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recirculating vs. vented hood

last year

Hi. I am almost done with my kitchen remodel. I bought a Zypher Sienna hood which is finally ready to go in... The problem is that we will have to run the vent through a floor into the top floor and then up and out the roof, building a box around the vent on the top floor. Toay I discovered that one can get a kit to convert the hood to a recirculating one. This would save a tremendous amount of work and be aesthetically much better, Does any one have experience with this recirculating option? Does it work well? Does it blow hot air back nto the kitchen?

Your advice is most welcomed. THanks!

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Comments (5)

User
last year
Recirculating is gross.
faftris
last year
If you can vent out, go for it. I did not have the choice and had to make do.
jan_edl thanked faftris
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Check out the slideout models. And if you can manage, a 36" model might help with the stir frying. I have the GE Monogram slideout which is around 600 CFM. I vented mine and threw out the recirc kit so I can't say how well it would work as a recirc, but the low profile of the slideouts is nice in small spaces. And while the guts take up some cabinet space, the cabinet itself can be a little lower and it's much easier to reach inside so assuming you're doing new cabinets, you can gain some usable storage. (Lower cabinet plus you can stuff the hood back in an don't have to stretch over it to get into the cabinet.) Mine is mounted a little high and I'm a little short so my photos tend to show the undersides of things--here it is extended (if you bump it with your head it'll just slide in instead of hurting): (Why wouldn't more CFM stick more grease into the filter than less? I think it would.)
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A recirculating hood that cleaned the air of grease and odor to the level of the fresh replacement air resulting from use of an exhaust hood would be very large and likely fairly expensive to replace filters for. It would require a series of mechanical filters for different size ranges of particles, as well as charcoal filters for odor. The stack of filters would require a blower capable of the desired flow rate in the presence of a significant pressure drop. This would be noisier than a similar flow rated exhaust blower. Such a system's size would only be justified in some context where exhausting cooking effluent was prohibited. I am unaware of any units sold for residential purposes that would meet my sniff test, but there may be some somewhere. A search on this forum might yield a link to a thread I recall where someone had found a unit that met his sniff test. There could also be commercial versions available. On the plus side, recirculating systems would not need make-up air. kas
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OK, so now that height has been resolved, next issue! So, most under-cabinet range hoods are made for 12" deep cabinets, but Ikea's cabinets are 15" deep. So Ikea sells these small filler pieces that mount behind the range hood, which we did buy, but when our contractor initially mounted it he didn't put the filler piece in. So the hood is all the way back. We're torn about whether we should have him move it forward and put in the filler piece: on the one hand, I kind of like that it's further back in space, which addresses my issue the hood being low and hitting our heads on it while cooking (and just generally gives the thing a smaller, more discreet footprint). On the other hand, because the hood is meant to be mounted to a 12" deep cabinet, it means that when mounted all the way back, the top of it starts to slope down before the end of the cabinet, instead of remaining flush and starting to slope down at the end of the cabinet, which I think looks a little awkward. What would you do? Move the hood forward so it fits as its supposed to (and install filler panel? Or take advantage of the opportunity to move it back in space? Pictures attached (how it looks now). FTR -- We will likely be installing cover panels on the sides of the cabinets, so the side of the range will actually be covered. Only the front might look a little weird because of the gap.
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kaseki
last year
In a nutshell, the filtering is generally poor except for the large units such as the VaH ARS. If your hood has sufficient flow rate for plume capture and containment of your cooking style and cooking equipment, the air blown into the duct or dumped into the room will be better described as warm. But then, the desired flow rate may be significantly higher than your selection may manage.

What is your make-up air plan.
jan_edl thanked kaseki
jan_edl
Original Author
last year
I so appreciate this feedback. My house on the big island of Hawaii so I live with windows open year round. However, in the warmer months I certainly would not want yet more heat in the house.

I was just about to install the hood so that the kitchen project might finally come to a close.

Without using the recirculating option, the top floor will have a vent running through it and out the roof. It will be along the edge of a loft area by the staircase so it will not make too much of an impact on the space but it certainly will change the feel a bit.

It's a pole house with interior single cedar tongue&groove walls. Because of the construction, it has been quite challenging to remodel.
kaseki
last year
MUA with air conditioning may be a challenge due to air conditioning, like heating, being intended for closed building heat losses/gains, and not large "breezes." Opening the window in summer may only be needed for heavy cooking tasks so long as the house has some kind of air exchange.

If the house is closed, all combustion appliances that might be in use, such as hot water heaters or dryers will need their own MUA and not take combustion air from the interior.

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