Question for you more advanced people than me (namely everyone). I was planning on helping a friend of my remodel his kitchen but we come across a problem. His kitchen is the u-shaped kitchen with a “wall” separating the kitchen and dining room. The problem with removing the wall is that the range hood is on this wall and thus requiring an island type range hood, big $$ for those. Is there anything else that we could do? There is not really a wall there but cabinets are hung from the ceiling and he wants to remove these but the range hood and exhaust is built into the cabinets. Any ideas? Thanks for your time.
Replies
Buy a range with downdraft venting, and re-route the vents away and outside.
Downdraft vents suck.
Well, actually the problem is that they don't, at least not very well. Heat, and therefore smoke, goes up, not down. Or sideways, for that matter; I've never been impressed with the kind that rise up from behind the stovetop either.
If moving the range isn't an option, however, and he wants to get rid of the cabinets, it's either that or an chimney-type hood. Make sure it's plumbed with adequate-sized ducting; most hoods call for 6' round ducting or the equivalent rectangular size.
And don't do the stupid thing the builders of my sister's house did, routing the duct from the downdraft vent under the floor to an inside wall, then up into the attic and out under the eaves.
I know they're not the best, but they are better than nothing.
Does the hood actually exhaust to the outdoors or is it the type that just filters the air and returns it to the room? If there is a vent pipe to the outdoors, where does it go, through the ceiling or through the cabinets to an outside wall?
John W.
Edited 12/2/2004 5:04 pm ET by JohnW
The exhaust pipe currently runs up into the attic then out the roof, the kitchen is actually in the middle of the house (looking into the kitchen) there is a room on the left, kitchen in the middle, then dining room on the right with garage beyond.
One option is to move the stove from the affected wall onto another adjoining wall. You can run duct from the attic over to the new wall easily. And you may be able to reroute the 220 to the new location (via under the new cabinets, or across walls that will be covered with cabinets, check with local codes). Even if you pay for an electrician, this would run about $200-$300. Far less than paying for an island vent or down draft stoves.
Ps. I don't think you need exhaust vents in most residential applications (code requirements). You be suprised how little most vents exhaust anyway.
I did a kitchen over a year ago with a similar situation. Here's a picture of the free-hanging exhaust hood I installed. I was pretty leery about this when she told me what she wanted but was blown away with the unit after I installed it. It's solid as a rock and the fan runs very quiet. A short piece of flex ducting tied the fan exhaust to the roof jack. I don't remember the brand of this hood but I believe it was pretty pricey - she bought it before the job started.
One thing you'll need to watch for is solid framing in the ceiling above the old hanging cabinets. I had to move the stove/hood a couple of inches from the desired location to avoid cutting into a ceiling joist.
Simplest option: just put a grill in the ceiling, it will probably pick up 90 percent of what a lower hood would collect anyway.
Second option: Put a grill in the ceiling, as above, and build a curb around it out of 2x4's and sheetrock extending down 12 to 16 inches, trim it with wood if you want, as long as the lower edge is more than 3 feet above the burners, the heat won't be a problem unless you have a commercial stove with very large burners. Paint the unit to match the ceiling color if you want to hide it or paint it a contrasting color to make it stand out.
John W.
Sorry to disagree John, but a grill in the ceiling is not a good plan. Cooking fumes, heat, and smoke need to be vented outside. Just giving them a path to the attic will eventually cause all kinds of grief. An unvented hood is bad enough, but at least you can see the results. A grill just moves the problems to a less noticeable space.
I've never cared for the downdraft vents, either. Around 10 yrs ago, I worked with a guy doing kitchen remodels and we replaced several of the old Jenn-Air downdraft stoves. The inside of the exhaust ducting was always caked with a thick layer of gunk and - in many cases - the ducting had separated and the gunk was all over the place under the house. I always wondered what would have happened if it had caught on fire.
Dave,I wasn't recommending that they vent into the attic, only that they didn't need a full hood. I presumed that it was understood that they should still run the vent to the outdoors. I'm sure that more than one house has burned to the ground because of grease fires in the duct work, it's a common event in restaurants that don't clean out their vents.John W.
Sorry John - I guess I didn't understand what you were driving at. It was pretty early when I replied. - lol
While we're on the subject of vents etc, I would also caution folks against using those combo microwave/exhaust hoods. I put one in our kitchen eight years ago and the fan seldom gets used because it sounds like a jet on takeoff roll - and that's on low speed.
When/if I ever redo that setup, I'll go with an fan mounted in the attic if I can find one.
JohnW made an observation that I have proven but never published because I know people are skeptical. In the late 60's I installed a grill at the ceiling because I did not have the funds or the design to accept an expensive hood ($100 was really expensive at the time). Even though I have lived in several houses since then I frequently visit the home. To this date there is no evidence of grease or any other accumulation on the ceiling or cabinets. The owner loves the system since there is no noise or restrictions above the stove. My grill is only 10" X 12" and it vents a six burner stove. Venting companies hate to hear this and will probably not like to hear that the vent piping almost 40 years later has no build-up and the ceiling was recently (1998) painted for the first time without having to use any primer.
The house is my mother's. She enjoys canning, and cooks dinner for all holidays. There were seven children in the family to give you an idea of the amount of cooking which took place.
HT -
The picture Dave posted looks much like one of the models in the Faber line of kicthen exhaust hoods. Yes, they're expensive, Yes, they work. Yes, they're a bugger to install. But in the end, I think they're really worth the money if you're interested in having an effective kitchen exhaust system.
The downdraft (Jenn-Aire) types are reasonably effective although they present a cleaning problem - the kind that 'pops up' behind the stove. But in my opinion they're not nearly as effective as an hood type.
Surf over to the Breaktime forum and open the discussion there. Lots more re-model/builder types there.
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
A bit I have learned about kitchen design..Don't screw it up for what in the long run is an inconsequential amount of money. You (or them) will be forever sorry.
You've got three options, as others suggested: move the cooktop, use an overhead hood, or use a downdraft hood. In my attached photos, both hoods have powerful remote fans - they're almost silent and both REALLY suck.
Margo's Thermador downdraft extends 15-inches above the countertop and a more powerful fan than the installed one would suck the soup from her pot. I wouldn't call this one a compromise, because I've never seen steam rising above the cooktop while watching her cook. After a few years, there's no sign of grunge on either the ceiling or pendant lamps. She wouldn't stand for that.
The overhead hood in the Fisher's kitchen, like so many similar island cooktops I've worked on, is elegant and does the best job of capturing heat and steam, but it's expensive. It also requires room within the ceiling or an attic to vent. Given the option, I'd choose this hood, because I like hanging utensils within easy reach.
Gary
http://gwwoodworking.com/
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