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bonitapplebum

Range hood and blower style for smelly cooking

bonitapplebum
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

I cook a lot of smelly food (thai, indian,etc) and need to decide on a hood that will keep the aromas from becoming a permanent part of my kitchen. Our current set up is a 30 inch electric stove with a vented microwave hood of about 300 cfm. It is not nearly enough.

I am putting in a 36" or 42" duel fuel free standing range instead and need to install a 42" hood over this as per my architect. While shopping, I'm seeing numbers as high as 1200 cfm and I also learned that I could reduce the inside noise by installing an external blower in the cfm that I needed.

My first question: those who cook smelly cuisines like indian food, what sort of cfm should I be looking at? My main priority is getting the rid of the aromas. I can look into a makeup air system if that is what it takes.

My second question: I do not understand how external/internal blowers work with various ranges. Can I install an external blower to any wall mounted chimney style hood and move the noise machine to my roof? Or is there a particular feature that delineates the range hoods that allow for an external blower?

And third: any recommendations for range hoods for me? I'm not looking at top of the line as this is not my forever home and I will likely be moving away in 4-5 years, but it should be sufficient/efficient as I do cook A LOT.

Comments (15)

  • PRO
    Patricia Colwell Consulting
    7 years ago

    You will for sure need make up air for anything strong enough to tackle the job . I have a 36” 6 burner all gas stove with a 36” hood but it is 900 CFM works very well for me i cook alot of different ethnic foods no problem

    bonitapplebum thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • bonitapplebum
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Which range hood do you have?

  • _sophiewheeler
    7 years ago

    Go Ventahood. 900-1200 CFM. 10"-12" duct, with a remote blower. And, yes, you will also need to have your HVAC Pro engineer the MUA system that such a system will require. You're looking at dumping 10K+ alone just on the venting needed. Most people forget and leave that out of their appliance budgets.

  • suzyq53
    7 years ago

    I have a Thermador hood with an external blower. It is mounted on the roof. The further away from the hood, the less effective. Also, still makes noise inside and you can really hear it outside too. Also, had to remove the blower that came with the hood to use it. Its pretty large and not that great looking on the roof. My house is backwards and you mostly can't see it.

    bonitapplebum thanked suzyq53
  • bonitapplebum
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    suzyq53 do you remember which thermador hood you have? Our kitchen at the back of the home so we can hide away the unsightly box on the backslope of the roof.

  • bonitapplebum
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Sophie Wheeler Thanks. $10K for the hood, make up air, and the actual venting rough materials labor total, or $10K just for the contract work?

  • suzyq53
    7 years ago

    Mine is 48" Professional Series Low Profile Island Hood HPIN48HS with 1000 CFM Remote Blower VTR1030D. The hood is installed in front of a window, not on an island.

    bonitapplebum thanked suzyq53
  • bonitapplebum
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    suzyq53 Thanks, I like the look of that hood. I wonder if I can find it in a 42".


    This may be a stupid question, but can I use a high cfm island hood as a wall mount hood? Island hoods look like euro wall mounted hoods, which is what I'd like to find for my kitchen. Is it usually possible to just put an island hood up against a wall as well?

  • suzyq53
    7 years ago

    You wouldn't normally put an island hood up against the wall. I had to come out the ceiling because the range was under the window and the hood hangs down in front of a window. Works great.

    bonitapplebum thanked suzyq53
  • _sophiewheeler
    7 years ago

    Buy something decent or live to regret it as the smoking hot chilies asphyxiate you and burn your eyes until you can't even see the wok.

    bonitapplebum thanked _sophiewheeler
  • Jennifer Havin
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    love our ventahood, super quiet, we cook everynight, worth every penny

    bonitapplebum thanked Jennifer Havin
  • PRO
    Patricia Colwell Consulting
    7 years ago

    BTW mine is a vent-a-hood

    bonitapplebum thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • bonitapplebum
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Jennifer Havin which model of ventahood do you have? I usually am not reading "quiet" and ventahood in the same sentence in online reviews and am interested in learning more about whatever you use!

  • Anne Duke
    7 years ago

    When I was shopping, I was told the size of the space is relevant to the CFM requirement. You might want to ask.

    bonitapplebum thanked Anne Duke