"How often should I clean my chimney?" is the question we get asked more than any other — and most answers online are too vague to be useful. The honest answer depends on how much you cook, what you cook, and how much oil goes into it. Here is the schedule we actually recommend, based on thousands of Bangalore South kitchens.
The simple rule of thumb
Every chimney needs two kinds of attention: a quick basic clean that keeps the surface and filters free of daily grease, and a full deep clean that strips the unit down to service the blower wheel and motor housing. How often each one is due depends on your cooking style.
- Light daily cooking, occasional frying — deep clean every 8 months
- Daily tempering and frying, a typical Indian kitchen — deep clean every 6 months
- Heavy oil use, tandoor or regular non-stick wok cooking — deep clean every 3–4 months
- Restaurants and cloud kitchens — deep clean every 2–3 months
The customers who call us for a motor replacement almost always skipped at least one deep-clean cycle. Grease does not damage a chimney overnight — it damages it two years and six skipped cleanings later.
Lead Technician, Chimney & Hob Service
Signs you have waited too long
If smoke lingers in the kitchen instead of being pulled out immediately, if the motor sounds noticeably louder than it used to, or if oil starts dripping from the filter housing onto the hob below, the chimney is well overdue. At that point a basic clean will not fix it — the blower wheel itself is coated and needs a full strip-down.
The good news is that a proper deep clean, done on schedule, is inexpensive compared to a motor replacement — and it is the single biggest thing you can do to make a chimney last well past its warranty period.
