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Questions about current vent hood for planning reno

11 years ago

We have a vent hood that the previous owner put in the house. It looks really nice, was pretty expensive, but I'm not sure if we should keep it.

1) It vents into the basement. I'm guessing that's not so good??? We live in a two story house with a basement and the hood/stove is on an inside wall, so I think it's impossible to vent outdoors. Is there a way to vent it outdoors that I'm not aware of? What do people do when the hood is placed on an inside wall?

2) It's 30 inches high, which is the height of our current cabinet. If we got new 42" uppers, what do we do to make it look symmetrical with the taller cabs?

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Comments (4)

tracie.erin
11 years ago
1) No, that's not good. It's not good that it vents inside your home and it's also not as efficient because the hot air, oil, grease, steam etc. wants to go UP, not down, so most of it could be lingering in the existing ductwork :/ I would run a new duct upwards, into the ceiling, and either through the roof or out the side of your home. You don't even have to take most of the existing ductwork out.

2) This depends on what it looks like. Does it look like one of these?

If so, I would just pop a new cabinet on top of it (and that cabinet would hide your new ductwork) so that both together reach the appropriate height. If you can't fit a cabinet, try a flat piece of trim.

If it's more of a chimney style, I'd see if you can get a matching extension piece for the top or even put a cabinet or other surround around it to hide the whole hood. Younghouselove built a surround.

Here is a link that might be useful: younghouselove range hood surround
tracie.erin
11 years ago
Sorry, I missed that the stove was on an interior wall in a 2 story house. I would still take the ductwork into the ceiling and out the side of the house because you really need that venting out of the basement, it's a fire hazard. You may need to do a soffit.

Or, if there is an exterior wall in your kitchen, see if it makes sense to move the stove to that wall so you can just vent straight through the wall and outside - bypassing the ceiling. Since you have a basement, moving the gas line should not be expensive - I would get some quotes.

By the way, you are welcome to post a separate thread with your layout here for input. The forum is very helpful. I got some great input a few years ago when I posted mine.
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To minimize grease particulate precipitation on the duct walls, the air velocity should be in the recommended range of 1000 to 2000 feet per minute, so the duct size should be commensurate with the fan capability. (Divide fan cubic feet per minute by the area of the duct in square feet. Use the estimated air flow for the duct and hood losses, and not the fan's static pressure rating.) While commercial ducting has to be welded together to keep grease fires out of the building structure, residential ducting is usually slip-jointed. So occasional inspection of the duct interior would seem to be a good idea. I'm not sure what defines a microhood, but if you want to keep down odor and grease laden air, then the hood has to achieve both capture and containment. Capture is mainly determined by the hood entrance area exceeding the area of the burners, while containment is mostly determined by hood volume and exhaust flow. On the other hand, if the link below is apropos, then you may not need to vent the hood at all. kas Here is a link that might be useful: amusing thread
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Thank you this really helps. I looked at your hood, but was concerned it would create a problem for me because my uppers are 15" deep and my ceiling are 8". It really helps me to get a visual in front of me rather than just in my head. I'm still not sure I don't need to get the 27" deep hood even though that doesn't really add any depth at the top of the hood. I appreciate you answering--and I do love your kitchen. I knew this post was slipping, that's why I looked for a current post from you to get your attention. I wish I had your sense of style--I can't ever seem to pull it all together.
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This is a good question which perplexes me too. Modern wall ovens vent from front top or bottom directly into the kitchen, yes? I have an old but fully functional Thermador double wall oven set. Above the ovens is an exterior venting exhaust system that still functions (4" circumference galvanized steel round pipe in cabinet above top oven to ductwork). In researching newer ovens, including Thermador, I can't find any that still have the individual oven fan switches to turn on. I do wonder if these switches on mine operate a general fan (which also vents to each oven's lower front btw) as well as up the galvanized round venting stack to exterior. Heat rises. I haven't gotten an answer to this yet from Thermador. Have appliance makers stopped making wall ovens compatible with an oven exhaust fan set up?
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In this forum there are historical threads with gas cooking lovers dueling with induction cooking lovers. It may be useful to find and read them. Other than looking different, reusing older pans, and directly flambéing peppers or marshmellows, there is little that a gas cooktop can do that an induction cooktop can't do, and the induction cooktop can normally beat gas at bringing a given quantity of water to a boil. You would need to upgrade wiring if it is presently insufficient. As noted, induction is a better choice when doing recirculating "ventilation." So far as we know here, the Vent-a-Hood ARS system is the only one that has been well received and more helpfully reported on by its owner. However, there are likely to be offerings from Wolf and Broan/NuTone/Best to consider. See https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2347276/vent-a-hood-ductless-ars-range-hood-update#n=65 On top of these basic issues is the hood size. If the hood front-to-back distance is enough to capture front burner/hob cooking plumes, it needs to be somewhat higher than 30 inches for good sight lines to the contents of back burner pots and pans, depending on the tallest cook's height. I recommend drawing a side view of the cooktop, counter, and hood and imposing a stick figure cook that can bend at the waist. Note sight lines and head impacts for various hood size and mounting height options. Your small cabinets above the microwave oven may need to be removed for some solutions. In particular, the ARS filter stack rises into that area.
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Molly Phillips
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the feedback. Any idea of what that would cost vs moving a gas line and adding the new duct work on an outside wall? Also, who does that work? We are our own GC.

My layout has been posted but no one knew about the venting...including me until I started reading some posts about others' problems.
taggie
11 years ago
If you are lucky and the joists go the right way, you can just run the vent up to the ceiling and then carry it out the side in a straight shot.

If you're not so lucky and the joists run the wrong way, you'll need to get it out the side below ceiling level, which would involve either hiding the ductwork behind a tall fascia/crown, or building a bulkhead, or both (if you also have to go by windows or doors, for example).

If you can post your layout here then people may be able to help with more specific suggestions.

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