Range hood/vent recommendation

15 years ago

I just moved in to a home this week that has a design flaw in the kitchen. The range hood is next to a corner cab that opens toward the hood and therefore the cabinet won't open all the way, as it hits the hood. Are there hoods out there that are upper cabinet depth? I am no major cook (I just do basic browning of some meats and veggies at times)so I don't need the super powered hoods that exist out there.

I will be getting new counters (and therefore maybe a new slide in range) so I will be making minor modifications and would like to fix this when I make other changes.

Thanks for any advice!

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Comments (3)

edlakin
15 years ago
why not just reverse the swing of the cabinet door?
fandlil
15 years ago
As a general rule, a range hood should be deep enough so that it extends to about half way over the front burners, or it will not effectively capture the smoke/grease from the front burners, which are usually where the need for exhaust is the greatest. They also say that the range hood should be a little bit wider than the top of the range, say, 6 inches per side, again to optimize its capture ability.

From my own experience, which is with quality non-commercial kitchen appliances (NOT the high end items that generate enough heat to smelt iron ore :), a range hood the same width as the range is okay, but it should be as deep as the standard mentioned above. In terms of exhaust capacity, the entries on these forums give numbers all over the place, but for "average" kitchen use, I think that about 300 CFM is a reasonable target. That assumes that you have a properly installed system that goes to the outside. You can do a search on this forum and on the Kitchen forum for lots of comments on particular brands. Much of it is helpful, but you should also look at Consumer Reports for an overview on the issue and maybe some recommendations on specific brands, but certainly not the last word.

Since you are doing some renovating, have you considered altering the corner cabinet that seems to be the source of the problem? Maybe you could have the door hinges put on the other side. Would that correct the problem? If not, I think you should comapre the cost and inconvenience of redesigning the corner cabinet (maybe doing away with it and putting something smaller in its place) against the cost of keeping the cabinet and installing an exhaust system that is below standard.
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brookness
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the ideas. I thought about changing the swing, but thought it might hit the cabinet on the other side. I do think it would be better, so it might be worth a shot. It just happens to open the "right" way now, so I was hoping to find a small hood that would work. I saw some slide out hoods whose depth is only about 11 inches when pushed in, and I thought that might be a good solution, but only if they work. Of course, changing the swing and getting a hood that looks better (ours is a cheap plastic one) would be a cheap and simple fix that might be worth it. I don't want to alter the actual cabinets at all, as they are very functional and I like the setup.

BTW, any thoughts on matching the hood to the cabs or to the appliances? I may update to stainless (instead of current white) but the hood is up in the cabs, so I wasn't sure which way to go. I imagine it's personal preference, but would love other thoughts/input. It's not a fancy kitchen, but just a nice casual one that I will upgrade with appliances and counters.

Thanks!

Range hood/vent recommendation

Comments (3)

edlakin

fandlil

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brookness
Original Author

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Range hood/vent recommendation

Comments (3)

edlakin

fandlil

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brooknessOriginal Author

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brookness
Original Author