Does a ductless hood need a duct/vent?

6 years ago

Hi! I was told that I could put a recirculating ductless hood in my wood hood. I actually have a Broan one waiting to be installed, but my handyman and I are confused. It looks like you need somewhere for the air to go. Called Broan and they said yes, you do need a vent. I have no way to add a duct or vent. Has anyone just put it in and not have a place for the air to go? I saw the metal hoods have a vent at the very top, little slats for the air to get out, but with wood I don't think it's an option. For those with the same setup what did you do?

Featured Answer

kaseki

5 years ago

Don't expect the hood to draw its anticipated air flow rate if the recirculation exhaust is gagged by a small register. The total area of the register openings should at worst equal the total area of the baffle gaps if the hood uses baffles. (Even that is a significant obstruction -- pressure loss wise.) If the hood uses meshes, then some guess as to the effective area of the mesh should be used instead of baffle gap area..

I would recommend that with the hood system out of its wood cabinet, you observe the apparent flow out of the top with and without the candidate register in the path.

The manufacturer should have provided information about what register size is appropriate.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

PRO
Grey Heron Interiors
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Hello ckinchen,

When you install a range hood ventilation system within cabinetry, even a recirculating type, it will require some duct work, which can be done internally, since you are basically cutting off the air flow.

You should have ordered a Broan ventilator power pack as your working range hood with the additional interior conversion kit (here's a link with a great sketch): http://www.omeganationalproducts.com/php/products.php?p=pi&pid=526

You can always position the small metal grille where its least visible and paint it white.

Karen
ckinchen
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you! I have 3 parts, the liner, the vent machine part, and the recirculating thing you mentioned that has the tube. So your saying just put the vent on the side, on the wood, and paint it. I guess that would be my only option. There really isn't a place to hide it, it will show but painting would help. Thank you! Had not thought of that!
Related Discussions
Range hood ducted up through roof or ductless?
Q
Comments (19)
can you run the duct work to an outside wall inbetween the joists? the motor you pick (along with the recommended duct size) will result in a "maximum recommended duct length" per the manufac. Also, addding 90 bends to the duct will "add" a variable amount of resistance (equiv. to 10 feet of duct length for my 7" installation). again, you might ask a contractor about running the duct between floor joist in the ceiling, to an exterior wall. you would probably need some drywall work on the ceiling, some messing with the cross members between the joists, but it might be easier than running something up to the roof..depends on your layout
...See More
Vent-A-Hood Ductless ARS range hood Update
Q
Comments (200)
Here's our experience with a 42" VAH ARS hood. It sits 24" above a 36" induction cooktop. Our first experience with a recirculating hood. Its pretty, its well made, its basically useless. Our condo is 94" across with the kitchen at the far end. If I start cooking 2 slices of bacon, within minutes the smell has travelled down a hall, through a door and down another hall into a guest bedroom 94 feet away from the cooktop. The unmistakable smell of bacon permeates the air. We've been using it for about a month now. Suction is fine. Anything we cook, can be readily smelled. Save you money and buy cheap. All this does is sweep the cooktop, carry it up the duct and recirculate it into the room. Unfortunately, we now crack our windows at each end to clear the air while cooking. Unfortunate as the prevailing breeze is into the kitchen and out the far end of the condo. But its better than nothing which is how we feel about the VAH ARS hood.
...See More
Converting a duct-less range hood to ducted
Q
Comments (5)
We recently bought a house with an ADU and are getting ready to rent it. The range hood in the kitchen is both ducted and ductless. For some reason, the installer (or previous owner/tenant?) installed the range hood so that it both ducts to the outdoors as well as back into the unit. Trying to understand how to convert this to the ducted-only configuration. Can I just block the holes to the ductless part? Is it more complicated than that? Looked at the manual quickly and didn't seen an obvious fix (or set-up to reverse). Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.
...See More
Is the Vent-A-Hood Ductless ARS range hood worth the $$$ ?
Q
Comments (4)
I would not use a low end vent with light, personally. In a relatively small place like a NY apartment, I would probably go for the most effective option. However, these seem to be in the $900-1400 range with the typical 30" at the low end of this. How often do you have to replace that pleated filter? I did see a NY apartment that used a ducted hood and had the duct run into the bathroom where it came out right next to the ventilation duct in the bathroom which pulled some of the cooking smells out since these have some "chimney" effect. I don't know how much the bathroom smelled like food because they ate out a lot like many Manhattanites.
...See More
PRO
Grey Heron Interiors
6 years ago
I've also had my installers mount the grille in the ceiling as well with a little bit of duct trickery!
ckinchen
Original Author
6 years ago
my cieling is a bonus room, otherwise I would do that in a heartbeat!!
ckinchen
Original Author
5 years ago
Grey Heron Interiors is there any trick to mounting the grill on the side of the hood? The Broan kit the tube piece that goes to the grill will only fit if I mount to the front where everyone will be able to see, there isn't enough space to turn it to the side and the grill itself is a little too long for the side. I imagine I can find a smaller grill, but not sure. Also do you happen to have a picture of how you have done this? I don't think it will look so great if the grill is on the front part of hood where everyone will see, but I have not seen any pictures so not sure. I can't vent to cieling since it is a bonus room.
0
PRO
Grey Heron Interiors
5 years ago
What if you split the output duct air flow into two and vented them out the sides with smaller grilles? You would still be satisfying the output air capacity and it would not be so obtrusive on the sides. You might even be able to use a wooden grille painted white since your filter will be on the bottom where the air input is drawn from. I'm sorry I don't have an image to show.
ckinchen
Original Author
5 years ago
oh, that is a good idea. I will have to go to Home depot to see if I can find the the piece that turns to the grill..not sure if the sell anything like that since angled.
0
kaseki
5 years ago
I won't go so far as to claim that they make every conceivable register and diffuser, but Hart & Cooley is the source of most.
http://www.hartandcooley.com/grilles-registers-and-diffusers-grd
Maribel Fry
5 years ago
I am going through this now so I am following. Thanks.
0

Does a ductless hood need a duct/vent?

kaseki

Comments (10)

Grey Heron Interiors

ckinchen
Original Author

Related Discussions

Grey Heron Interiors

ckinchen
Original Author

ckinchen
Original Author

Grey Heron Interiors

ckinchen
Original Author

kaseki

Maribel Fry

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Does a ductless hood need a duct/vent?

kaseki

Comments (10)

Grey Heron Interiors

ckinchenOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Grey Heron Interiors

ckinchenOriginal Author

ckinchenOriginal Author

Grey Heron Interiors

ckinchenOriginal Author

kaseki

Maribel Fry

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

ckinchen
Original Author

ckinchen
Original Author

ckinchen
Original Author

ckinchen
Original Author