Q&A with Larry Rohskopf, CEO of Jeremias Inc.
To continue bringing its customers safe, efficient and high-quality commercial kitchen ventilation solutions, Accurex is partnering with our new supplier of prefabricated single wall, double wall and zero clearance grease ducts, Jeremias Inc. We recently spoke with Jeremias CEO Larry Rohskopf to discuss to discuss the history, expertise and innovation that their products bring to Accurex commercial kitchen ventilation systems and its customers.
Q: How long has Jeremias been engineering and manufacturing ventilation products?
LR: The foundation for Jeremias was set in Germany in 1970 when Walter Engelhardt and his partner Johann Melzner launched a chimney relining company. Then in 1984, Engelhardt founded Jeremias as it exists today and began manufacturing stainless steel ductwork.
From there, Jeremias expanded across Europe establishing numerous production sites and sales offices. In 2014, we started manufacturing in North America. We’ve seen incredible growth in the United States because of the unique design of our commercial grease ducts. And we are the only manufacturer in North America to manufacture grease ducts out of 100% stainless steel as a standard. When working with stainless steel, it is critical to protect stainless steel from coming into contact with agents that could cause it to rust. We prevent this by processing our stainless steel on proprietary machinery built by Jeremias in Germany. We never process coated steel on this machinery, so our stainless steel never comes into contact with carbon deposits, for instance, that can cause surface rust. Other manufacturers use galvanized or aluminized steel on the outer jackets and offer stainless at an additional cost.
Q: What is unique about Jeremias’ grease duct design?
LR: Our grease ducts use overlapping joint technology – which differs greatly from the joining methods that were available before Jeremias entered the U.S. market in 2014 and which are still commonly used by manufacturers today. Each section of Jeremias ductwork is double expanded on one side so that the next section of pipe can be fit into it. The sealant is encased within the inner overlapping pipe – which cannot be washed away by high pressure cleaning that create leaks with others. Ultimately, this joining method creates a superior seal compared to other joining methods used for field welded or prefabricated grease ducts.
For our double wall grease ducts in particular, Jeremias is unique in that it offers the best clearance to combustibles and the lowest cost. In addition to the inner pipe’s overlapping joint technology, the outer jacket also overlaps/flashes over the next piece of pipe and eliminates the need for silicone caulking the outside jacket– to protect the insulation. Our double wall ducts also don’t require any spot-welding brackets, tooling or machining of spacers between the two walls. We keep the two walls separated by situating a blanket of ceramic fiber insulation between inner and outer pipe during installation. Other grease duct manufacturers have spot-welded spacer between the two walls which create hot spots and act as a bridge for heat.
Q: Can you describe the impact this joining method has on the safety of Jeremias grease ducts?
LR: This style of overlapping joints, sealant and locking collar exists to eliminate leakage within the grease duct system. According to the NFPA-96, the restaurant industry sees over $100 million in damage from grease fires every year, and a grease duct without leaks can better withstand a fire in the event that the hood fire suppression system does not contain it. Our fully stainless-steel grease ducts are tested to UL 1978 and are proven to withstand fire – unlike field-welded grease ducts which are not required by code to undergo this same rigorous testing. A field-welded carbon steel grease duct is likely to fail a fire test in a matter of minutes, but Jeremias’ ducts are tested to survive multiple 30-minute tests as specified by UL 1978 and UL 2221.
Q: How do these unique design features impact installation of the grease ducts?
LR: In many cases, installation of Jeremias grease ducts is twice as fast as competitive UL listed products. Our grease ducts are the most lightweight yet stiffest product in the market which results in easier and faster installation without compromising product strength. And as prefabricated ducts, our products are precut to the specified dimensions which should keep installation running smoothly. But should the need arise, one unique feature that we offer is the ability to cut pipe sections in the field. Because our sections of pipe have a female end that is double expanded and a male end that isn’t, the male end can be field cut by plus or minus two feet to adapt to any situation that arises that maybe wasn’t planned into the project previously.
Q: Once the grease ducts are installed and in use, are there any additional benefits Jeremias products offer the restaurant owner/operator?
LR: All of our grease ducts come with a limited lifetime warranty to give the end users that peace of mind. And from an ongoing maintenance perspective for foodservice operators, our grease ducts reduce professional duct cleaning time by half. So, this provides huge financial savings for the restaurant owner. Jeremias ductwork is round which allows for more efficient high-pressure cleaning methods. And it doesn’t have corners and edges where grease can accumulate, like rectangular ductwork has, which also speeds up the cleaning process.
