Range Hood and Ventilation

Getting Cooking Heat Out of the House

When a Riverside kitchen feels hot in the evening, people usually blame the sun, and the sun is part of it. The other part is the cooktop. Four gas burners running at once put a lot of heat into a small room, and in many homes the only thing standing between that heat and the rest of the house is a hood that is too small, hung too high, or not connected to the outside at all.

We see three versions of the problem over and over. A microwave over the range with a thin recirculating vent. A slim under cabinet hood in a 1950s ranch that exhausts into the attic space above rather than through the roof. And a handsome decorative hood in a newer home that was chosen for looks, is quieter than it should be, and captures almost nothing.

Ducted Beats Recirculating, Every Time

A recirculating hood pulls air through a grease filter and a charcoal filter and blows it back into the room. It catches some grease and some odor. It does not remove heat or moisture, because that air never leaves the kitchen. If comfort is the goal, the hood has to be ducted to the outside.

During a remodel that is usually straightforward. With the ceiling or soffit open we can run a smooth, rigid metal duct to a roof cap or a wall cap, keep the run as short and straight as the framing allows, and seal the joints with foil tape rather than cloth duct tape. Every elbow and every foot of flexible duct cuts real airflow, so a well routed modest fan often outperforms a powerful fan fighting a long, crooked run.

Capture Area Matters More Than the Fan

Heat and smoke rise in a plume that spreads as it goes up. A hood that is narrower than the cooktop lets the edges of that plume escape before the fan ever sees it. We generally recommend a hood at least as wide as the cooktop, and a few inches wider on each side for a wall mounted hood over a gas range. Mounting height follows the manufacturer’s range, usually somewhere around 24 to 30 inches above the cooking surface. Hang it higher for the look and the capture drops off fast.

A deeper hood with a good baffle filter and a generous canopy will quietly outperform a shallow flat bottomed unit that looks sleeker on the wall.

How Much Airflow You Actually Need

Hood fans are rated in cubic feet per minute. Bigger numbers look impressive in a showroom, but the right number depends on the cooktop, the capture area and the duct run. A typical electric or induction cooktop in a Riverside home is well served by a few hundred CFM. A high output gas range may justify more.

There is a catch once you go large. A strong exhaust fan in a tight house needs replacement air from somewhere. Many jurisdictions start requiring make-up air once a kitchen hood exceeds 400 CFM, and even where it is not required, a big fan with no air supply can draw air back down a water heater flue or a fireplace. We look at your house, the appliances in it and what the plan checker will ask for before we recommend a size.

Noise Is Why Hoods Go Unused

A hood that roars is a hood that stays off. We look at sone ratings, consider an inline or remote mounted blower where the space allows, and choose variable speed controls so you can run it low through a whole meal instead of blasting it for a minute and giving up.

What the Work Includes

• A look at your existing hood, its ducting and where it terminates
• Sizing the hood to your cooktop, your layout and your cooking habits
• Routing rigid duct to a roof or wall cap, with proper flashing and patching
• A dedicated circuit where the hood or blower calls for one
• Make-up air planning when the fan size requires it
• Permit, inspection and cleanup

When We Tell You Not to Spend

If your hood is already ducted outside and simply clogged, a new baffle filter and a cleaned fan may be all you need. If you cook lightly on an induction cooktop, a mid range hood done right is plenty. We would rather put your budget into glass or shading that makes the room cooler all afternoon.

Call (951) 530-3325 to have us look at your hood and duct route in person.