THE CHALLENGE
At his restaurant Ahi, Ben offers a complete and pure New Zealand dining experience. Ahi is translated from Maori to mean fire. That’s why the chef wants to get his kitchen fire under control.
Because Ben wants to have the authentic smells and flavors of natural wood smoke and charcoal, each dish pushes the limits of exhaust systems.
Having a device in your kitchen that allows you to monitor indoor air quality will allow you to prevent smoke and fire leaks that can affect both the premises and the rest of the building.
THE SOLUTION
1 Libelium Plug & Sense was installed! A smart environment with NB-IoT connectivity to quickly share parameter data with the owner and staff.
NB-IoT and environmental sensors allow indoor air monitoring, assisted by Adroit, the distributor of Libelium’s technology in New Zealand, the Ahi restaurant was equipped with Plug & Sense! Smart environmental sensors. Data is reported via NB-IoT on a minute-by-minute basis about indoor air quality, so the team can keep track of their performance.
« We worked with consultancy Air Matters to select the right sensors for air pollutants inside the building, including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter, plus a few others, » he says. Ulrich Frerk, founder. & Technical Director of Adroit.
The staff is delighted to see that, despite the huge grill, the interior ventilation is extremely effective. “We see a spike in the data when we light the fire. When we see that happen, we just make sure all our windows and doors are closed to allow the extraction to work to its fullest, and we can see it go back to normal,” says Ben.
Now, when air quality performance drops, Ahi staff know to clean the exhaust filters or there is an uncontrolled opening.
Because Ben can see the air quality in his facility up to the minute, it has several notable benefits:
- Greater control of the efficiency of the extractor hood and the tightness of the kitchen. Early detection of a drop in air quality performance enables timely improvements and significant money savings.
- Improvement of health care and worker productivity. When the level of CO2, or any other type of pollutant, is too high it can cause drowsiness and drowsiness in personnel, as well as other serious health effects.
- Food tastes better! Third, many studies talk about the importance of a restaurant having clean air because it can affect people’s palates.