The world of kitchens can be very diverse. From the smallest utensil up to the biggest equipment, all individual kitchen pieces have their own unique purpose. Since cooking is the main activity you do in the kitchen, you need to make sure that every cooking experience is pleasant, and that is where a range hood comes in.
With its most vital job of keeping the air quality of a kitchen in check, a range hood’s other functions also include removal of excess steam from the food you prepare and heat emanating from stovetops you use. It also keeps out any kind of odor, smoke, and moisture which can potentially cause ceiling and even walls to crack over time.
It may be more expensive than having an exhaust fan installed, but your building code might require it. Plus, cooking in a well-ventilated and cool kitchen is always a guarantee with this equipment. Let us then see some tips to help you pick the best range hood for your homely kitchen.
1. Size of the range hood
You have to know the size of your range because it must be proportional to the size of the hood that you will get and always add an additional 3 inches on both sides. So, for example, if you have a 24” wide stove, you should have at least 24”-30” width of the range hood.
It should cover the full width and should at least cover half of the front burners, so you have to make sure that the hood has a shallower depth than the depth of the stove to prevent any obstruction.
2. Know its fan power
We are talking about the size of the space, specifically your kitchen, because the space will determine how much power the exhaust hood fan needs in order to clear out the odors and other aerial impurities. You would then have to compute the volume of your kitchen space by multiplying the height of the kitchen’s ceiling by the width and the length of the room.
3. CFM (Cubic feet per meter)
This will dictate the amount of air that your range hood can remove per hour. 100-400 CFM is the average ventilation system that customers get, and usually, the customers who order such CFM hoods have little cooking activity that is happening in their houses. But if you are the home chef type, you might want to have a higher CFM hood for a professional-grade model.
4. Kitchen layout
Visualizing where your range hood will be placed is important, so you should know the layout of your kitchen. As you all know, range hoods can be wall-mounted, designed to be suspended from the ceiling, or integrated into your cabinet or an overhead awning.
The space that it will take up in your kitchen is the one that we are also talking about here. When mounting a range hood, it is recommended that it should have at least 26-36 inches’ space above the stove, but sometimes this will depend on the model’s manual.
5. The exhaust system
There are two kinds of range hoods; these are vented and non-vented systems. They’re also called ducted and duct-free systems. To understand this, with a vented/ducted system, the exhaust is designed to channel the air away or out of the house, and so they should be mounted to an exterior wall.
With the non-vented/duct-free system, all the steam, smoke, and odor around the kitchen is being filtered and returned back to the kitchen. It is actually rated to be less efficient than its counterpart, and it also needs to be well maintained as you have to clean and change its filter from time to time.
6. Range hood style and design
If you are more artistically inclined, you might consider the design of the range hood that speaks to your personal style and coordinates well with the overall look of your kitchen. You may want a modern and chic design or traditional and rustic look, and you may want it to look seamlessly incorporated along with the cupboards, or you may just want one which stands out. Either way, it is up to you.
7. Hood noises
This is the common denominator between range hoods and exhaust fans. However, this can be minimized by taking a test run of the range hoods while you are in the showroom of the store where you intend to buy it or having them recommend an ultra-quiet model.
In cases where you have not checked for the hood’s noise, and you already bought it, you can run it at lower speeds, or you can also increase the duct size.
8. Cost
It seems fair that the last tip would boil down to the cost of the range hood that you plan to get. Any specifications that you want in a hood would be an additional cost to its total price. The installation process alone is different from the equipment itself unless you know how to build duct systems on your own then that would not be an issue.
So for this, it is always wise that you compare the prices of the range hood models. Do not just focus on its façade but focus on the quality that it will give you. Since it is inevitable that you will make a mess in the kitchen whether or not you are a cooking aficionado, it is best that your kitchen is well-equipped with things that will lessen your cleaning workload.
Having range hoods in your home does not guarantee you have a 100% secure and safe kitchen, so just be mindful when cooking foods, whether on an induction stove or on an open fire like a gas range.
Of course, it’s important to have a high-quality range hood as well. We recommend visiting Annie and Oak, as they offer a variety of different models of range hoods that you might like to choose from. You can check them out here — https://www.annieandoak.com