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Is ventilation necessary for gas range?

15 years ago

Is ventilation necessary for gas ranges? We are doing a gas range in an island, but we don't want a ventilation hood hanging from the ceiling. We looked at the downdraft vent in the range, but we don't really like the look. I talked to one appliance man who suggested putting an in-line motor in the attic for a ventialtion system. I'm kindof confused on this option. Please I need HELP!!!

Featured Answer

User

15 years ago

Unlike 'most' gas furnaces, gas ranges don't require venting, they burn relatively clean, you can see the stove top flames, and even the oven is generally not used for more than a couple hours and would only present a danger if poorly adjusted and used as a heater. The fear is carbon monoxide from a poorly adjusted burner. Although natural gas is a clean burning fossil fuel, it may have contaminates that don't get burned off.--see this link

Ventilation is used to remove heat, smoke, steam and grease- and by products of burning gas (mostly steam and carbon dioxide)if it's burning clean-

This depends on how and what you cook. High heat, frying, greasy bacon, meats etc will create smoke that may bother you or your guests, steam up your windows,leave grease on your cabinets, and leave odors behind for days ... of course burnt food isn't fun either.. etc.

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Comments (8)

sue4993
15 years ago
I don't know the official answer to this question, but we have a gas range in an island and didn't want a hood so have a fan in the ceiling. It's pretty powerful but it's way above the height recommended for exhaust fans. So far so good.
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I'm actually wondering the same thing. I currently have a very old Jenn Air downdraft cooktop on an interior wall, so the ductwork is already in place. For budget reasons, we don't want to change the layout of our kitchen too drastically (relocating plumbing, etc.). I thought I was ok with a OTR microwave with a recirculating hood, but now I'm wondering if I should reconsider a downdraft setup. Does anyone have a new Jenn Air downdraft range? Does the venting take up space behind the range, or could it stand on its own? I'm considering a gas slide-in model, but I can't figure out where the space for the venting needs to be. Also, are Jenn Air ranges any good, or are they just overpriced niche proucts? I'm also considering a telescoping vent by Dacor, but I can't figure out if it can be installed behind a slide-in range or if it can only be installed behind a cooktop. Basically, I want to preserve the storage space under the cooktop, and I'm wondering if that's possible.
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Judy - those cupcakes look yummy! I'm in your camp. The kitchen we are remodeling had a old vented hood. In the 7 years I have lived here, I think I turned it on maybe 2 or 3 times & that usually involved a toaster incident lol... I also cook plenty but like you, don't deep fry or sear/broil very often & use just small amounts of olive oil or butter when needed and not at high heat. I never had a problem with any grease build up or other gunk & I don't really find food smells offensive (well except when I was pregnant, but those days are over). This time around, I'm going with an OTR micro, b/c my counter space is limited & I hated that the big clunker was taking up so much of my precious counter space. (I'm now trying to figure out where I can hide my toaster oven for the same reason). I'm guessing I won't use the vent much this time around either - When we sell in 10-15 yrs - our kitchen will probably be getting to that "outdated" state anyway & will be redone again - the venting to outside is in place if they want to change back to a hood - but for me, this is just fine...
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Hi. We do A LOT of entertaining in our kitchen which is antique white along with stainless appliances. We don't deep fry although we grill, sear, sautÃÂ©, and wok fry quite a bit. I think the cleaning part would be tough if we hadn't done our hood in stainless as even the outside does get a bit oily after a few weeks - the stainless extends down the back of our range as we have the heat lamps and warming shelves. Also we made the hood a few inches wider than our 36" range and got the most powerful fan we could! With the stainless 48" fridge and the polished nickel hanging pendants over the island in our kitchen the Stainless hood strikes a nice balance. The rest of the kitchen has crackled/glazed subway tile as the backsplash. We thought about doing the panels that match the cabinets and it just seemed like too much white as well, although that concern was secondary to the cleaning. The side if the cabinets adjacent to/facing the range are hard to clean and I would imagine at some point the finish will dull due to cleaning.
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We have a GE profile 36" cooktop with a down draft at the rear. It's been fine for us. It replaced a thermador that had the rear telescoping downdraft as part of the cooktop. I liked that the GE has a separate downdraft unit bc our thermador had to be replaced bc the downdraft stopped working. Bummer to replace the cooktop when it was working. We've had the GE profile cooktop for about 6yrs. No issues so far.
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nuccia
15 years ago
My friend has a Viking rangetop on her island and a separate downdraft fan mounted directly behind the rangetop. This (I think it's a ) unit pops up when the motor turns on and drops back down when done. When not in use, it is very inconspicuous. All the major brands carry one.
xrayjess
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for everyones response!
Alexr, this makes me rethink switching to gas!!! With all of the Radon in granite causing cancer, now this!
Nuccis, I have seen these! They are very nice, but it will make us go over the budget (they are expensive, well atleast the ones I looked at)
Sue4993, is this like a powerful bathroom fan?? The appliance guy highly recommened using the in-line motor, but my concern is how will it look in the ceilling? Is your fan in the ceiling noticeable?
User
15 years ago
Sorry xrayjess, just wanted to give all sides. The answer is you don't really need ventilation for most cooking. But it can be nice at times...no matter what the cooking heat source.
sue4993
15 years ago
xray,
Yes, the fan is visible. It's stainless, with two halogen lights and is more powerful than a bathroom fan, and larger. We were worried about how it would look, had asked if it could be painted (no, stainless can't be painted successfully) and now that the kitchen is finished, we don't mind it. It is obviously a fan but because of the two lights, it looks like a light fixture as much as anything else. It is flush with the ceiling. I think it is a Zephyr Tornado.
jimandanne_mi
15 years ago
How dry is your climate? How new/well-insulated is your house? In any case, I can't imagine not having good ventilation in a kitchen, especially with a gas range!!!

Anne
stockrex
15 years ago
I read on a ERV site that yes you do need to exhaust, the reason is natural gas burns clean as mentioned above, the end product is CO2 and H2O, cardon dioxide and water.
if you have 2 burner on full flame, you will produce a lot of CO2. Over time if you have a really TIGHT house, you need to vent out the CO2. if not the CO2 levels will rise in house.

A better solution is to put a ERV in. That should cycle enough air to keep the CO2 levels down.

I live in west Michigan and I don't have a vent for the gas burner but I have a REALLY leaky house so I am not worried about CO2 but on my earth contact basement/walkout I am putting in an ERV for radon.

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