Common Sense Range Vent Hood Evaluation Tools

A. Requirements

1. Ventilation objectives. Range hoods perform many functions. Sometimes hood vents are used merely to circulate air in the kitchen. Usually, they are needed to remove cooking odors, vapors, particulates, and moisture from the air over the cooktop surface. It's important to consider the type of cooking you'll be doing. For example, if you cook exotic dishes that are very aromatic, you may need a more powerful vent hood. Suppose you are considering a re-circulating hood because you don't have the ability to duct outside. You need to be aware that recirculating hoods will capture some particulates, but will do little to remove vapors or moisture from the room.
2. Ductwork. If you are installing new ducting you'll want to make sure that you take the most direct, shortest path – the fewer turns, the better. Use the largest duct size that is practical for quieter more efficent operation.
3. Makeup air. The 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) requires when installing new vent hoods exceeding 400 cfm, makeup air must be provide in an amount roughly equivalent to the exhaust CFM.
4. Location. The location of the range will influence the type and size of the range hood. Is the range on on an island or peninsula? Where are the windows located? What is the ceiling height? Are there ceiling fans? How much space is available between adjacent cabinets?

B. Sizing the hood

Best hoods offer these recommendations for hood sizing.

1. Under 60,000 BTU. If the maximum burner output on the cooking surface is under 60,000 btu, calculate a range hood capacity of 10 cfm per inch of cooking surface. For example, for a standard 30″ range, a range hood of 300 cfm would be adequate.
2. Over 60,000 BTU. If the maximum cooking surface output is over 60,000 btu, calculate 100 cfm for every 1,000 btu. A 60,000btu cooking surface would take a 600 cfm hood.
3. Grill or Griddle. If there is a grill or griddle add add 200 cfm to the estimate.
4. Island Installation. For an island installation greater capacity is needed. Calculate 150 cfm per foot of cooking surface width. Add another 100 cfm for high performance cooktops.

C. Ducted vs Ductless. Most hood manufacturers recommend ducted over ductless hoods. However, there are conditions under which a ductless hood might be a better choice. For example, with the IRC requirement of makeup air for hoods exceeding 400 cfm, the additional cost for this provision may be prohibitive. Makeup air is unneccessary when using ductless ventilation. Also, the need for duct runs may make certain ducted installations impractical.

D. Microwave Hoods are often popular in mid-priced new homes. They are available from most major appliance manufacturers such as GE, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Electrolux, Sharp, Maytag, Bosch, and Viking. Customers like the convenience of the built-in microwave above the range. On the other hand, the ventilation capabilities of the hood are often sub-par. The ergonomics of a microwave over the range are not good, and they are thought to be unattractive by design professionals.

E. Height over cooking surfaces. Hoods should be located at least 24″ over the cooking surface. Refer to the manufacture recommendations. It's not a good idea to have them much more than 33″ over the cooktop because the hood begins to lose its effectiveness when it it too far away from the cooktop.

F. Hood designs. There are a host of different hood styles and designs from most major appliance brands as well as a variety of different specialty hood manufacturers such as AirKing, Best, Elica, Faber, and Zephyr. Visit a professional appliance retailer to view the many choices and learn more about this important topic. Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center carries all the major hood brands, and a good selection of the speciality hoods as well. Call or visit them at the locations below for expert advice.

NOW, two locations to serve you – Calabasas and Studio City:

Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center

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Scirocco range hood by Faber is again a “Best Buy” winner in the range hood category.

The Scirocco won the Mid-range selection best buy in range hoods for the second time in a row. The magazine defines the Mid-range category as:

“A product that offers many popular features and good performance at a price below the top of the line for the product category.”

Faber hoods always have good value across the entire product line. To have a magazine like Consumers Digest reinforce this concept is very encouraging and exciting.

The Scirocco offers an 8″ automatic rise plenum that comes up and down with the touch of a button and reveals the stainless mesh dishwasher safe grease filters.

The Scirocco offers innovative safety features including the following:

1. Microswitches behind the grease filters that prevent the hood from moving when filters are removed
2. A spring loaded / removable Stainless steel top strip that “pops off” when an object gets in the way of the hood

Faber always pays attention to the smallest details such as: to prevent the hood from moving while being cleaned, the button to engage the hood must be held down for a “long push” to prevent inadvertent operation.

With an included 500 cfm blower in the internal 30″ and 36″ hood, multiple venting options, a brand-less top strip for mixing & matching with all cook top brands and an optional 900 cfm remote blower with the safety features only seen in competitors with higher price tags; the Scirocco delivers the true performance and value consumers seek today. For more information visit our website.

Also check out the newest addition to the Faber collection of fine Italian hoods below: the Scirocco Plus – 14″ rise down draft hood with reversible motor box.

Rising a full 14” above the cooktop, the Scirocco Plus vents horizontally across the cooking surface and down through the exhaust vent. At the press of a button, the stainless steel Scirocco Plus retracts back down into the counter.

• 14” tall downdraft vent system pops up and down with push of button
• flush with cooktop in down position
• safety microswitches
• multiple venting options
• stainless steel trim with no logo
• reversible motor box
• sone range: 3.5 – 6.5

To review the full range of available downdraft venting options consult the experts at Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center:

NOW, two locations to serve you – Calabasas and Studio City:

Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center

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The Viking Brigade appliance series is inspired by Viking's commercial appliance line, but built for your home. Sharing features that restaurants and professional chefs demand, Viking Brigade ranges will be available in a choice of looks including a solid stainless steel option (below) with heavy duty metal knobs. While the solid oven door lacks the ability to check the turkey without opening the oven, it definitely gives the range a true restaurant look.

Just take a look at these optional restaurant grade stainless steel grates (heavy duty cast-iron grates are standard). The commercial quality burner caps are made from brass for durability and burners themselves are Viking VariSimmer™ burners modeled after professional restaurant burners with high power settings of 23,000 btus on each of the three front burners, the industry's most powerful to date. Each burner is equipped with Viking's SureSpark™ electronic ignition system.

Stainless Steel Grates

Brass Burner Caps

Available in both a 36″ and 48″ width, each Brigade range has six burners, three of which have powerful 23,000 btu capability. The 48″ range pictured at the top also comes equipped with a 12″ stainless steel griddle with removable drip tray.

Soon after the debut of the Brigade range line, Viking will follow with companion vent hoods. With all that power in the ranges you're going to need more powerful ventilation to go with it. Look for additional Viking Brigade branded products to complete the kitchen suite.

For ALL your appliance needs contact the experts at Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center.

Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center

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Today's cooktops offer more powerful gas burners and electric elements than ever before. As a result of all that power, it's important to have good ventilation.

Few appliance manufacturers know more about ventilation than Jenn-Air. The founder of Jenn-Air, Louis Jenn, was a ventilation expert long before he entered the appliance business. Jenn-Air introduced the first self-ventilated cooktop in 1961, and recently has introduced an exclusive breakthrough duct-free downdraft.

Locating and installing ductwork for a ventilation system is often problematic. Not any more. Jenn-Air offers an accessory duct-free downdraft kit for its line of JX3™ electric and gas downdraft cooktops. There is no need to run ductwork outside so you can place your cooktop anywhere. You can easily install this cooktop and vent unit in an island over a concrete slab or in a high-rise apartment where there is no place to duct out.

The exclusive *Jenn-Air JX3™ duct-free downdraft accessory kit attaches to the blower on the cooktop's downdraft unit, and has a unique **high airflow particulate air filter (HAPA) that captures smoke, steam, and grease thus eliminating the need for outside venting.

JX3 Duct-Free Kit

The Jenn-Air JX3™ collection of cooktops consists of 6 different models. There is a 30″ center vent four burner gas model, as well as a 36″ five burner model with a 17,000 btu power burner, the most powerful burner in a downdraft cooktop. There are four electric downdraft models. There are two 30″ center vent four electric element downdraft models. They're identical except one has knobs and the other has electronic touch controls. Similarly, there are two 36″ electric cooktops, one with knobs and the other with electronic touch controls.

JED3536 Jenn-Air Electric Cooktop

JGD3536 Jenn-Air Gas Downdraft Cooktop

Other features that you might expect from a luxury brand such as Jenn-Air include continuous heavy-duty cast iron grates on the gas cooktops, and premium high-impact Schott Ceran® ceramic glass on the electric cooktops.

So whether you are:

• installing a new downdraft cooktop and ducting it to the outside
• replacing a downdraft cooktop and connecting to an existing outside vent
• or needing a high performance cooktop, but don't have the ability to connect to outside venting

the Jenn-Air JX3™ downdraft collection is a great choice. For more help getting just the right product for your cooking needs contact the experts at Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center.

Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center

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*The Duct-Free Kit is designed to filter the air from the downdraft system and ventilate the conditioned air out into the room through the toe-kick area of the base cabinet. When you order a downdraft cooktop, please note the Jenn-Air® Duct-Free Kit is approved for use with JED3430, JED3536, JED4430, JED4536, JGD3430, and JGD3536 models.

**The Jenn-Air® Duct-Free Kit includes 1 duct-free filter. The filter comes with a pre-installed 6-month Timestrip® sensor, which will be visible after the filter is installed in the filter housing. The replacement filter number is W10177003.

The considerations on choosing your hood or vent include ducting method, vent type, location, vent volume (cfm), sound level, style, and as always budget.

• Hood ducting methods may be to the outside or it may be re-circulating.
• Hood vent types include undercabinet mount, wall mount, island hood, liner inserts, and downdraft
• Vent location will vary from blowers located inside the hood enclosure or located remotely.
• Vent hood volume is determined by the volume of air at a certain speed = cfm = cubic feet per minute.
• Sound levels for hoods are measured in sones.
• Hood styles vary greatly. An attractive hood vent can be a focal point of the kitchen
• Hood prices can vary from a production budget model to a luxury European built custom hood costing thousands of dollars.

As you can see, there is much more to making a good vent hood selection than meets the eye. Avoid making the mistake of choosing a vent hood that won't do the job you need. To review the selection of hoods at Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center click on the links below for the vent hood type of your choice:

Undercabinet Hoods

Wall Mount Hoods

Island Hoods

Liner Insert Hoods

Downdraft Hoods

Consult the experts at Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center to make the right ventilation choice. Call or visit today:

Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center
12025 Ventura Blvd. Ste B-105
Studio City, CA 91604
PH 877 696-2987
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Your hood is either vented outside or is set up as a recirculating type hood. Most likely you will have an aluminum mesh filter or a charcoal filter. Some commercial type hoods use a stainless steel baffle.

Charcoal filters need to be replaced when they get dirty. Never wash them. Check your manufacturer’s directions, but heavy use might be about 6 months. For light use the filter could last a year or more. Aluminum mesh filters are easily washed out as needed, and in fact are dishwasher safe. The stainless steel baffle filters can be washed in a sink full of hot soapy water.

Clean the outside of your filter often with a soft cloth using hot water, dishwashing detergent, and ammonia to cut the grease. When you remove the filters for cleaning, also clean out inside the hood cavity including the fan blades if accessible. It gets dusty up there and surprisingly some grease seems to be able to get past those filters.