Range & hood in front of window - great idea, or terrible idea?
Cross-posted from https://www.houzz.com/discussions/range-and-hood-in-front-of-window-great-idea-or-terrible-idea-dsvw-vd~1207813-and-hood-in-front-of-window-great-idea
Planning a kitchen remodel, designer wants to situate the range in front of the window. Wife loves the idea - natural light and view of garden would make cooking more pleasant. I'm thinking of the more technical side of it... are there problems with putting a range in front of a window? Fire safety issues? Special types of windows involved?
Also, how do you set up ventilation in a system like this? Can't put a cooker hood on the window itself, and from what I read, downdrafts are terrible.
Looking for commentary and feedback on ranges in front of windows. Photos would be much appreciated as well!
Attached photograph is very similar to our kitchen layout.
Comments (19)
palimpsest
9 years agonorthcarolina
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Range & hood in front of window - great idea, or terrible idea?
Comments (12)The particular hood shown above appears to have traded minimum view blockage for reduced capture and containment capability -- the two functions that a hood is intended to perform above all others. I suggest determining where adequately capable hoods can be installed in the kitchen that don't excessively block desired views and which allow proper ducting to the outside. Then evaluate placing the range under those candidate hood locations with the rest of the kitchen layout adapted to that configuration. Perhaps one of the resulting layouts will meet most requirements. Island and peninsula locations for cooktops require relatively obtrusive, larger hoods with commensurate higher air flow rates due to having all four sides of the rising effluent path open. kas...See MoreAnyone want to design my house?
Comments (44)I agree with CP, while a southern orientation may be optimal there may be lot restrictions or considerations that make a different orientation more desirable. Our Florida home faces east with great westerly views so we mitigate the effects of westerly exposure with trees, a deep porch, low e glass, and available blinds. We rarely have problems with the sun, sometimes the low winter rays cause temporary glare, but it is great to have sunshine on our pool from late morning until sundown. We certainly would not exchange these sunsets and views for a southerly orientation. As with most aspects of home design, one size, or solution, does not fit all!...See MoreI Don't want to block the view! Ideas for non-overhead range hood
Comments (35)@Ashley P Here is an interesting article about range hoods that might help you understand how helpful they can be for homeowners. I am beyond grateful to have mine. I had to change my kitchen around a bit. Its too bad you couldn't switch your island range with your sink. Stove Hoods To Keep Pollution Out Of The Kitchen Hot summer days often mean air pollution warnings in big cities. But the air inside your kitchen can sometimes be just as harmful. Cooking fumes from your stove are supposed to be captured by a hood over the range — but even some expensive models aren't that effective. Jennifer Logue spends a lot of time thinking about what happens when she cooks. She's a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, where she studies indoor air pollution. "You spend 70 percent of your time in your home," says Logue. "And what you do in your home has a huge impact on what you're exposed to." Cooking on a gas stove releases some of the same pollutants that you find outdoors in smog. Logue looked at homes in Southern California that cook at least once a week, and found more than half of them were above the outdoor health limit for a pollutant called nitrogen dioxide. "If you exceeded the standards outdoors, it would be a really big deal," she says. "But if you exceed them in your house, nobody's paying attention." Homes with electric stoves aren't in the clear because cooking the food itself creates air pollution. Sauteing fats produces a lung irritant called acrolein. And cooking puts off fine particle pollution. Just like smog outdoors, these emissions increase your chances of developing long-term respiratory and heart problems. If all this sounds a little scary, Logue says there's a simple solution: a good range hood that vents outside. But, she says, "Not all hoods work the same and currently, unfortunately, there's no way for people to really know how effective their range hood is." Inside the test kitchen at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Woody Delp, a building systems engineer, and his team are trying to figure out exactly that. Some of the hoods he's tested are only 15 percent effective because their fans aren't as powerful. Delp says when you're buying a hood, that's labeled as air flow. But the shape of the hood also makes a big difference, like how far it reaches over the stove. Delp and his team are developing a standardized test to measure hood effectiveness. It's being reviewed by an international testing board, which would allow manufacturers to voluntarily label their hoods. "Unfortunately there's not really a state or federal agency that has comprehensive authority over indoor air pollution," says Peggy Jenkins, who manages the indoor air quality program at the California Air Resources Board. She says there are strict ventilation rules for other gas appliances in homes, like furnaces and water heaters. Stoves and range hoods have been largely overlooked. "In a sense it's low-hanging fruit, but it's not really simple," she says. Jenkins says there's growing interest in changing California's building codes around range hoods — but it would take a number of state agencies to do it. Meanwhile, for we home cooks, Logue has a few tips. She says use the highest fan setting on the range hood and put pots and pans on the back burners. That's where hoods capture the most pollutants. Simple changes, but effective ones, Logue says. The hard part is remembering them. Cooking Tips -- Always turn your fan on -- Cook on the back burners -- Use highest fan setting -- Clean grease traps periodically -- If you don't have a hood, open windows Tips For Buying A New Range Hood -- Look for one that covers the entire stovetop -- It should move 200 cubic feet of air per minute, certified by the Home Ventilating Institute -- Choose a noise rating of 3 sones or less for a quieter fan -- Choose a hood shape with a hollow space underneath for collecting fumes Source: Lawrence Berkeley Lab one idea...See MoreRange hood ideas for small area between window and ceiling
Comments (18)A chimney hood is fine, but not that one. One needs a capture area that can actually collect and trap plume effluent, and a capture volume to handle any sudden releases, and a large enough filter space for the required airflow to pass through without screaming like an F-86. Think miniaturized commercial hood, or better, review the Wolf Design Guide for examples of how hoods are basically constructed....See More
live_wire_oak
9 years agoannaship1
9 years agobarlowmom
9 years agoMy dad is a former firefighter and told me not to put a window over the range even if it is allowed by code and fixed glass. Just not worth the risk that the window would break during a range top fire and fuel the flames.
Instead I put a picture window on another wall, perpendicular to the stove, so I can see out by turning my head and get enough light.
See attached, maybe your wife would like something like this instead.
glitter_and_guns
9 years ago
lisa_a
9 years agosushipup1
9 years agoremodelfla
9 years agoMrs_Nyefnyef
9 years agokitchendetective
9 years agohodgepodge76
9 years agoYou guys didn't scare me away, LOL! All very good advice, and definitely a lot of solid arguments I can bring to the designer and MSO and convince them to drop this idea.
It's starting to sound like the sink & prep area should be in front of the window, and the range should be either on the side wall, or on a center island that would need to be built (yay, another thread topic).
palimpsest, that's actually exactly what the folks on Houzz suggested - hang an island hood in front of it. Pic attached.
northcarolina and cstr, I agree 100%, just wanted to get a 2nd opinion.
livewireoak and glitterandguns, good points about the time spent on various activities - also something to bring up as a counter-argument.
marcolo, that was pretty damn hilarious, thank you! :) :) :)
remodelfla and kitchendetective, that was some pretty impressive "detective work"! I like the concept, but unfortunately there's just not enough space to set up something like that, and anyway, it looks like we'll be scrapping the whole range-in-front-of-window idea altogether.
Problem solved, it seems. Thanks a lot, everyone, for your VERY useful commentary!
marcolo
9 years agopalimpsest
9 years agosjhockeyfan325
9 years agoBuehl
9 years agojuliekcmo
9 years ago
rococogurl
9 years ago
marcolo