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How to vent a range in this location?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

In the house we recently bought, the range is located under a 'garden window' and it has a highly ineffective built-in downdraft vent between the burners. We are giving the kitchen a facelift (new countertops, refacing cabinets, etc) and are considering also adding better cooking ventilation since we do cook a lot. We can't really move the range due to the kitchen layout, and having a hood hanging down over the garden window would look horrific (especially since the range is not centered under the window), so it seems to me that our options are:

1) Add a pop-up downdraft (e.g. Thermador)

2) Install a flush-mount island vent in the ceiling (e.g. Zephyr Lux)

3) Install a very short wall-mount hood above the window (might be most effective but would probably also look terrible)

Are there other options that I'm overlooking for this situation?

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Comments (5)

houssaon
2 years ago
I would remove that window, close up the space directly behind the range, and add two narrow windows on either side. Install a stainless steel hood over the range.

This is a crude mockup of what I think will work.

Mountain Home Kitchen · More Info
dan1888
2 years ago
The window is the problem. Think about finding another location, maybe a bedroom, where it would add value. Then either work with a solid wall or add the two windows mentioned above.
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Exposed ductwork in an older home can be quite charming. It gives it an evolved over time feel. Or, it can be hidden within the cabinets. Either way, it will have to go straight up and then left to go out of the building. I'd do at least an 8" duct, as that gives you more versatility than a 6" duct. 6" limits the possibilities down the road. Doing 8" now instead of 6" won't increase the cost but a couple of dollars, and you could possibly do a higher BTU stove and vent at some point if that interests you because the infrastructure would already be done. [Modern Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Dallas Architects & Designers Domiteaux + Baggett Architects, PLLC [Modern Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Fairfax Kitchen & Bath Designers Kleppinger Design Group, Inc. [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Chicago Kitchen & Bath Designers Steve Bailey - Amish Custom Kitchens [Eclectic Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2104) by Denver Interior Designers & Decorators Momoko Morton
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In order to begin to understand it, you would need to buy ANSI Z21.1 for about $650. There is some very technical engineering, even though it doesn't look like it, in the ventilation between walls of the oven and cooktop sides that ensures that the cabinets up against the range will not get hotter than 194°F. If you block the airflow by lowering the range (some people try modifying the feet for thin countertops that make them less than 36" tall), or putting ducts in for MUA, the outside wall of the range will get hotter. If you force that much extra air through the range, (push or pull) you change the way the gas burns, and create CO problems. Even if you can adjust the air shutters to compensate, you would then have to turn on the entire system just to make a pot of tea, in order to get enough air to get a clean burn. With holes in the floor or back wall, the natural draft intended/engineered to cool the outer walls of the range can be disrupted or diverted, leaving the heat to build up around the range - nothing to do with heat in other areas of the home. What can't tolerate more heat than the wood cabinets around the range? Another separate reason for no holes is the possibility of a gas leak. How much gas do you think that duct will hold, just waiting for someone to create a spark? The testing standards do not say no holes "unless someone thinks of some unusual excuse".
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opaone
2 years ago
The higher up the hood is the larger the capture area needs to be to capture the rising effluent that spreads out as it rises. Containment area also gets much more important.

An Accurex or similar mounted above the window would work from that standpoint but you'd need cut in to the ceiling and figure out how to run ducting above.

More: https://bamasotan.us/range-exhaust-hood-faq/
PRO
Debbi Washburn
2 years ago
Ideally changing the layout or closing the window are the best options. If that is not possible, you can have a hood in front of the window. I would suggest one with a glass bell so it is less solid feeling and hang it as high as the specs allow

Or if you have the room - or can build a bump down for it, there ae in ceiling vents. I d o not have any experience with them so I do not know their effectiveness

Good luck!
kaseki
2 years ago
Given the constraints and the probable lack of vertical space for a standard commercial hood, I might consider after evaluating the options two side-by-side ceiling vents such as to overlap the cooktop by at least a foot on each side, and a surround (stainless, say, or glass if you like to clean, hanging down to just above the window frame) at the ceiling around the two vents that provides a volume under them that traps the rising effluent so that it can be exhausted -- kind of a bastardized quasi-commercial hood functioning setup. I would aim for at least 60 ft/min flow into that containment area. This means area (sq. ft.) x 60 ft/min = actual full power CFM. Rated blower CFM should be chosen to be 1.5X that unless analysis showed some other value was acceptable.

You could decide whether to configure the two ceiling vents to merge into one duct with one external blower or use two ducts and two blowers. Remote control of the vents would have to be unconfused by there being two units. The surround is essential or else there will be grease across the ceiling over time.

Alternatively, it may be possible for a tailor-made hood that fits flush to the ceiling and hangs down to above the window could be built. That would, I think, be a better solution than depending on existing ceiling vents doubled.

Be sure that whatever scheme you choose is capable of being cleaned by whoever is tasked with doing so.

I would avoid the "glass bell" type hoods, as all of them that I've seen have fundamental defects in capture design.

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