Everyone,
I’m installing a 36 inch professional range hood and would appreciate some suggestions on venting it. The hood is 600 cfm and starts with a 7 inch circular duct. It will be hung on an interior wall which is at a right angle to the exterior wall. There are wall cabinets on both sides of the hood. The duct will come up from the hood, turn 90 degrees left and head 36 inches through the exterior wall. The problem is there is no soffit in the kitchen to hide the duct and I can’t go through the ceiling because of plumbing from an upstairs bath (and I can’t run that duct through the rim joist). Downdraft is also out of the question. My plan is to transition the 7 inch round duct to a 2×10 duct, run it along the top of the kithchen cabinets to the exterior wall. I will try to block it from view with crown molding on the cabinets. Does anyone see any problems with this approach? I know the 2×10 will handle less cfm than the 7 inch round, but it is such a short run, I did not think that would be a problem. The only other option would be to run it through the cabinets, but that would take up about 1/4 of the cabinet space, so I view that as a last resort.
Thanks
Frank
Replies
I deal with these types of issues all the time. Can you find a 7" round to 2"x10" rect. transition? Where I live the two main sizes of duct for the exterior piece are 6" round and 3 1/4"x 10". Will the crown cover the duct if you use a 3 1'4" x10"? Does the crown go up to the ceiling? If it does you could remove the drywall immediately above the duct to pick up 1/2". I've had a couple of kitchens where the 3 1/4" duct just wasn't small enough but I've been able to smash up with the wall cabinets to get it to work. Its unfortunate but you've got to do what you've got to do. As long at the exterior damper still operates it'll be fine.
Another option is to run the duct through the inside of the cabinets. You lose some cabinet space, but if you keep it close to the top, it shouldn't be that bad. Makes installing the cabinets and ductwork a real chore, though.
To have paid the big bucks for a pro hood and reduce the 7" round, 35 sq." to a 2 x10, 20 sq." is a large downgrade. Talk to the hood manufacturer, but I think they'll ask you to come up to 3 1/4" x 10". The math is just right.
The smaller duct could lead to an increase in noise too.
Thanks Guys. I'll get a piece of 3.25 x 10 duct, lay it on the existing cabinets with the proposed crown and let them decide whether this view is acceptable. If not, I will discuss taking the duct through the cabinet, but, from a structural perspective, I'm really hesitant to take that large a piece out of both sides of a wall cabinet.
Thanks again.
Put a soffet above the cabinets in the area where you need to hide the duct. However, don't make the soffet the full 12" depth of the upper cabinets. Make it only as deep as you need for the duct. You'll find the soffet just blends in, and nobody notices. Depending on the room layout, you might want to extend the soffet to the left or right a little, so it looks symmetrical, or it lines up with other stuff in the kitchen.
I'm with Buxton - add soffit as needed. I had to do that in a bathroom (central exhaust) and we wraped the soffit all the way around and incorporated it (design wise) into the shower wall. Looks really good. Not that I'm biased in anyway, since it was my design...
Don't you just love it? If the cabs are a face frame cab sometimes the top has 1/2" to 1" of the side sticking up which you can cut flush before hitting the actual top of the cab. That might gain you some. Also if the cab tops are over 8' you may never see anything. You could try the soffit idea someone mentioned or just paint the duct flat black where it will show it might blend in and be hard to see. Good luck Jeff
I will still start by putting up a piece of duct and the crown and seeing if you can see it at all. The ceilings are 9 feet and the wall cabinets are 42 inches, so it may be barely visible. If not, I'll discuss the soffit options. The kitchen is sizeable and a soffit was not in the plans so the "half" soffit may be the best alternative.
Thanks for the advice.
FR
A soffit, no matter the size, will be more work for you, especially if you have to either fit it in to the space above the cabs or take the cabs down to do it right.
May I suggest, since you may be planning to attempt to hide the ductwork with crown, to extend the standard? cabinet crown with an add-on to make it a 2 piece built up? You can be minimal or you can make a statement. Either way, you get a hiding space for a larger duct with just a little more effort in trim.
Ralph,
I agree that would be the best approach and that's what I'm aiming for. It will be a few months before I actually get to that stage, but I always like to clear these issues well before I'm putting up the cabinets.
Thanks again.
FR