Range Hood - do I need an external blower?

17 years ago

I have a couple novice questions. I have searched the strings on hoods but can't quite discern what I'm looking for.

1) A hood with centrifugal blower...does that really give the affect of increasing CFM performance? One string from 2002 said it increases performance by 50%. If that's true, then I could get a 270 CFM with a 400 CFM performance which would be enough for me.

2) If i want to vent outside, do I need to purchase an external blower?

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Comments (5)

clinresga
17 years ago
1) Opinions vary about the Vent a Hood "squirrel cage" blower system. I have a 600 cfm VAH hood and a 1200 cfm Fantech blower. There is NO way that the VAH approaches the Fantech in performance. I think the "50% increase" is marketing hype, no more. But, that's just my opinion.

2) No, any internal (i.e. blower mounted inside the hood) blower will work just as well. The main advantage is that the external blower is mounted typically in the attic or on the roof, thus removing a major source of noise. But, either can ventilate well, depending on specs, ducting, etc.
L H
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you!
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mikebeth
17 years ago
IMHO a squirrel cage blower works fine for powerful and (relatively) quiet ventilation. Our Viking Pro uses a 600cfm internal blower with a squirrel cage and it kicks butt. You are always going to have noise from air movement, no matter where the blower is located.

I think the best way to increase performance for a given blower size is to use baffles rather than mesh filters. They are much less restrictive to air flow and do not clog (and decrease airflow). That is one of the primary reasons we chose a Viking Pro hood for our remodel.

Mike & Beth
davidro1
17 years ago
gemini16,

As mentioned above, a "squirrel cage blower works fine for powerful and (relatively) quiet ventilation... a 600cfm internal blower with a squirrel cage and it kicks butt. You are always going to have noise from air movement, no matter where the blower is located... "

Just to go back to basics :
-- all hoods at a cost higher than the low-end of the market have centrifugal (squirrel cage) blowers. They do a better job than blade fans and are quieter too.
-- all air moving makes some noise. Breathe in and out slowly making as little noise as possible and you can still hear "something".

In the range of 250 to 400 CFM you may not find baffle filters are quieter than mesh. There are also Other advantages to mesh filters in this range of CFM. At high end of the CFM range, baffles are clearly best.

"If i want to vent outside, do I need to purchase an external blower?"
- NO, all blowers can send air outside.
Some blowers are in-line, halfway between your hood and the outdoors.
Most blowers are in the hood.
Some blowers can be outdoors ("external") but this is not required in any way.

HTH
-David
housepoor1
16 years ago
I have a Best By Broan P1952M70CMSS vent hood. I am looking to reduce the sound produced by the unit by either installing an external blower system or replacing the unit by a system that will be much quieter?

Is there an external blower system that goes with the P1952 series? Will that be quieter? Are there other systems (with or without external blowers) that will be much quieter? Current system is 800 CFM and 10 sones. I do not want to compromise too much on the exhaust performance.

HP1.