Help Finding Quiet Recirculating Range Fan/Light

8 years ago

Is there such a thing? A quiet but useful one? I want to remove my OTR microwave and put in a fan/light. No ducting allowed here. No stainless, please. Could do white or black.

This is our third microwave at the condo in 17 years. This one still works, but they just don't last. I'm planning to buy a small countertop M/W and be done with paying $500 to buy and install new OTR's. (I don't even like using this OTR thing.)

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dees_1

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

This is the range hood we have (in black). It's nice but a little on the higher price side.

ETA - we have a high BTU gas stove so moving air rapidly was important. We also did not duct to the outside but will do so if we ever find bags of money on the side of the road to fund the kitchen remodel. :-D

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Comments (13)

ldstarr
8 years ago
Chisue, I'm not sure if there is such a thing as an effective recirculating hood. Try posting on the kitchen forum. Make sure you give them the size and type of range you are trying to vent. We went without any hood for 2 years while working thru the kitchen project. We just prior to Thanksgiving made the choice and ended up with a Kobe hood which is very quiet and effective. It was not inexpensive however. I don't know if they offer white or black. Good luck in your search.
dees_1
8 years ago
I have a Broan that works well. I'll look up the model number and reply later. It's a 30 inch hood and comes in black or white. I know we've had it for a long time but there is a comparable model available at the big box stores.

The fan is very quiet except for when running at highest speed (level 3), which will move a ton of air. I usually use at level 1 for normal cooking. The lights are bright and have a couple levels. The brightest will light up your workspace like a Christmas tree.
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for what it's worth... In the Twin Cities, I was able to look at the Broan Allure models mounted right next to a Vent-a-Hood in the Stellian showroom. I can't recall what the VAH model was, but it was comparable in price to the Allure III, about $350. My cooking is done on a 30 inch regular electric range. Standard cooking; some broiling but fish is usually done on outside barbecue. For our family, the sound of the vent is of much more significance than the airhandling capacity--background sound prevents conversation or hearing of other things when you're slightly deaf. Loud sound is unacceptable to us and would prevent us from using the hood altogether. The Broan Allure III, which I can purchase at Stellian for a little over $300, has a very low setting which is barely audible to me, remember I'm somewhat deaf. The Vent-A-Hood was also fairly low in sound, but my (eccentric) ears said that the Allure III was quieter on low and on pretty low, and those are the modes I will be using much of the time. The Allure III on high and on ultraboost mode is med. loud and very loud and their cfm movement will suffice for occasional short time use for big smoke/stink I think. Salesperson, an old hand type, says he prefers the V-A-H but not because of sound issues. He likes the mechanical stuff with the VentAHood because it collects grease and you wash it out afterward and he says the air collecting area is better size. The Broan has a dishwasher washable grease filter and will be fine for my purposes. I have steam issues more than fat. My Broan from the 1970s still works but it's too noisy for my old ears. I generally run it on lowest setting now, unless I'm blanching veg, etc in summer. I should have bought a replacement years ago, but at least now the quietness technology is improved. As for over-the-range microwave hoods, I don't like them. Short people can't reach them and the air handling is not as good or as quiet as a dedicated unit can offer. Also, as your kids grow up, you will be saying "excuse me" all the time as two people try to do different things in the same space. If the microwave goes belly up, your vent hood goes as well. How many microwaves have you already owned in the last few years? Broan vent connections seem to be problematical; plan to buy some specialized vent ducting. In our case, we think we can recycle the old vent connection.
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What is your budget? If you can afford a Kobe, that would probably far outdo the eBay specials. The are probably around $600-700 -- VentingDirect.com has a 10% off Kobe special right now that might be worth looking at. (I have not done business with VentingDirect, so check them yourself before ordering. They appear to me to be reasonable.) At a less-expensive level, something like the Zephyr Hurricane or Cyclone hoods might be worth looking at. They are around $350-$450. Less expensive than that might be the AirKing Vision (~$300) or the Kenmore 52340 ($225) that Consumer Reports found to work reasonably well. I haven't seen either of those pieces or makes. As you go down in price, not only do you generally lose sucking power, but also "capture area" -- the amount that the hood covers. You basically can't suck it out if you can't catch it first and it just rises past your hood. Mid-line hoods are generally 22" deep, with better hoods running 24" or 27" deep. While a blower sounds like an inexpensive approach, you'll need something to extract the grease so that it doesn't gum up the vent and potentially catch fire (or just stink). By the time you get done with that, wiring, speed control, light sockets, sheet metal, and all, I think you'd probably be better off with a stock hood. Unfortunately, low noise, decent flow rates, and low cost all work against each other. While I haven't looked much below $500 or so, there is a huge difference in how annoyingly loud a $500 hood is compared to a $750 hood. The "low" level is nice, but the reality of it for many is that if you want reasonable smoke/grease removal, you'll have it on high, especially with any of the mass-market hoods. If you generally only use a couple burners (like most people that I know), a 600-ish CFM hood should be fine for you. I wouldn't go much below 400 CFM, if your budget can afford it. Definitely run an 8" duct if you can. You may need a "transition" or "reducer" to fit the hood, but the larger duct may give you both better flow rates (less drag for the hood blower to work against) and lower noise (noise comes from air turbulence in the duct, which is generally less with a larger duct). In my opinion, CFM and noise level (dB or sones) are a lot like home or car stereo Watts were a decade or so ago -- with no regulations on how it was measured, it was little more than a number on the box for the less-expensive brands, where they claimed "100+100 Watts" in a jungle blaster, that was not even close to as loud (or even listenable) as a "20 Watt" unit from a high-end manufacturer. Within the same manufacturer, they probably give some relative comparison, but I wouldn't compare between manufacturers in the mass-market segment.
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User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The quietest exhaust fans are made with squirrel cages. The sound is measured in sones or decibels. The sound is made quieter if the air goes through the roof or into the ceiling. Yes sound waves travel. The air the fan moves is measured in CFM's. The lower the CFM's the quieter and less efficient it is. The solution here is to get a high CFM with a variable speed switch. The lower the speed...the quieter it is...but then you can turn it up for a few minutes to get a quick burst of air being pulled out of the area. A broan or Nutone(same company they merged) with a 190-250 CFM is fine for a glass top range like you described owning in another thread. Here'a link to look at a few....
dees_1
8 years ago
I looked at Lowe's web site and can't find our exact model (we've had it for over 10 years). This white hood is similar to ours and moves air at 400CFM (good). It can be ducted or not. It's a bit over $300 but performs better than the standard hood offerings.

This white hood is about half the price, looks similar but only moves air at 250CFM (ok). Can be ducted or not.
chisue
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you all! Big help.

If a spec sheet says 'hallogen' bulbs, could I use LEDs or even incandescents. Hallogen is very HOT, isn't it? Some of the hoods have ONE 75W bulb. Kinda 'cook by feel' or wear a miner's helmet? My hood at home takes two 100's.
dees_1
8 years ago
Yeah, the halogens get hot. I think the connectors for halogen are different than LED. However, there are LED bulbs made in the halogen configuration. I don't know where to get them but a friend of mine has them in his Broan range hood.....probably available at the big box stores.
chisue
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, dees_1.

BTW, I did post on both the Kitchens and the Appliances forums. Nada. Just goes to show that The KT Rules!
cat_ky
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I have the exact same hood that Dees-1 has. Mine happens to be white, and it will eventually be changed to black. I was hoping to be able to get the exact same hood again. I really like it, and mine is vented to the outside.
dees_1
8 years ago
chisue, I used to haunt the Appliances and Kitchen boards.....I know too much about appliances for my own good! LOL
breenthumb
8 years ago
Mine is very quiet right now. It vents straight through the west wall and is stuffed with blocks of upholstery foam plus cardboard taped inside filters until maybe April.
writersblock (9b/10a)
8 years ago
There is one model, a Zephyr, I think, that is considered much superior to other recirculating hoods, but it is $$$.
chisue
Original Author
8 years ago
I should have made it clear that this is for our Maui condo, which is rented to vacationers nine months of the year. I will have to compromise to keep the price down. We installed very quiet (but vented) Hampton Bay exhaust fans in the bathrooms here. They were not much more expensive than the Broan fans, but are so quiet I have to remind myself to turn them off.

Help Finding Quiet Recirculating Range Fan/Light

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