Kaseki you mentioned using the ARS for addressing grease and odor with an air/heat exchanger at the corridor wall as my best option. That said, VAH says their ARS system is only compatible with a recirculating kit. Maybe I am missing something, but how can I make the ARS system vent into the corridor if it is not compatible with other blowers?

Not Kas, but what I think he was referring to was an air-heat exchanger which would be a separate HVAC "thing" rather something you add onto the ARS to make it into an exterior venting hood. You wouldn't vent the ARS to the corridor. Separate "exchangers" come in a range of sizes, costs and complexity from add-ons to the house/condo HVAC units (most expensive) on down to inserts that fit in a window like a portable air conditioner (least expensive.) They all are a way to try to bring fresh air inside while exhausting interior air. The "exchange" part is that they transfer the interior air's temperature to the incoming air so you freshen the interior air without losing interior heat when it is cold outside and don't lose a lot of your interior a/c cooling when it is hot outside.

^^^^^^^ What @jwvideo said is correct.

What I said: "Perhaps using the ARS for addressing the grease and odor AND an air/heat exchanger at the corridor wall ..." The key concept was an ARS operating as specified by VaH as a recirculating hood, with room air exchange with the outside performed by what I believe is called an ERV. I don't have one.

A giant conceptual ERV that could take in MUA and extract heat from a hood's exhaust without becoming clogged with grease would be a useful device for many, but I'm not aware of any being available.

I understand now. Thank you both for taking the time to clarify. I’m not sure if the building will allow me to install an ERV but will find out. Anyone have recs on a specific ERV that might work for my single unit in a high rise building?

If an ERV is not feasible, should I do a stand alone VaH ARS or find a vented hood and tie it into the bathroom ventilation (which connects to the exterior corridor)? I’m not sure which is the lesser of two evils given that both options are sub-optimal.

>>>"should I do a stand alone VaH ARS or find a vented hood and tie it into the bathroom ventilation (which connects to the exterior corridor)?"

The decision has been made for you. Apart from being a bad idea from a practical standpoint (i.e., another level down from "sub-optimal") , building code provisions specifically require kitchen range vents to be separate from any other vents including bathroom fan vents. I think there are numbers of applicable code provisions, but the only one that comes immediately to my mind from the last time somebody asked about this here was, I think, in Chapter 5 of the International Mech. Code {Domestic Kitchen Exhaust Equipment].

Is this the best ventless hood in the market in the last 10 years? Trying to invest in this appliance.

Invest is a good word - it is more expensive than the others. Mine will be ten years old in March and it is going strong - looks and operates as new. I have replaced both filters once (at six years), a 10$ switch, and one light bulb. I still see no other vent device with a filter this substantial. I live in an apartment and believe it is the best solution when venting outside is not an option.

Thanks @garyvp. Here's a slightly pricier, and likely more substantially filtered unit: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/wells-wvu-48-universal-50-ventless-hood-system-for-multiple-appliances-208-240v/942VHWVU48SH.html (just for laughs).

@kaseki 29K for filtration system is little bit steep :)

Seems reasonable to me for what you're getting. On the other hand, unless you're operating a restaurant, this is not at all what you want.

This would be like taking a $6M truck to do your grocery shopping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BelAZ_75710

.

Well, Kas did say the link was just for laughs. As was the thing in M's Wkipedia cite -- lends a whole new meaning to "monster truck", doesn't it?

That Wells commercial ventless hood thing is 12-feet tall, too! Even if you could afford it, it wouldn't fit most residential kitchens any more than a regular semi tractor will fit in standard height residential garages. An amazing find, nonetheless.

We shouldn't exclude the feasibility (albeit at significant cost but << $29k) of having a full sized residential hood feeding a plenum above standard cabinets that extended along the space where a soffit might be imagined under an 8-foot ceiling. The plenum would be filled with serial filters of various functionality, and perhaps blowers tailored for the pressure loss at the desired flow rate. Access panels would allow filter cleaning or replacement as appropriate. Including technologies used in ceiling plenums for grease disassociation might also be feasible. Cabinet wood facings could be used over the access panels. Induction cooking would still be recommended to avoid gas combustion products that might require a catalytic converter to fully address. The cost would be partially offset by not needing MUA.

@garyvp I'm in the process of considering a VaH ARS for my NYC apartment and was considering the Wall-Mounted Liner Insert with a custom hood from my cabinet maker. The cabinet maker can make top vents into custom hood itself for the recirc air, but would I also need an access panel somewhere in the side of the hood in order to clean/access the HEPA/charcoal filter? How does one access the ARS in order to check the filters?

Good choice. Access to the 12 x 12 x 18 filter assembly (which sits on top of the Liner) is via removal of the entire 12 x 18 front panel which pulls straight out. Inside the filter assembly box are snap clips located in each of the four corners. Too prevent damaging the front panel with pry tools, VH provides you with a suction cup device that makes access panel removal simple. So, as long as you can get at the front panel every five years, you are ok.

This is my tentative plan. It provides accessibility without additional cutout lines in the cabinet panel but retains a nice/aesthetically pleasing design form. Obviously that is not a hood liner in this photo but the kitchen designer is using the same concept.

@saminac WOW! What a pretty design element! Does your hood design take on more of a rectangular shape or more of traditional trapezoid that follows the liner?

Was along the lines of designing a clean, full trapezoid look with the Cabinet maker - something like the image below - but will definitely need to rethink the overall look of how to integrate an access panel onto the face of the hood itself in an aesthetically pleasing way.

@garyvp thank you for all the information you've given to this discussion!!

its rectangular - it is basically indistinguishable from the adjacent cabinets. One continuous line with the middle "cabinet" housing the liner. Mine will look more like this:

We REALLY want to vent effectively, in part because 1) we have suffered through microwave fans for >10 years, and 2) we are considering a new 30" pro range. Unfortunately, external venting is barely possible and not at all practical in our situation. In the course of our research, we did discover an old wall vent for a 1950s pull-chain wall fan, which we could resuscitate. (This through the wall vent is stove-height, 44" away, and totally independent from the stove.)

Which of these options do you recommend?

1. Stick with microwave fan, add wall exhaust fan.

2. VAH ARS (or similar), add wall exhaust fan.

3. VAH ARS (or similar), no wall exhaust fan needed.

I've read this entire thread as well as many others.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Based on what has been reported here, the ARS should be superior to any likely microwave oven recirculating or even exhausting.

Nonetheless, if the air is to be relieved of those chemicals imperfectly removed by the filtering, perhaps resuscitating the wall exhaust fan would be a good idea for general air freshening. Some corresponding means of supplying make-up air, even a window, needs to be in use when the exhaust is operating.

Kaseki, Thank you for your prompt and helpful reply. Clearly you are an expert. On an overall continuum, will an ARS function more like a microwave fan or more like a ducted range hood? (I suppose this is my version of asking, Is the ARS worth it? :-) )

wick158, I have posted on other threads on the ARS hoods. I have had one for a little over 2 years now. It is installed above a GE 30" induction range. I have had other VAH's that were vented outside but on my current home is was not feasible to run pipe outside. Any recirculating hood is not the best choice for a pro range but the VAH ARS is the best recirculating option available, and it will crush any OTR micro vent. The grease removal on the VAH is the same as their vented hoods so it does a very good job of removing the grease and the 2 stage filter does a good job of removing the smoke, steam and odors created while cooking. I had a few learning curve issues with the induction and burning things and this system did a very good job of taking the smoke and smells out of the air. If you have no other options for venting and must have a recirculating hood the VAH is the best option available.

Regbob, Thanks very much. What is your vote?

2. VAH ARS, add wall exhaust fan.

3. VAH ARS, no wall exhaust fan needed.

ARS with no wall exhaust fan. Seal up the opening of the existing old wall fan and put it in a museum. Those wall fans did nothing when first installed. Now they are an eye sore and a noise maker. All it will do is pull out the conditioned air of your home.

Thanks Regbob and Kaseki. I think we will go with ARS only (and open window for fresh air as needed). First time posting. very helpful.

If anyone has experience with ARS + gas or prostyle range, that would be great, too.

Please make sure you look at the technical designs. The top part has to be housed in the cabinet if there are any cabinets above the Range.

They have hoods that will have the filter in a cabinet or housed in the duct cover. It all depends on the look you are going for. I went with the CWEAH6 model and installed it under a cabinet and have the filter inside the cabinet. I pulled out an OTR so I had a deeper cabinet. I pulled the hood forward 3 inches so it covered the front burners a little better and had a filler made for the back and put the VAH wire rack system on it to get some use out of the space.

@Russ Thanks. If the VAH could not fit entirely beneath the cabinets, we would remove the upper cabinets and go with a wall mount/chimney style hood.

@regbob Did you work with a VAH installer? That seems a lot of specific product and install knowledge.

wick158 I was a cabinetmaker and Corian countertop fabricator in my younger days so I made a few cabinets for VAH liner inserts and saw some really nice hoods and installations. This was what I did for many years and it is just product knowledge that sticks with you. Installing the ARS hoods is as simple as it gets since there is no duct pipe to run. All you need is having the electrical supply in the correct spot and mount the hood to an upper cabinet or the wall. It all depends on the look you want to achieve when it is all done. If you do not want the cabinet above you can go with one of their chimney style hoods. If you want to still have a little bit of storage above the hood you can keep the cabinet and have some storage. The filter system is roughly 11" x 11" so it does not take up all of the space in an upper cabinet. You will either have the filter in the cabinet or is will sit inside the duct cover of the hood. I went with the CWEAH6 hood without the duct cover because it was the look I wanted. The undercabinet models they offer were not something I liked with my range.

@regbob Thank you. Did you avoid gas/pro because you could not vent? In general are you OK with a gas/pro range, and a VAH ARS?

If you are going with gas or pro range you should vent the hood outside if at all possible. if you are a serious cook and plan on using the range as it is designed the ARS will not keep up with that much range. I had just bought a new townhome that had mid-low level builder Whirlpool electric smooth top range and OTR for the venting. I did not want the expense of running a gas line and I wanted to go with induction any way. I had a 30" Bluestar in my previous home with a 600 CFM VAH vented outside and loved it and it worked great but my serious cooking had slowed down so I did not want the expense in my new house. Again, if you have the capability to get a vent outside and plan on having a pro range and will use it go with a outside vented hood.

The ARS hood will handle 1 gas burner at a minimum and that would be it. If this is your only option the VAH ARS hood is by far the best one available.

For the exceptionally well heeled residential cook a commercial unit might be adapted. I don't know what the limitations are for gas cooking, but I would expect induction to be adequately dealt with using the technology in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86nycyxikk0

For the purpose of pointing out a possible alternative to the ARS, in Wolf's 2021 Design Guide, page 156, I just noticed:

Low-profile, 24" deep, and 27" deep wall hoods with an internal blower (600 CFM or less) , 30" (762) and 36" (914) widths only, can be used in a non-ducted application with a recirculating filter. In this installation, kitchen air is purified through the filters and returned as clean air into the room. A recirculation kit, available through an authorized Wolf dealer, is required.

We haven't received any feedback here about this option, but perhaps calling Wolf will provide some additional data, sent to you by one of their friendly telephone support staff.

Hi all, curious about some other alternatives to VaH, particularly given $$$. This HVAC blog recommends the Broan Glacier as an option with a larger carbon filter: https://hvac-buzz.com/are-ductless-range-hoods-any-good/. This unit, apparently not yet on the market, sounds promising as well: https://www.treehugger.com/recirculating-range-hood-5180610.

I'm about to renovate my tiny Brooklyn coop kitchen. The room has no ducting or windows so I'm considering a VaH, though my designer didn't love the under-cabinet unit I'd chosen. Given the layout of the room, she recommended a wall-mounted extractor hood like the CWEAH6-K.

Since I'm getting a 24" Bertazzoni range, and the VaH in this configuration only comes in 30", will pairing the two be overkill/look off? I realize I don't have much choice here, and am guessing it's probably better to have 3" of hood to spare on either side of the range rather than vice versa, but just wanted to check. Awkward rendering below.

You're actually supposed to have about 3" overhang. Our 30" range is paired with a 36" wide hood.

Overlap is necessary for capture of the rising and expanding cooking plumes. Sufficient CFM is needed to assure containment -- keeping the effluent in the hood for expelling outdoors, or in these cases -- being filtered. For hoods that deviate significantly from commercial designs in filtering or canopy design, the only practical means of checking this for most is to heat cooking oil to the smoke point and observe whether it is all pulled into the filtering system; i.e., none reflects off of the hood structure into the room.

We have a 30" electric stovetop with a 30" VAH (same as yours), works great. We have had ours for 10 years and have had no problems. I changed the filter once (after 6 years) but could have waited longer.

I actually have the 30” Bertazzoni with the 30” VaH.. though I still haven’t received the duct even though I ordered it last October, so beware when you order. And the VaH is backordered too.

"We have a 30" electric stovetop with a 30" VAH (same as yours), works great."

You don't know that.

The biggest issue with the effluent from cooking is long term health impact. Your system may be removing some odors and grease but not removing contaminants that build up over time to degrade your health. So 10, 20 or 30 years down the road you get COPD, Cancer or other ailments caused by the poor indoor air quality in your home.

If you live in the U.S. then you live in the country with the worst health of all developed nations (and yet we spend far more than any others - gargage in garbage out...). This is primarily caused by our being sedentary (we don't walk/bike for local transportation like others do) and secondarily by what we eat, but IAQ is on the list as well and does have a significant negative impact on us.

I only know that I since installing the VAH I have almost no grease on the walls, I can cook a steak without wiping out the apartment, and it mitigates much of the smoke. Those were the goals of the investment. It is on anytime we use the stove top. The cubic foot square hepa cube has to be removing a lot of small particulate matter as well. It's not perfect. You will always smell what you are cooking. What is your suggestion for inner city apartment dwellers?

Thanks for all this feedback! Turns out I'll need an under-cabinet VaH. I can't seem to find any of the filter components for shipment to the US—all I see are Canadian retailers. Anyone know if I'm just looking in the wrong places?

Hi all - everyone here was extremely helpful on deciding getting the VAH. I was wondering if you guys have any input to the following:

I purchased the model CWEAH6K30SS last October but I still haven't gotten a chance to use the unit.

Warranty

• The initial company that I ordered the unit from only delivered the main body, but not the filters and the duct cover parts. I waited until this October and it was still not delivered from the initial company. In the meantime, I tried another company and hoped I could get it sooner so I ordered the duct cover from another company and it was delivered by the end of October. But there was some confusion on the filter and duct cover (following point) from both companies that I still do not have everything to put the rangehood in use. In this case, how is the warranty counted?

Filters and Duct Cover Confusions

• The initial company - when I spoke to the staff on the phone, I was advised to order the main body plus the duct cover and that would include everything that I need.
• So when I ordered from the second company, I thought the filters would be included in the duct cover. But I only received the duct cover and the filters are not included.
• I went back and checked the correspondence with the second company and realized that the filters come with the main body.
• I reached out to the second company again, then another staff advised me that I need to purchase the filters separately. But, the filter is discontinued.
• Is the filter part of the main body or the duct cover? Is it purchased separately?
• The initial company that I ordered from has also increased the price by almost $300 just for the duct.

I really appreciate any advise you could provide! Thank you very much!

Just a guess, but if you tell your tale of woe to VaH corporate, they might be able to tell you what you need and where to get it.

Yea!! I have also contacted VAH!! Waiting on their response.

I was also wondering- when you guys purchased the full unit, other than getting the duct cover, the filter came with the unit, right? (This was what was told to me from the representative) Otherwise the cost of the unit is almost $3k for the CWEAH6K30SS model.

I ordered the hood and filter at the same time and they came together. It has been a couple years and my CWEAH hood was the black carbide with some trim added. I did not need the duct cover and it was around $1500.00.

Thank you for your info. That’s a very smart setup! I remember you showed your setup in the discussion.
Price has definitely increased, and another increase this year.

Does anyone have any experience of the Fotile Pixie Air with recirculation kit? This is a relatively new product. The recirculation filter looks substantial in size - comparable (in size) to the Vent-a-Hood filter pack.

We have had a Vent A Hood ARS for a couple years. Works great. There are two filters in those - both big - a charcoal and a pleated. It is probably time to change our filters. We have a Wolf gas range and could not vent to the outside without putting in duct work along the ceiling. We do a lot of wok type cooking and pan frying, plus steaming, boiling, etc. The 30" hood does a great job of sucking up the smutz. I just wish that is had two speeds, with one for low temp, slow cooking.

One should not skimp on filter replacement when using a gas range. Combustion products including carbon monoxide are not your friends.