What is a Kitchen Hood?
The kitchen hood removes odors and keeps your restaurant or home kitchen ventilated. When cooking, the smoke, fragrances, and thawing particles can harm your kitchen and even damage your health if a proper ventilation system does not exist to eliminate these facets from the atmosphere. The kitchen hood, sometimes also called a range hood, removes most fats and chemicals from the cooking chambers so that you don’t have to worry about unhealthy fumes or unpleasant smells. This helps other appliances last longer and the grease from the food can deteriorate and the products in your kitchen can be prematurely aged.
Another advantage of a hood in your kitchen is that it helps clean your kitchen. Your countertops and walls stay cleaner with no smoke and grease residues. Carbon monoxide can increase to dangerous levels due to improper ventilation. Hood ranges minimize the potential for toxic carbon monoxide.
In fire safety, the range hoods play a great role. By eliminating excess heat, smoke and particles you can help cool the hot kitchens. Range hood pushes out the excessive smoke. Kitchen Services, provide turnkey restaurant kitchen hood installation services so that you no longer have to worry about the many aspects of the kitchen exhaust system installation process.
Commercial hood installation is one of the most essential tasks in ventilation systems in restaurant kitchens. A high-quality exhaust hood installation will ensure fresh, cleaner air inside your restaurant. Furthermore, preventive maintenance will keep your hood in a good condition. And its always a good idea to hire a local commercial hood contractor for regular maintenance.
Kitchen hood specifications
For selecting the correct kitchen hood, the two most important considerations are the size of your product and the location where you want to install the hood. If you want to place the line under a case, against a wall, over an edge or any position in your kitchen, you must evaluate. Furthermore, the height of the wall is also an important factor to consider beforehand.
Range hood installation cost and time
The cost of installing a kitchen hood commercially depends on the type of the range hood, its exhaust system and the features that it comes with. Ranging from $200 to $1000. Commercial hoods’ prices are relatively higher. A large restaurant Kitchen hood would take longer to install as compared to a domestic Kitchen hood.
Ducted vs Ventilated Kitchen Hoods (Pros and Cons)
Ducted hoods remove the irritants entirely from your kitchen and from your home. Ventilation of this kind is often preferable. Duct the hood outside the building, if you can.
The exhaust ducts are short and therefore more effective when your hood mounts to an external wall. If the hood attaches to an inner wall, the air must move a wider distance for effective usage.
Proper duct installation is important for the reliability and overall efficiency of the device. The duct operates into an outdoor rooftop but must never flow through an attic or basement.
Ducted hoods are common in commercial kitchens or homes with broader ranges which tend to produce more smoke, and generally produce more smoke and fumes. Due to the fact that duct hoods do not directly filter or circulate air but rather fully unload the air from the kitchen, they appear to be more effective in removing moisture and steam from the cooking area.
Although, some people claim that exhaust systems with ducts work well. However, this is questionable as efficiency and noise output can vary according to the brand, size, model and how well you care for your hoods.
One of the few disadvantages of a ducted hood is that it mounts in an environment with a pipe system that goes from the inside to the outside of the building or home. This can restrict areas in the kitchen where your range and hood will actually be positioned.
Sones? Noisy Range Hoods?
Sones are the measurement of the sound that a kitchen hood makes. A sone is approximately the same as the sound of an operating fridge. The regular discussions at about 4 sones and up to 8 sones is light traffic. Note that the higher the CFM of a range hood, the faster the speed, and the more noise the hood will cause. The bigger the hood, the calmer it will be, if the CFMs are equal. Imagine moving the same amount of air in a larger area causes less friction and less noise.
Kitchen hoods should be in 2-7 sones
Types of Kitchen Hoods (Operability)
Recirculated or Non-Vented or Ductless:
The use of ductless hoods is a viable option when outside ventilation is not an option. A recirculation kitchen hood or recirculation kit attaches to a normally connected hood in this procedure. It purifies the air and recirculates into the kitchen or the cooking area with this additional filter usually installed with a carbon or charcoal filter.
This is obviously not the best way to clear the air, but it works well if the air cannot be fully extracted. In order to ensure the hood works well, it is important to substitute recirculating filters every few months.
The benefit of a ductless hood is its flexibility and it is easy to mount and install anywhere you like. As a ductless hood only filters the air in the kitchen and then recycles it, you need not worry about the installation near any outside pipe.
The ductless range hoods are not without their disadvantages, unfortunately. For this sort of hood, your kitchen may become very humid due to the fact that it recycles air instead of drawing into the fresh air or releasing stalky and dirty air. The decibel levels of a ductless hood can be a little higher than duct exhaust systems because they also have a slightly higher fan strength requirement. Again, several variables, such as brand, size, and model, may depend on this.
Lastly, above mentioned are the factors that you need to ponder upon when choosing the right hood. Technical assistance is very vital for commercial kitchen hood installation, Kitchen Services would be more advantageous as we offer technical help – from consulting and designs to get the required permits, installation, and final inspection.
If you are setting up a new restaurant, make sure to check Commercial kitchen HVAC design guidelines.
Which range hood is right for you?
With the help of range hoods, you can keep your kitchen cleaner as well as your food fresher. Range hoods are indoor ‘chimneys’ that will take away all the unwanted smells from your kitchen. They can have ducts or be ductless. How will you tell which one suits you?
You should keep these details in mind when shopping for a ductless range hood:
1. Effective Area
As a rule of thumb, your hood must be at least the same size or one size bigger than your range. For ease with a 30-inch range you must have a 30-inch or 36-inch hood. This rule will make sure that the hood that you are choosing has enough coverage and it can capture all of the releases from your cooktop. In case the hood is installed over a kitchen island, our team of professionals at Kitchen Services would suggest going one size (6 inches) bigger. The extra coverage will compensate for the lack of a back wall, which helps limit air movement.
2. Filters
Keep in mind that carbon filters can be critical to any ductless hoods. They will always help to purify the air by catching smells and all the invisible pollutants, but they will never last forever. You will have to replace your carbon filters two or three times every year more regularly if you cook frequently and that is particularly smoky. You can usually save money by buying replacements in bulk.
3. Suction
If you compare it with ducted hoods, ductless units have somewhat weaker blowers, even if it is the best one in the market. Their powering ratings will always stay around 200 CFM. You may wonder why the suction is so low, this is due to the design because ductless hoods filter and redistribute air rather than extracting it entirely, they always require less power. Whereas a lot of suction has some significant advantages, it’s not a clear indicator of performance for non-ducted units the usefulness of the filtration system is perhaps more important.
4. Price
A recirculating hood hardly sells for more than $100, because of its low power rating and economical build. Ductless convertible units, however, cost about the same as ducted exhaust hoods up to around $400 with high-end models.
Ductless range hood reviews and buying guide
Let us see some of the ductless options as you pick one for your commercial kitchen.
1. Broan-NuTone 413004 Non-Ducted Ductless Range Hood
The Broan-NuTone 413004 Non-Ducted Ductless Range Hood is considered as one of the best ways to keep your kitchen smelling good. It has a warming light effect, its stainless-steel build can not only improve ventilation but it may also improve your lighting over your stove’s cooktop because it has a non-ducted filtration system that can remove smoke and smells effectively due to its protective lamp lens with an incandescent bulb.
The beautifully sleek Broan-NuTone 413004 Non-Ducted Ductless Range Hood is one of the best options for your kitchen. With some easy care, a lot of options, and a modern design, this best ductless range hood can do it all.
2. IKTCH 30 inch Built-in/Insert Ductless Range Hood
This one is the stylish Range Hood which is made of beautiful stainless steel. It can be the perfect addition for any modern kitchen, it also fits easily into already installed cabinets and it can also be built-in with your cabinet design. The 900 CFM airflow will make sure that you have good air circulation in your kitchen in order to keep smoke and other cooking smells away.
With the IKTCH range hood, you have a choice of 4 different settings so that you can customize your kitchen stove vent experience. At 40 decibels on the low setting, only 65dB max noise level, this will prove to be perfect for cooking at home without disturbing any other person present in that particular area. It has a sleek stainless-steel design which also makes cleaning super easy. All you have to do is just take out the filters for dishwasher-safe cleaning.
3. CIARRA CAS75918B Ultra Slim Ductless Range Hood
CIARRA’s new 31″ Ultra Slim range hood can be the perfect option for anyone who is looking to save on their space. This product has major abilities when it comes to purifying the air in your apartment kitchen so do not get fooled by its size. It is meant to look that way as it is very small. It can efficiently trap grease, food smell, airborne particles from burning fat, and dangerous gasses from ceramic stoves because it uses five detachable aluminum mesh filters.
The CIARRA CAS75918B Ultra Slim Ductless Range Hood is a sleek stainless-steel design that can feature quiet operation, less than 6.5 Sones at the highest speed for a more immersive cooking experience, it also has led lights that can light up your cooking area. It can be converted into a ventless unit with the optional purchase of the CACF006 carbon filter.
4. Cosmo COS-QB48 Ductless Range Hood
Cosmo COS-QB48 Ductless Range Hood has a high-volume motor and high-wattage halogen lights for a seamless kitchen renovation. It is extremely efficient; the Cosmo range hood’s motor ventilates up to 500 cfm that has literally no noise imposed by other models that are already there in the market. The original LED lights can combine with powerful lighting of your kitchen in order to make sure your cooking environment is clean and bright at all times. It is very beautifully designed from top to bottom, this ventless range hood looks great in homes of any style or size.
The Cosmo COS-QB48 Ductless Range Hood also has energy-saving LED light bulbs that are long-lasting, and they would provide brighter, high lumen lighting for better visibility. After all, the Cosmo range hood is fully equipped with 3-year limited customer support based proudly in the USA.
5. KOBE CHX3836SQBD-3 Brillia Ductless Range Hood
This one has a sleek design that will blend into your kitchen very beautifully, the Brillia Ductless Range Hood is considered as one of the perfect for any commercial space or kitchen. With continuous power of 400 CFM at maximum power, this best ductless range hood has heavy-duty features to provide improved and exceptional performance. It has a three-speed mechanical push button, with Quiet Mode feature on low and high settings will provide you with different options and that totally depends on what cooking needs you to have. With this range hood you can protect your eyes from those big hot spots on the cooktop. With this exhaust hood, you can easily relax knowing that each and every one of those bright LED lights will help keep a watchful eye over your cooking efforts.
It is made with a quiet fan and a powerful range of airflow, it’s also going to take care of any annoying smoke that might come up as well. Good thing is, it will not let those smells flee into the surrounding atmosphere because we all know how bothersome they can be once they get around – due to its charcoal filters your kitchen is safe from any dangerous gasses.
Kitchen Hoods FAQs
What is the most important feature for a ventilation hood system?
The most important feature of a ventilation hood system is its ability to effectively remove smoke, odors, grease, and airborne contaminants from your kitchen. This depends on the system’s airflow capacity (measured in CFM), proper ventilation (ducted or ductless), and noise levels. Additionally, features like filters, ease of maintenance, and lighting can enhance its functionality.
How to tell if your range hood is ducted or ductless?
To determine if your range hood is ducted or ductless:
- Ducted Hood: If the hood has a vent or pipe that leads outside, it’s ducted. You may notice an external exhaust outlet on your wall or roof.
- Ductless Hood: If there’s no external vent, the hood likely has charcoal filters for recirculating air back into the kitchen, making it ductless.
What is the difference between ducted and ductless range hood?
Ducted Range Hood: Ventilates air outdoors through ductwork. It’s highly efficient in removing smoke, heat, and cooking odors from the kitchen.
Ductless Range Hood: Uses charcoal or carbon filters to purify the air and then recirculates it back into the room. It doesn’t require external ductwork but is generally less effective than ducted hoods.
Which is better ducted or ductless range hood?
- Ducted Hoods are better for efficiency, especially in high-use kitchens, as they completely remove contaminants from the air.
- Ductless Hoods are more flexible in terms of installation but less effective in removing smoke and odors. They are ideal for spaces where ductwork isn’t feasible.
The choice depends on your kitchen setup, ventilation needs, and installation constraints.
