Is there a decent downdraft vented hood out there?

12 years ago

I currently have an aging vent-a-hood...which I HATE. It doesn't do the job and, more distressingly--it distorts the flame pattern of my gas cooktop. is there a pop-up style hood that actually works and DOESN'T mess the flame pattern up? Because keeping things where they are and not having to move ducts/gas etc. would go a long ways to keeping the cost of my kitchen reno down...

(PS--I did a search on the site. If y'all have discussed this recently...sorry!)

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Comments (6)

Buehl
12 years ago
Check the Appliances Forum.

Regarding distorting the flame pattern - since downdrafts are working against gravity, they will have to be stronger (and louder) to be able to grab smoke, steam, grease, etc. before they dissipate into the rest of the kitchen and house. They also pull from the side or back, so they will distort the flame pattern. I would think an overhead hood would be the least disruptive and far more effective. Downdrafts usually aren't very good, even the high end ones...

Is your current hood an overhead or downdraft hood? Is it a "Vent-A-Hood" (brand name)?

Here is a link that might be useful: Appliances Forum
eandhl
12 years ago
I was pleased with my "Thermador pop up vent" and I know a chef that has a 5 burner Thermador gas cooktop and Thermador pop up and pleased. It sure was a huge step up from a Jenn Air range. These kits were done about 7 or 8 yrs ago they may have higher pop ups now. That said I now have a Kobe hood that is superior to the popup.
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"here are no decent 24" induction it looks like" The US selection of 24" (600 mm) induction cooktops models sure is small. Summit (who makes -- or at least brands -- the hoods you are looking at) has a 23" wide 4 burner induction cooktop which is carried by AJ Madison. My recollection from "the Induction Site" (www.theinductionsite.com) is that somebody called Kenyon offers a 2 burner 24" wide induction cooktop. A quick google search also turned up a Kitchenaid 4 burner 24" unit. Mainly available from Canadian retailers but there does seem to be at least one US retailer who sells it, Seattlehomeappliance.com. The model number is KICU540BSS. As for a hood, I second kas's advice on getting a hood that is wider than the cooktop, if you can fit it in. You asked about an OTR unit, but that those may be out of the question for you because all of them are (AFAIK) at least 30" wide. If that is not unworkable, there are other considerations. They typically have limited pick-up/intake -- the intake vents are usually in the back which does not help much with pots on hobs closer to the front of the counter. You could run a 2 burner hob lengthwise along the counter under the vents where it can manage decent pickup. Alternatively, if memory serves, LG has a 400 cfm OTR model that has a slide out vent that extends a set of intakes over (or closer to) front burners. It got some decent write-ups here a year ago. If you want to search for them, my recollection is that Nunyabiz had one for his gas NXR range and Luv2Putt used one with his viking induction range. Another suggestion: If you decide to go with one of the 2-burner cooktops from Wolf, Gagg, Miele, Cooktek, etc., you might consider getting a portable countertop induction unit for use at times when you need more than two hobs. This post was edited by JWVideo on Sat, Feb 1, 14 at 21:39
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Ahem. I believe flex aluminum ducting, as the above image appears to show, is prohibited for grease contaminated ducts. They have to be steel to resist fire penetration. Even if one chooses to ignore code, for safety's sake please routinely inspect and replace if build-up is detected. Alternatively, if the ducting were surrounded by steel in both cavities -- such as metal on all the cabinet surfaces -- it might be passible.
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We had a Thermador range with an integrated downdraft for about 14 years, in the peninsula. I liked the arrangement so well that we kept the location of the stove, refrigerator and sink for the remodel. We also kept the Thermador to use in the new kitchen. That was not a good idea. The stove had problems almost immediately when it was reinstalled. The downdraft was doing fine. Now we had a real problem. We had to replace the stove, but finding one that would fit was a problem. That wasn't the biggest problem for us. We thought we were going to have to install a hood. Our kitchen is at the end of a long room and I remember how I hated the overhead suspended cabinets that were in the original kitchen. I just didn't want something hanging from the ceiling and destroying the view. Since we are old, we wanted a range with a self cleaning oven. It was hard to find one with our specifications that would fit into the space designed for the new kitchen. We bought a Dacor range with a Dacor downdraft. These are separate units. I love the range and the downdraft works perfectly, for us. Long story to get to the point. When the new stove and downdraft were installed, the installers left the vent pipe with the opening upside down on a piece of wood under the house. That mean the downdraft did not work correctly. We could not figure out the problem, so my husband crawled into the crawl space and took pictures. I guess they figured old people would never figure this out. We had to hire another company to redo the venting. They took the vent pipe straight out to the side with no turns. It works perfectly. It even vents the steam from my rice cooker that is on the counter next to the stove. My point is that if installed correctly, a downdraft works.
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It is the velocity of the rising and expanding cooking effluent plumes that determines the velocity of the hood air needed to entrain the effluent into the baffles. One burner cooking at the vapor point of peanut oil, grape seed oil, or just grease will have an upward velocity of the order of a meter per second. With residential style hoods having minimal reservoir volume below the baffles, this effluent needs to be immediately entrained into the baffle flow. Commercial hoods with large reservoir volume can average out the plume(s) over the baffle space and operate on lower CFM depending on cooking conditions. See figure 4 of https://www.tagengineering.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/KVSApplDesign_catalog.pdf Velocity of hood air integrated over the hood aperture determines the CFM being moved. Multiplying 90 ft/min times the hood entry area in square feet and multiplying the result by 1.5 to make up for not doing a proper pressure loss analysis (assuming decent MUA) will yield the rated zero static pressure flow rate (CFM) of a suitable blower. Hood entry area should overlap the burners in both directions -- side to side and front to back.
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User
12 years ago
The short and more accurate answer is "no."

The longer answer is "maybe".

A lot will depend on the type of cooktop and cooking that you do, as well as your definition of :decent". If you are planning an electric cooktop and just plan to cook a few veggies now and then or do a meat sauce for pasta, then you will probably be OK with a popup downdraft. If your cooking needs are more high heat intense or exotic, then a popup won't really handle the heat, odors, grease and steam that higher demand cooking generates, even if you are doing it over an induction cooktop. A popup won't really work with any gas flame at all without pulling it to one side---if it's actually got some CFM. It it isn't very powerful, then what's the point?

An overhead vent remains the best choice for island cooking ventilation. However, getting the cooktop off of the island and putting it elsewhere in the kitchen may cost less than attempting to do overhead venting in some homes. It would be best to explore designs both ways. Running a gas line is a couple of hundred dollars. Running a vent straight through the wall is probably about the same cost. You gotta weigh the pros and cons of moving things around vs. keeping the same location and reworking the ventilation.
mjsee
Original Author
12 years ago
I was pretty sure overhead was the way to go. I have a gas cooktop...a thermador with a built in pop-up vent. And I HATE it. I've hated it since we bought the house. Ah well...thanks for the advice!

I've had the money together to re-do this kitchen not once, not twice, but three times...and something dire always happens. Last time it was a major retaining wall that started to fail.I'm a little anxious about announcing the planning stages for fear something ELSE will go wrong...

melanie
Luv2Laf
12 years ago
I have a Kitchen Aid with a 14" telescoping downdraft with a 36" Bosch Induction cooktop. I needed to keep the cost down and did not want a hood in the middle of my new kitchen. I think it's a good compromise ($900 including blower). Having the extra couple inches on the telescoping part helps a lot. I don't use it that much and seems to do the job when I need it (frying bacon).

Good luck Melanie!
plllog
12 years ago
There are superior hoods that will do the job much better than the one you hate. Check in the Appliances forum for more info. :)

Is there a decent downdraft vented hood out there?

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Is there a decent downdraft vented hood out there?

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Buehl

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