Why do you need a range hood?
Cooking emanates unwanted and unhealthy heat, odours, gases, grease, steam and smoke. A kitchen range hood is a fan with an enclosure designed to capture and vent these unwanted pollutants. The range hood’s internal fan effectively captures the rising column of air directly over the cooking surface and then exhausts the contaminants outside the home.
Different range hoods perform this function in different ways and with varying levels of efficiency. Most kitchen range hoods are located directly over the cooking surface. Alternatives include downdraft kitchen exhaust units and range hoods with remote-mounted fans such as an inline, wall or roof-mounted fan.
Other Considerations
Styles differ in dimension and design, which has an impact on performance. Hood width should match the cooking range and the hood should be located at the manufacturer-recommended height above the cooking surface.
Range hood performance is comprised of airflow (measured in CFM - cubic feet per minute), sound, power and ducting. Adequate ducting is essential to properly exhaust the contaminants out of the house. To minimize sound associated with your range hood, purchase one with a low sone rating and ensure the ductwork serving the range hood is properly sized.
Although there are many contributing factors in the performance of today’s modern ventilation appliances, a noted rule of thumb is that for every 10,000 BTU of cooking power, 100 CFM of ventilation is required. Actual performance varies greatly among range hood models and manufacturers. So check with your Trail Appliances’ Sales Consultant to find out which type of range hood is right for your appliance and your home.