Questions from the hood-impaired (Vent-a-Hood, etc.)

16 years ago

Hi all,

The only hood I have experience with is the kind that goes under the microwave. This is new territory for me.

We are restoring our 1929 kitchen (similar to jgarner's lovely kitchen). We have a great vintage stove, which is 39" wide. I had initially looked at the 36" Excalibur. But after reading here, I see most folks have a hood that is wider than the range. The next size up is 42" (I doubt I can afford a custom size--don't know how much that would cost). I don't really have the space for 42" on the sides, but I can do it if I have to. Is going wider than the range strongly recommended? I'm so used to having the whole (plaster) wall behind the stove spattered in grease that 36" would be such a dramatic improvement.

The excalibur is the only hood I have seen with the right vintage look for my kitchen (well, except Modern Aire, but that is out of my price range). Are there any others I should look at?

Finally, can the vent go out the back of the hood? In all the pictures I have seen, there is either the VAH vent pipe cover above the official hood, or, as jgarner did in her kitchen, the pipe is covered by a dry wall type box. We could just go directly into the wall behind the hood, eliminating the need to go vertical. But will the hood accommodate this? Or do we have to go up to the ceiling?

Thanks so very much for your help!

Francy

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Comments (3)

friedajune
16 years ago
Francy - I am linking below to a Gardenweb FAQ on vent hoods, which should help you. Regarding the width of the hood, a 42" hood would be ideal for your 36" range, because it is most ideal to have 3" on each side of the range for capture area, to capture all the smoke/grease. I did not have the space for those extra inches, so I have a 30" wide hood over a 30" wide range, and it's OK, but I do wish I had the space for a 36" wide hood.

Please make sure you check your duct diameter. Ventahood has specific requirements for duct diameter depending on the cfm's you get. If your duct is smaller than what's specified, you will get more noise, as you are constraining the air flow out of the blower.

I chose the VAH Excalibur, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! However, the Excalibur was a special order, and took about 10 weeks to arrive, but I was not in a hurry, so it was OK. Unlike you, I was not going for a vintage look; I just loved that curved design. I chose it in a stainless steel finish, with the bands in stainless steel also, which was an upcharge (the bands come standard in black). Also, I chose rivets on the bands, another upcharge, but so worth it IMHO. The rivets are small, but they are the cherry on the sundae!

From a functional point of view, I have found the VAH Excalibur to be efficient, quiet (but I have only a 6' run which helps keep it quiet), and a cinch to clean (don't believe any threads you might see that the VAH is trouble to take apart and clean--if you can open the latches on a briefcase, you can open the VAH's latches and take it apart to clean.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardenweb's Vent Hood FAQ
friedajune
16 years ago
I just realized that you said your range is 39" - I had thought 36". But in any case, 42" hood should be adequate, cause it'll still extend over the sides of the range, except it will be just 1-1/2" per side rather than the recommended 3". As I mentioned, I have no overhang, and it's still fine, although it would be better with an overhang. The alternative is you could get the Excalibur in the 48" width. That might be expensive, and you may not have room for it.
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Not a dumb question. Assuming the duct is made from steel sheet metal sections as required, and that they are properly joined, there should be no objection to either horizontal layout to an exterior wall or vertical layout to a roof using an accessible chase where needed, or some combination of these approaches. Cooking ventilation is a potential fire hazard, significantly minimized by using hood baffles or mesh filters as a fire stop, and metal ducting capable of resisting burn through given the caloric potential of the usually very modest amount of grease that typically attaches to residential ducting. What is important, in my view, is to ensure that combustibles not be in direct contact with the ducting. Use metal hangers or standoffs, ceramic insulation, firecode sheetrock, or other means where you might imagine ducting becoming hot enough in some theoretical fire that it could ignite proximate combustibles. (In other words, don't use crumpled newspapers for stuffing.) Leaving the ducting exposed across the garage will enable easier access, and may reveal any unexpected grease build-up by drips from the joints. (Note that commercial ducting has to use welded joints with access ports and routine cleaning requirements, so drips outside the ducting should be non-existent in their environment.) To best minimize grease buildup in the ducts, the air velocity should be around 1000 ft/min in cold ducts, and upwards toward 2000 ft/min in warm ducts. Of course, cold ducts will warm up if the kitchen air is warm, and a 1500 ft/min nominal design should be fine. Just start the blower well before you are shedding greasy smoke from the pan. You will find in other threads here arguments for using a hood air velocity of 90 ft/min at the entrance aperture and scaling the counterpart CFM to a nominal blower specified CFM to achieve this flow velocity. Use the actual, pressure loss derated CFM, not the specified CFM to determine a duct diameter for your hood that gets you between 1000 ft/min and 2000 ft/min in the duct. kas
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bayareafrancy
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the info!

Looks like I do need the 42" (since 36" would be even less than my range). I found the installation instructions, and I appears that the duct does have to go up from the top of the hood (though it can turn an angle after exiting the hood). So it cannot just go directly into the wall from the back of the hood. Which means I'll need some sort of vent pipe cover. Which means more moola. Rats!

I'd love to see a picture of your excalibur with rivets!

Francy

Questions from the hood-impaired (Vent-a-Hood, etc.)

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friedajune

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Questions from the hood-impaired (Vent-a-Hood, etc.)

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friedajune

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