Do you get a cold draft through your vent hood when its off?

13 years ago

I know it's vented to the outside, but I feel cold draft through my vent hood if I stand in certain places. The vent grates are also very cold to the touch. Is this right?

I had a vent hood (smaller) that was vented outside in mynold house and I don't remember it being is cold.

Thanks in advance!

Rachel

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Comments (8)

beekeeperswife
13 years ago
Do you have a damper in the vent? Ours is sitting in our corner cupboard...needs to be installed still. I can feel a draft under ours too. brrr

oh, and if I feel a true breeze...I turn it on for a few seconds. I feel it reverses the flow (and sure, it sucks out the warm air but I do what I can).

It will be fixed this Spring.
Stacey Collins
13 years ago
No... (and it's COLD here right now!) I think that either you don't have a damper installed, or it's stuck open. That doesn't sound right at all...
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westsider40
13 years ago
Yes, and the two cabinets near the vent are freezing. I guess our damper isn't right but I think it is more than that. OUr house is 50 years old and likely needs an insulation and vent overhaul. Touching the sheet metal is cold. Likely the damper and the design and materials. BRR
marthavila
13 years ago
Definitely sounds like a damper issue to me. I had this same problem when my hood was first installed. Mentioned it to the GC who said, "oh, yeah. I still have to install the damper." Duh. Then he did so. And all the cold air went away!
sandn
13 years ago
The installation instructions that came with our vent had the following instructions:

COLD WEATHER installations should have an
additional backdraft damper installed to minimize
backward cold air flow and a non-metallic thermal
break to minimize conduction of outside temperatures
as part of the ductwork. The damper should be on the
cold air side of the thermal break. The break should be
as close as possible to where the ducting enters the
heated portion of the house.

I made sure the installer put both the additional damper on the outside and the thermal break. We do not have a cold draft from the vent.
michiganrachel
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you everyone for your replies. I emailed my builder to ask about the damper (I don't feel like trudging through the snow in 0 degree weather right now) - he said there is one, but he would have the carpenters (who will be here tomorrow) check to see if its stuck open. Its a brand new vent in the new part of our house, so insulation and design should not be an issue.

Sandn - I will ask about the extra backdraft damper and a thermal break. My builder will wonder what I've been reading!
scrappy25
13 years ago
We have an old downdraft vent, and last winter it blew cold air into the kitchen so I had it covered with tiles when I wasn't using it. Finally in the spring I got out and crawled under the deck to see what the problem with the damper was, and it turned out that one of the boys' balls had rolled into it and was propping it open! We had a "ball forest" under the deck that I had not know about previously.
westsider40
13 years ago
Thanks sandn. That's great info. Hope the gc won't act like he knows everything.

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Do you get a cold draft through your vent hood when its off?

Comments (8)

beekeeperswife

Stacey Collins

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marthavila

sandn

michiganrachel
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Do you get a cold draft through your vent hood when its off?

Comments (8)

beekeeperswife

Stacey Collins

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marthavila

sandn

michiganrachelOriginal Author

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