Is this going to be in a rental space, or is it an in-law or au pair suite? Why have a hot plate at all? Why not just a microwave and maybe a toaster? Is there a window in this space?

You need vertical clearances for all of this, otherwise it isn't a legal unit.

There is a window here, but it’s low and has never been opened in the 20 years I've owned this house.

It is not techically a “unit” - there’s a small guest room beyond the hall. I would like to provide a small kitchenette area more usable than what I currently have (a microwave in the room.) So this is more like a suite.

what vertical clearances are required?

and correction: the smoke detector is 10ft away!

Sorry, this won't answer your question. I just finished creating a guest suite with a laundry kitchenette. I had to get clear about what the difference is between a kitchen and a kitchenette and that difference is based on my needs as a homeowner. Do I want bacon grease down an upstairs drain, do I want cooking smells, grease near bedrooms, do I want pots and pans sitting around, do I want to install ventilation for that? No.

I got a mini-fridge, microwave, electric kettle, and Breville oven. If someone wants to grill they can use that function on the Breville. If they need to cook something in a kitchen, they can use my full kitchen not the guest suite kitchenette.

Current code requires that ceiling height be 7 ft. over 50% of the room with the other 50% a minimum of 5 ft.

Laundry and bathroom can be 6'8" so maybe yours is actually 6'8"

However, your space may be grandfathered since it is pre-existing. I lived in a complex of conversions of 19th c. houses and many of the kitchens and powder rooms had ceilings that were 6'5" or 6'6".

My kitchen with 6'5 - 6'6"" had a ducted microwave hood over the gas range. The microwave hood did not have room for a cabinet above it, it just had a panel. But you really need something (maybe a relatively low CFM like under 400) that is an actual range hood with screens or something to extract the grease, not a room ventilating fan.

I saw this in real estate: I have actually been in this apartment. Conventional Kitchen Forum wisdom is that a vent like this would do absolutely nothing. It is obviously doing something and what it is doing is not good. It's attracting some grease and vapors from the range, but it is just making the ceiling dirty and also allowing unfiltered grease and ambient dust to go into the same duct which is a terrible idea. (I blocked out some things on the wall for privacy purposes, but I did not do anything to the ceiling to alter its appearance.

These comments and this picture are so helpful! That picture especially…

TBH, this kitchenette would rarely be used for daily cooking purposes. Use as a kitchenette — beyond reheating food in the microwave — would happen occasionally. morning coffee… a pot of tea, etc. I won’t provide any frying pan. theres a bfast join down the street. That, or make oatmeal!

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Juice, cereal, yogurt, bagels, cream cheese, lox, fruit. There are so many no cook, great breakfast options to stock a kitchenette with for guests.

If nothing is cooked that generates cooking effluent, then the only point of a vent is odor removal from an errant cilantro leaf. Otherwise, all the same rules, scaled down, apply as for kitchens. These are:

a) Consider the largest pan that would fit on the hob, allow that size to grow with height up to 30 to 36 inches using a 10-degree from vertical expansion, provide that expanded size with an overlapping mesh or baffle filtered hood ducted to the roof.

b) Require the updraft into this hood to have 90 ft/min provided by an internal or external blower. 90 ft/min times the hood area (in square feet) is the required CFM

c) Do to pressure losses, the actual hood flow will be less that the rated hood flow, so use a factor of 1.5 in choosing the hood's rated CFM.

d) Duct diameter should allow the hood exit CFM to operate between 1000 and 2000 ft/min in the duct.

The amount one can skimp on this depends on how well one can truly restrict what is done on an induction hob, including what might happen if the user walks away not appreciating that it is easy with induction to get from simmering oatmeal to burning oatmeal.

Thank you all so much! I feel much better now going forward.

I've decided to make it clear *not to fry bacon* or anything that releases grease. This is not a culinary kitchen.

Very good point about great breakfast options that don't require frying. I'll just keep it at that.

Thank you kaseki for all the details on cfm and duct sizing.

Just to reiterate, this is not a separate unit, it's just a perk I want to provide for friends, family, and guests who stay in my guest room. To the height of the ceiling, yes, I think I miscalculated, it's 6'8". I do live in an old house, built around 1870... the house is small and the rooms are small. Years ago, work was done in the bathroom (adjacent to this space) and we had no problem with building permits.

To kellie's comment: very good point about the guests forgetting to turn on the fan. For this reason and more (grease, esp) I've decided to provide the minimum, which will, by necessity (omission?) prevent guests from any cooking. Reheating in the microwave? Yes! Eating fresh fruits and veggies that can be stored and rinsed in the sink? Absolutely! Making some coffee? Hell yes! Anything else... no.

This little kitchenette is just a little perk and makes morning routines a little more pleasant. Mostly, it elevates the look of the laundry room which was a bit cobbled together.

Thanks again for everyone's comments.