Replies

1. 
   Carlos_ | Jul 01, 1999 01:13am | #7

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   One more comment which I forgot earlier. Assuming you have a separate cooktop and ovens, I really recommend a separate exhaust fan near the ovens if you ever intend to broil.

2. 
   Guest_ | Jul 10, 1999 10:45am | #8

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   Mongo, I'm about to decide/order kitchen appliances and have a couple questions: what's the CFM and duct size on that Vent-a-Hood over your island? How far did you extend it beyond the edges of your range/cooktop? What brand range/cooktop did you get? Anything you don't like about it?

   Thanks, David

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 10, 1999 07:59pm | #9

   *David, We've got a six-burner Viking cooktop which is 36" wide and 24" deep. The hood extends 3" beyond the sides, it is 42" wide and 27" deep. It's 30" tall and hangs from a soffit box to bring it to the appropriate height above the cooktop (we've got high ceilings.) Once again, ours is on an island. Burners are rated at 18K BTU. We're on LP so we suffer a slight BTU penalty.The hood we have is the stainless Flairline ISF. Dual blower (T200) which is 600CFM, requiring an 8" round or equivalent duct.For the CFM requirement, you can "discount" the BTU rating on the burners, as it's unlikely that th user will ever have all 6 burners simultaneously cranking out max BTU's. If you have a BBQ, griddle or wok, do not discount them since they are typically used at max settings. Centrifugal filtration requires less CFM than a mesh of baffle filtration setup. The mesh or baffle would require more airflow, thus a higher CFM rating. If you get into high CFM ratings, realize you may need some sort of "make up" air to prevent negative house pressurization (backflow down your chimney, for instance.)Vent-a-Hood does offer remote fans as well. However, they do use filtration vs centrifugal and thus require a higher CFM rating. I do recall a Vent-a-Hood rep once saying that the higher CFM of a remote is noisier at the cooktop than their in-hood "Magic Lung" centrifugal blowers. That was mentioned in their literature as well.We're very happy with the cooktop and the hood. The hood isn't silent, when it's on you know it's on, yet it doesn't stiffle conversation either. The noise isn't motor noise though, it's air flow. As far as odor/steam/grease removal, it's outstanding. As for the cooktop, the newer models (we got ours in '95) have burners that go quite low for simmering. Ours does have a "simmer" setting but it isn't quite low enough for some sauce applications, etc. We use a small metal plate (flame tamer is the name?) to reduce the heat transfer when required. Good luck, Mongo

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 11, 1999 11:43pm | #11

   *I see no mention of "make-up air" in the thread.In commercial settings, 80% of the exhausted flow must be compensated for by a return from the exterior. Respective codes set the minimum distances between exhaust and return.

3. 
   Guest_ | Jul 11, 1999 11:43pm | #10

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   Can anyone express words of wisdom regarding which is better: a range hood with built in fan or an inline fan in the attic somewhere. I will be installing a new range hood this summer in the kitchen and am leaning toward an inline fan.

   Does anyone know of any good sources for range hoods? Looking for a higher-end stainless steel beast.

   Thanks
   AM

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 28, 1999 06:52pm | #1

   *Whichever's quieter. Considering that the fan is likely to be sucking out airborne greases, I'd look for as short a run as possible and one that's accessible for eventual cleaning. You should see the exhaust outlet outside the Chinese carry-out I frequent -- Yuck!!

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 28, 1999 07:01pm | #2

   *Inline is quieter, but may not be as easy to repair/replace, depending on your access to the attic. I'd get the biggest, baddest fan (in terms of CFM) that you can afford. A really big one will not only exhaust nasty fish smells, but will actually cool off your kitchen. Bigger is better.Ditto on the short run. I would use galvinized steel for the run. No PVC or corrigated aluminum.As for range hoods, we did custom kitchen a while back, and found out that there are not many prefab range hoods out there, except at Sears, and some of the kitchen stores. I think Viking now makes one in their homeowner line of appliances. My thought? We had ours custom built for the homeowner at Restaurant Supply house. That way, we could get it wired, and lit just the way the homeowner wanted.If you are doing a high BTU stove, please, please follow code or your own common sense, and install two layers of 5/8" drywall around the stove and hood. Those stoves get really hot, and grease fires are not pretty, so double up! Its code out here in SoCal.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 29, 1999 12:27am | #3

   *Scooter is right, you should pretty much assume that there will be a fire. What's worse, the fire could ignite crud in the ducting, and the whole conflagration will be stoked by the draft of the fan. Ours goes directly through the wall behind the hood to an external Nutone unit.Nutone manufactures up to about a $500 hood, others do too I bet, then the sky is the limit. There is a company out West called Abko I think that does the hoods you see in a lot of architectural magazines -- they look great if you like the modern/industrial thing but cost thousands.Budget? Try http://www.rinutonedistr.com/finished.htm if Nutone is acceptable. A caution on the big Viking-type hood -- be cautious how you mount it; the way my relatives did theirs it is a terrible head-smacker (the edge is just above your field of vision). And everyone I talked to seems to feel downdraft venting bites.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 30, 1999 02:31am | #4

   *Most points have already been covered, I'll add on a bit. In-line is quieter, but they suck grease-laden air into the ductwork. Depending on the in-line's design, the grease may end up coating the impellers on the fan, and what makes it past the fan will end up on your exterior walls. Not good in case of a fire.If you're looking at high-end, which you mentioned, your best bet will be a unit with the fan in the hood. The better units have a "squirrel cage" type fan, which puts the exhaust in a circular flow, resulting in nearly all the grease being spun out of the exhaust. It hits the side of the fan box and drips down into a small, removeable catch basin.Often for these large units an 8" duct is required. Island vents require a larger CFM than a wall mounted unit, as the island draws passive air from 4 sides instead of the wall mounted which only draws air from 1-3 sides.I have a Vent-A-Hood model in my house, stainless, mounted over an island. They are pricey, but much less expensive then a grease fire. It's been in my house since '96, my wife is an avid cook, and no grease has made it to the exhaust on the outside of the house. The last time I cleaned the grease catch-basin, I reached up into the duct and it seemed to be clean.I'd also suggest going to the Taunton "Fine Cooking" forum and asking the same question over there.

2. 
   Carlos_ | Jun 30, 1999 03:56am | #5

   *I'll vote for the remote-blow option. I've lived with two inthe past ten years, one that came with a Thermador and one that came with a Dacor cooktop. The Thermador was roof mounted with about 15-20 feet of duct. Absolutely quiet. If you didn't see the little light you wouldn't know it was on. My Dacor is also remote blow, but its wall mouted just behind my cooktop, therefore I'm that much closer to the fan itself and thus it transmits more noise to the kitchen. I'd recomend a roof mount for that reason. Go with as much 9" duct work as you can use.

3. 
   Guest_ | Jun 30, 1999 11:36am | #6

   *All good comments. I last installed a Thermodor remote blower which mounts on an exterior wall. Gives you the wall penetration and the motor in one. Accessable from outside. Will suck the....well you get the idea. Inside all you hear is AIR! no motor noice. MUCH higer CFMs than ANY duct mounted system (perhaps except top of the line Thermodor, etc)Keep in mind that a 90 elbow adds the equivalent of 5 feet or so of run (might be more)Only way to go.Adam