Is running vent hood ducting through cabinets OK?
I apologize if this a stupid question. Like a lot of people, I'm perplexed by venting. I've searched both this forum and the web (and read the FAQs) and I'm still confused. My solution seems to be obvious, yet I've seen little mentioned of it, which leads me to believe I'm missing something.
Sometime in the next year or so (we're budgeting and making decisions now and then pulling the trigger when the special savings account and the cabinet maker are ready) we're going to do a small overhaul of our kitchen which will involve putting in new upper cabinets that go to the 8' ceiling (the rest will be refaced).
We currently have a Jenn-Air downdraft range. The range is great, but the downdraft, not so much (no surprise there, right?) I'm also not keen with the idea that when our 10-year-old range bites the dust our only choice is to replace it with another Jenn-Air (assuming they still make that model when we get to that point). Seems that now is the time to address the venting issue, which will also give us options in the future when it comes to replacing the range.
The range is on an interior wall in a two-story house. The joists do not run the correct direction to go in to the ceiling and then outside (about an 8-foot run).
My thought was to just run the ductwork through the top of the cabinets then outside and put a false front in there so you don't see the duct. Sort of like a soffit through the cabinets. Other than losing some space in the cabinets is there a drawback to this approach?
I definitely do not want a recirculating vent. If that's the only option I'd rather stick with the downdraft. Moving the range, etc. are not an option.
Here's a photo of the current kitchen so you can see the layout.
Comments (16)
weissman
11 years agoginny20
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Long Duct Run for Vented Dryer vs. Condenser Dryer
Comments (20)gordonr, If there's nothing else I've learned during the course of my renovations, I've learned that everything ends up being more complicated than you expect. Once you open up the ceiling or the wall, there always seems to be something in the way of what you want to do. A floor joist where the tub drain needed to be, pipes where I wanted recessed lights to go, and now the recessed light over the tub is where it would make sense to run the duct. I can hardly wait to get to the kitchen renovation! I spoke with a rep in Miele's technical service group yesterday. Initially he was telling me he thought what I wanted to do entailed too long a stretch of duct - that it would reduce the performance of the dryer. I told him I expected that it would not be optimal performance, but what I was trying to determine was whether it would reduce it to the extent that a condenser dryer would have the same performance. He didn't seem to understand what I was getting at, so I gave an example: If the vented model has 15% better performance than the condenser model and the venting I'm doing reduces performance by 15%, then the condenser model would be generally equivalent, but if the vented dryer's performance is 50% greater, the same 15% reduction in performance would still mean the vented dryer was a better choice. I asked if he could give me any information about how much better the vented dryer's performance was than the condenser model and how much the venting I was considering would reduce the vented dryer's performance. At that point, he said he wanted to talk with one of the senior technical reps and put me on hold. When he came back, he told me that the dryer was rated for up to 60 feet (which I already knew) and that I should be fine with what I was planning on doing. He also told me that the sr. rep had indicated that having a condenser dryer in a closet could be problematic because it puts off a lot more heat than a vented dryer - you'd need a lot more air circulation into the closet with a condenser dryer. The closet I'll be putting the w/d into is 68" wide by 29" deep, so the extra heat and air circulation need may not have been as much of an issue for me as it might be for others with a more confined space. One learning that I took away from this: if you start to get the sense that the technical or customer service person you're talking to may not be as knowledgeable as you'd like, ask to talk with a senior rep. Like anywhere else, initial phone calls will be answered by more junior staff who will route the more complicated issues to more experienced staff. I've decided to go with a vented dryer, and now just need to decide between the Miele and the Asko. I'll let everyone know which one I end up with. Jan...See Moreis 12' too long for hood duct/vent through ceiling to outside?
Comments (3)Please review the hood threads on this forum for more information on this topic than you might presently think that you want to know, and then ask specific questions. No likely residential length is too long if the blower and ducting are correctly sized for the conditions. All of the important parameters are described many times over....See MoreI"m SO confused on whether my duct work is ok for hood vent
Comments (21)The assessment of trades above by @User is correct. You’ll need a HVAC person, an electrician, and someone to do drywall. You’ll also need a new dedicated electrical outlet for where you moved your MW. I’m not sure why there isn’t an outlet above the range, where you moved it from, but it wouldn’t be in the right place for a chimney hood if it were. That’s why you have to decide on the hood, and design everything around the exact hood’s specs. The location and shape of the duct and the electrical location is NOT universal. It’s normal to have to move or adjust everything, or do new. You need the specs and the hood on hand when talking to contractors. Don’t forget an exterior damper to keep cold air from infiltrating your home! You will get a better job, done faster, if you hire a General Contractor, rather than trying to hire the trades individually. They have their subs that they give lots of work to, and who will return phone calls and show up. And pull the permits that this will require. A homeowner doesn’t get the same price or response from the trades, and it takes weeks longer. I’d suggest posting on your local NextDoor or Facebook neighborhood or city group to look for a licensed and insured (check this!) contractor who can do a small job. But, it isn’t as small as you think!...See MoreVent Hood Duct: Size, Gauges, Material, and Make-Up Air
Comments (20)"The manufacturers of Vent Hoods are miseducating the consumers." Yes. Somewhat. Not really. They are in business to make money and they do that by making hoods as inexpensively as possible and then selling as many as they can for as much money as they can. Their goal is NOT your health or the IAQ of your home - that is up to you. Telling consumers that they'll also need to spend money on MUA if they buy hood X will negatively impact their sales (ignorant consumer will just go buy a hood from brand Y instead because it doesn't say you need MUA even though it has an identical need for MUA) so they do not want to do that. MUA is also not something that fits well within consumer hood manufacturers world except to the extent that they might offer a hood w/ integrated front curtain ducting. It is much more of a pure HVAC thing. It can be supplied to the return ducts of an HVAC system, the supply ducts or ducted directly to appropriate locations. Incoming air can be heated by gas, electric or hydronic. Incoming air may need to be humidified or dehumidified. It often needs to be electrically integrated with the HVAC system controllers to function properly. Consumer hood manufacturers - ARE NOT IAQ or HVAC people or engineers - they make something decorative that by nature must include air movement so they reluctantly include air movement in their product. Commercial hood manufacturers - ARE IAQ and HVAC people and engineers. Their customers are much more educated than consumers. The one singular purpose of the product they are selling is IAQ - so they design and sell systems that provide good IAQ. Aesthetics is quite secondary for them. Residential HVAC companies in the U.S. - ARE NOT IAQ people (they should be though). A tiny few, less than about 1%, know it well and a few more know it a very little but the vast majority know just enough, based on what they've been told at a 4 hr CEU course, to sound like they know what they're talking about but they don't really understand it. Most residential HVAC people do not understand air movement or why things are done the way they are - they only know how to use tables that tell them to do this or that and as soon as something is outside of defined parameters they're totally lost (though sometimes don't even realize that they're lost). Licensed Professional Engineers do (or most do, some don't) understand air movement and other elements. They are the people who create the tables that HVAC people use. They can think independently. Defined parameters for them are not tables but the physics of air - it's movement, temperature and components. Unfortunately, most U.S. engineers do not have a good understanding of human physiology (except perhaps for biomedical engineers). They do not, for instance, understand how CO2 functions in our bodies and how high levels of CO2 due to poor ventilation affect us. Or how poor ventilation resulting in high levels of VOC's, PM, Carcinogens and Pathogens affect us....See Morewi-sailorgirl
11 years ago
Fori
11 years agonycbluedevil
11 years agowi-sailorgirl
11 years agoweedmeister
11 years agowi-sailorgirl
11 years agododge59
11 years agoWe did ours that way, in fact we built a special curved cabinet for the duct work. We use that cabinet for smaller things, can opener, transformer for the Hunter Douglass blinds in adjacent dining room, timer, just a general "Catch all" for our smaller stuff.
After 6 years, we are still very happy it with it.
The power unit for the vent is outside and it has a very short run from the vent with just one gradual 90 degree turn, (from up to sideways and out).Here's a picture of same.
Gary
wi-sailorgirl
11 years agoscrappy25
11 years agowi-sailorgirl
11 years agoweedmeister
11 years agojwvideo
11 years agodt516
2 years agoVery old thread. But if anyone is still around… thinking about doing the same thing. Anyone consider splitting the upper cabinet so there is say a 12” cabinet where the vent goes through and then 24” beneath for storage?
jscout