Frequently cooking in kitchens can bring about lots of smoke, lingering cooking odors, and toxins that may linger in the air even after the cooking is done. To help prevent this from happening, kitchens are equipped with Range hoods.
A range hood or vent hood is a type of kitchen appliance that uses an exhaust fan to filter out the unwanted air in your kitchen. This helps prevent your kitchen from getting dirty by residue grease, control humidity, and keep your cooking space from smelling like your previous dish.
Vent hoods are usually powered using a single motor, but some other types of hoods come with more. The motors have blowers that suck cooking fumes and debris out of the kitchen air through a vent system.
Range hoods come in different variations, but two of the most common types of range hoods are the vented and unvented range hoods.
Both types of range hoods perform the same job of purifying the air so as to make your kitchen free of cooking debris, but they perform the job differently.
Vented range hood
Vented range hoods (also known as ducted range hoods) are range hoods that work by filtering out the air outside of the house. Their fans are attached to a duct so as to move the air from the kitchen outside.
Ducted range hoods increase your kitchen's air quality by passing air through a duct that goes outside the home. The duct is usually protected with a wall cap so as to prevent outside particles like dirt and dust to build up inside the duct.
Due to the fact that ducted hoods have to be extended outside the kitchen, installing them is quite difficult and impossible to install in some cases. They are usually used in kitchens that have a large cooking area.
Unvented range hood
The main difference between Unvented range hoods (also known as ductless range hoods) and vented range hoods is that the air sucked out by an unvented hood will be returned back into the kitchen, but it would have been refined by then.
Unlike a vented hood, ductless hoods filter the air using charcoal filters and then recirculate the air back into the kitchen. That way, the air doesn't really leave the kitchen, but the ductless range hood still manages to do its job by purifying the polluted air.
For people whose kitchen layout will prevent them from installing a ducted range hood, opting for a ductless model is a suitable alternative. The installation of a ductless range hood is much easier when compared to that of a ducted hood.
Regularly cleaning the filter of a ductless range hood helps to keep it in an efficient state.
Factors to consider when purchasing a range hood
Here are some common factors to consider when shopping for kitchen vent hoods:
- Cubic feet per minute (CFM):
The cubic feet per minute is the measure of airflow that is used to describe how powerful the exhaust fan of a range hood is. It is one of the major factors that determine the ventilation capabilities of a vent hood.
For most household cooking, having a range hood with a capacity of at least 400 CFM is enough, but you can go for a standard range hood if you'll be doing lots of heavy cooking.
- Design
If you care about aesthetics and making your kitchen look the best, you should be intentional about the design of your range hood. A range hood with a sleek design can be the only thing that determines how good your kitchen will look. You can find high-end range hood designs that fit your aesthetic at World Coppersmith, a leading company in the business of selling high-quality range hoods at customer-friendly prices.
- Noise
Some people are not comfortable with the kind of noise a range hood makes. If this is the case for you too, you should consider going for a kitchen hood that makes less noise. Generally, vent hoods with more power tend to be noisier, so you might have to sacrifice having more power to reduce noise or go for top-quality range hoods that perform efficiently without making too much noise.
- Types of filters
If you'll be opting for a ductless range hood, you should consider checking out the kind of filter it will come with since that is one of the main components of ductless range hoods.
- Maintenance
Just as how you have to consider the cost of the hood you intend to buy, you also have to factor in the maintenance cost that will be required to make your range hood keep running efficiently.
Other range hood options
- Microwave range hoods
The microwave range hood incorporates the functionalities of microwave ovens and range hoods. Using a microwave range hood allows you to save up some cabinet space.
- Island hoods
An island range hood is designed to extend down a kitchen ceiling. It is equipped with a CFM exhaust blower that helps enhance its performance.
- Downdraft hoods
Unlike conventional range hoods that hang from ceilings or wall-mounted hoods, a downdraft hood is usually installed on a cooking surface. A downdraft range hood is ideal for a kitchen space that is not very large.
- Wall-mounted range hood
A wall-mounted hood, just like the name implies, is a type of range hood that is mounted on a wall. They are one of the most common types of hoods.
- Under cabinet range hood
Under cabinet, hoods are wall mount hoods that have cabinets hung over them. Due to their design, they help save more storage space in the kitchen.
Find your perfect range hood with CopperSmith
With an industry-leading selection of hoods and a commitment to thorough, brilliant design, World CopperSmith is the perfect place to discover the right range hood for your home.