Range Exhaust Fans

[AlphaPapa]

My wife and I bought a new to us house 2 years ago. The house satisfied a bunch of our must-haves, nice-to-haves, and didn’t-know-I-needed lists. One thing it didn’t have was a range hood that ventilates to the outside. It has a nice hood that just throws smoke and odors up in the air and distributes them throughout the main floor. I have replaced the filters with new ones. But, that didn’t really seem to help.

This past weekend I blackened some burgers for the first time. I actually didn’t think I liked blackened burgers until a kitchen error at a restaurant (actually two errors) resulted in me biting into one and thinking, “OMG, where have you been all my life!” So, I found a recipe from Paul Prudhome online and somewhat followed it. The burgers came out great and I don’t think I’ll ever do one another way now. The downside is it produced a lot of smoke and we had to open windows to air out the house. That wasn’t a big problem since the outside air temp was low to mid 70’s and the humidity was relatively low. Those conditions will be distant memories here in middle GA in a couple of weeks.

The smoke and odor problems have come come up with several cooks over the past 2 years. So, even if I start doing the burgers outside on the grill grates I would still like to explore options to fix my indoor problems.

So, I have a question for those of you who have hoods that ventilate to the outside… do they work? Do you still get a house full of smoke and odors? It will take a bit of work to get one installed here. So, I will have to open up the checkbook pretty wide.

Thanks!

 

[Jim6820]

Yes, they do work…if you get a good quality one. Our old house had a range hood that didn’t vent outside and we hated it. Unfortunately, the wall the range hood was mounted on backed up against the garage and routing ductwork to the outside would have been both difficult and expensive.

Our new house has a range hood routed to the outside and the difference is like night and day. The best we’ve ever had was at a previous home that had a downdraft range. It was a high-end Jenn-Air and pulled the smoke and odors down from the back and both sides of the range top. That thing was fantastic as smoke and odors never got a chance to get far from the range top.

 

[Pacman]

Yes, the vented hoods work great, but there is a huge range of cubic feet per minute (CFM) is huge between different makes and models. Of course the hoods that "suck" the most CFM also can get sort of noisy.

If available to you, try to visit one of those higher end kitchen and bath "design centers" where they have model kitchens with working equipment. I shopped at one of those, played with the hoods, and frankly found the exact same unit from another retailer at literally half the price and installed it to my existing ductwork myself. It was a pretty easy job.

 

[SmokeOCD]

Portable induction burner $100 (by the window)
Box fan $25 (aimed at window)
Open Window $0

Can also add a folding table for $40 and cook in the garage with the door cracked.

or "Blackened" is a seasonal menu item.

 

[Smagnus]

Had one at the old house and it was great. Vented thru the attic outside. Current house sucks as the cooktop is on the garage wall with a finished upstairs - no good way to run duct work up and out. Miss the old kitchen

 

[AlphaPapa]

I’m going to at least get a quote. There are cabinets above the current hood and then about 3’ of space before getting to the ceiling. The space above the ceiling is attic with pretty easy access. Of course, someone will have to cut into the roof and get on the roof to install the vent. For someone who knows what they are doing, I don’t think it will be overly difficult project.

 

[Buttah Butts]

When I remodeled my kitchen I went with a zephyr range hood vs the Wolf. It works really well. Just make sure you get minimum of 700 cfm or you won’t be happy

 

[SmokeOCD]

A gazebo over your grilling area could be way cheaper.
I do hope you share the quoted work with us, morbid curiosity.

 

[AlphaPapa]

When I remodeled my kitchen I went with a zephyr range hood vs the Wolf. It works really well. Just make sure you get minimum of 700 cfm or you won’t be happy

Thanks! I was wondering about what CFM range was needed.

 

[orangebiker]

Exhaust fans suck!
seriously though safety warning -if you have a tight house, and I assume in GA you would, you'll need some form of relief to allow fresh air into the house as you pull air out. Better to address before it all becomes a problem. I've seen the path of least resistance be the water heater flue and houses fill up with carbon monoxide, or just have a failed pilot on the heater and issues in the winter with furnaces not drafting well.
Gravity vent, backdraft damper, transfer grille from a less tight part of the house...many ways to skin the cat, but it should be skinned.

 

[AlphaPapa]

A gazebo over your grilling area could be way cheaper.
I do hope you share the quoted work with us, morbid curiosity.

Actually, the other thing under consideration is an extension to our deck in order to have some deck area out from under the roof. That deck in on the main floor but it is up in the air about 10 - 12 feet (we have a walkout basement). I don’t like doing high temp cooking under the cover. So, if I could go out about 4’, I could put a gasser or Kama do style grill out there.

if it was just the burgers, I could probably get by with the sear plates on the 590. But, the odor and smoke thing has happened several times over the past two years and I’d like to resolve that.

I will post back once I get a quote.

 

[Jim6820]

In our new place, the covered patio has an overhead fan installed and I turn it on when I grill/smoke. It does a pretty good job of flushing the smoke out from under the cover.

 

[AlphaPapa]

In our new place, the covered patio has an overhead fan installed and I turn it on when I grill/smoke. It does a pretty good job of flushing the smoke out from under the cover.

i have two ceiling fans and an outdoor wall mounted fan I run. They disperse the smoke pretty well. Before I bought my 590 I got a quote for an overhead exhaust fan for the deck that vented out the roof. I even purchased the hood I was going to use. I think total cost for all was going to be around $2500. Then I contacted RecTeq to see if they thought it was necessary. I even sent pics of the space to them. They said they didn’t think I needed it. So, I returned the hood.

 

[DesertRat]

This is fairly expensive and still quite noisy on high. but you don't need to spend thousands,. Just make sure you don't go cheap.You have to have adequate CFM. And adequate fresh air replacement. The difference between a real hood and a resurculating fan is enormous.

 

[Dean]

Yes they work great... Must be a good quality one--guite--great suction--easy to clean...
I have a "Vent a Hood".... double squirrel cage fans --great lights--and very easy to clean--SS....Made in Texas, outside of Dallas.... Roof vent--now 25 years old and does not miss a beat.....

 

[AlphaPapa]

This is fairly expensive and still quite noisy on high. but you don't need to spend thousands,. Just make sure you don't go cheap.You have to have adequate CFM. And adequate fresh air replacement. The difference between a real hood and a resurculating fan is enormous.

View attachment 19350

Looks nice. Do you recall the CFM rating on it?

 

[Greg Jones]

Nice looking setup-I didn’t know that KA made these larger units! Do you have what I assume would be a griddle for the right? If I ever get the opportunity to build new or rebuild my current kitchen, I’m going with a center French top flanked by 2x gas burners.

 

[RattleR]

Wish I had gas! Er, um, well, meant wish I could bring NG into my kitchen. On a slab and stove on an interior wall. Gas is available to me, just the plumbing issue. I like your set up as well.