Most home owners today have chosen to install a range hood and for very good reason. A good one is designed to eliminate smoke, steam grease, and cooking odors. If it is a properly installed, high quality one, it will exhaust the dirty air to the outside of your home, and keep the indoor air clean.
Not all range hoods are effective though, and here is the main answer to why install a range hood that is a good replacement for one that is not doing the job properly:
Many simply re-circulate the dirty air by drawing it through a filter, and then just blowing it back into the room. This is of course, not very effective.
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Where to Install a Range Hood
If your range is against an exterior wall, you will be able to run the duct out of the rear, and through that wall, to the exterior when you do the install.
Or you could run it up from the range, into the cabinet and then through the roof. If your range is against an interior wall, you can run the duct into the area above the cabinets and then out through the nearest exterior wall in the install.
The duct must always lead outdoors, never into an attic or basement, or any other enclosed space. Cooking regularly results in grease, smoke, steam, heat, moisture and all of these take their toll on the kitchen cabinets and the walls of the kitchen.
If you install a range hood that works by exhausting these fumes to the outdoors, this will help to remove unwanted odors and also help to preserve the rest of your kitchen.
Making the right Choice of Range Hood
It’s important to take time over the decision of which type to choose to install. Why install a range hood that is not the right one for your particular kitchen? There is a wide range to choose from, and you’ll need the one that not only fits your kitchen, but also does the job to the standard you desire. See a selection more reviews about range hoods here.
Considering that the kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home, so then, spending a little extra time to research which version would suit your kitchen setup best makes sense. It will be well worth it, as it can save you a lot of time and money later on in replacements and redecoration.
Luckily, with the internet, you don’t have to walk the streets from one store to another in order to find the right one, as you would have done before the days of online shopping!
You can find out everything you need to know, like the various models and how to do the install yourself right from the comfort of your own home.
Kitchen Hood Installation Points To Consider
- Although the terms such as CFM (cubic feet per minute) can put a frown on many peoples faces, there’s not all that much to it really. Without getting in too deep with all that technical stuff, just understand that it’s a measurement of the amount of air that gets exhausted. For a more in-depth look at how these measurements are calculated, visit the site here
- Bear in mind that the higher you install the hood the more power it will need to draw the cooking steam/fumes etc upwards and into it.
- The duct is another important area to consider during the install. A good rule of thumb is to keep the ducting as short as possible and with as few bends as you can get away with.
- If you install a hood that is wider than the cooking dimensions this will be a bonus. Although by no means essential, but this extra width would help in catching more steam and cooking odors.
- Know the difference between a re-circulating model and a vented one. What may at first appear to be a very good price, might turn out to be a re-circulating model. As with everything, these hoods do have their place, especially if the install of a vented version is out of the question. Some models can be used both as vented and re-circulating, which gives you the choice.
Range Hood Installation Video
The video below will give you an idea of how to install or replace a range hood. Attention to safety should always be adhered to when unsure about installing electrical equipment.
Range Hood Installation Cost
You may wish to buy the hood, and then install it yourself, or you may choose to hire a company that will install it for you. Either way make sure that whoever you choose to do the install are reputable and reliable.
The best way to do this is to get recommendations from people you know who have had one installed in the past and were happy with it. If you don’t know anyone who has done this, or if they weren’t happy with the firm they used, you’ll need to do the research yourself.
If the cost of the install is something that is putting you off the idea of purchasing a range hood, let me dispel any worries that you may have. OK it’s not everyone who has all the DIY skills required to carry out the installation. But even if you had to resort to bringing in a company, then the cost to install shouldn’t be too high and anything between $80 and $100 should cover it.
The first step is to make a list of all of the companies in your local area that install range hoods. Visit their websites, and eliminate any that don’t have a professional website which contains all of the information you need. These days there is no excuse for a poor website. It is the online store front, and having a website that is unprofessional would be like having a store front that is dilapidated or incomplete.
The next step is to check for testimonials and complaints. Testimonials should be on the firm’s website, so those will probably be easy enough to find. However, they naturally won’t share negative feedback on their own site, so for that, you’ll need to do an online search for the company’s name and the word ”complaint” in inverted comas or something similar.
This should bring up any posts that have been made on social media and forums by any customers who have had problems with that service. This will give you an idea of what to look out for.
So, if you’ve been wondering why install a range hood, you should now not only have the answer to that question, but you should also know how to choose the right one.