.

Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0

Kitchenaid promised a version of this years ago that never appeared; I thought at the time "It just makes so much sense to integrate the wet functions, and top loading is logical when you are dealing with water." It also makes sense to design a machine that accommodates a single meal or that's small enough for a single person. Alas this is far too expensive, at over $3,000 for the sink and dishwasher combo, but it's such a good idea.