kitchen hoods

[mdhills]

Any recommendations for kitchen hoods for handling frying and steam without breaking eardrums and not requiring extreme maintenance?
How much is in the hood/motors itself vs. duct design?

Matt

[MstrCarpenter]

Any recommendations for kitchen hoods for handling frying and steam without breaking eardrums and not requiring extreme maintenance?
How much is in the hood/motors itself vs. duct design?

Matt

Most range hoods will do a fairly decent job of catching grease in the aluminum mesh filters, they can be washed with hot soapy water. The charcoal filters are an attempt to remove odors and should only be used for "ductless" fans, which I strongly suggest you avoid. Keeping the duct as short as possible is best but there are other considerations as well. (See my recent reply to a similar thread.) Fan noise level is typically expressed in sones. Here's a quick cut & paste; 4.0 sones is the sound of normal television (which would be ridiculously loud for a normal bathroom fan, though I've heard some this loud!) 1.0 sone is the sound of a quiet refrigerator (about as good as it gets!!) 0.5 sone is the sound of rustling leaves.
If it's for your own home, I assume a few extra dollars would be worthwhile. get a brand name with more than enough output that you can adjust with multiple fan speeds. I don't recall ever fixing or replacing a fan due to motor failure.
Hope this helps.

[cams2705]

When we had our home built, I found a couple different calculations on the cubic foot requirements for a gas range to properly vent the heat, gas, steam, etc. and most all vent hoods sold in bot HD and Lowes didn't even come close to the requirement.

I found a US company XtremeAir that made quality units with heavier than expected stainless steel and restaurant quality grates that can be removed and cleaned.

We have THIS version in the 30" model and love it.  We went with the mechanical push buttons as I didn't want to have to deal with circuit cards with their LED display models.  I clean the grates by soaking in a diluted mixture of Dawn and citric acid in hot water in the sink abut twice a year.  It has nearly 4 times the air movement as units sold in the box stores.

It's max noise is rated at 5 sones, but I don't think I've ever needed to run it at full speed ... for normal cooking I use low speed.  If we're boiling pasta or frying, we use the medium speed and don't have any complaints with the sound.

[Woodenfish]

I recently replaced my old range hood fan with a new stainless steel model. It was the most expensive one carried at my local Menards. I chose it because of not only material but performance rating. It’s a fantastic machine that really moves air. It can be set up for interior or exterior venting. The only downside is it does not have mitered corners on the forward edge so you need to open the upper cabinet doors next to it more carefully. It hasn’t been a problem but something to beware with these square shoulder models. The stainless steel has a brushed finish that is directional like the fur on a cat. You can wipe it clean in one direction by it grabs in the other. That’s unique to you this appliance in my kitchen. We really like it and are very happy with it.

[TDKPE]

The only downside is it does not have mitered corners on the forward edge so you need to open the upper cabinet doors next to it more carefully. It hasn’t been a problem but something to beware with these square shoulder models. 

We have a discreet steel cable to prevent the corner cabinet door from opening into the range hood.  Just an FYI. 

[Woodenfish]

Thanks for your so suggestion John. I hadn’t had time to find or buy said cable yet but it’s on the list. Did you make your own or do they sell these now?

[rwe2156]

We replaced our hood (which was built into a microwave) with a real honest to goodness hood like you see in a commercial kitchen.

900CFM and filters you remove and clean easily.  

We go it at the rangehoodstore.com.

Good customer service.  A light went out the first month we had it, they sent not only a light, but the whole assembly kit.

[WoodCzech]

Something with an external ventilator. Our hood is 1000 CFM but the blower assembly sits on the roof so the noise we hear is mostly the air wooshing up the duct.

[rwe2156]

Something with an external ventilator.  Our hood is 1000 CFM but the blower assembly sits on the roof so the noise we hear is mostly the air wooshing up the duct.

This is a probably a better route, at least until a repair becomes necessary.

On the model we have the fan is in the unit, but its a rabbit cage, and you get used to it. At least you know for sure its running. I wouldn't want to leave a 1000CFM fan on by mistake in the middle of winter.

[jteneyck]

I wanted a commercial style gas range in the worst way when I redesigned my kitchen 25 years ago  -  until I looked into how many CFM was going to be needed to handle all those burners.  My roof would have looked like Pizza Hut and I probably would have had to install a makeup air system, too.  I went back to an electric range with a Ventahood above it.  Both are still going strong and my wife loves the easy clean flat glass surface.   Ventahood uses a centrifugal separator to remove grease, no filters to deal with. I clean it out a couple of times per year.

John