That is a little low, but mostly too low if it is a wood hood with insert. If it is metal, it will probably be OK unless it is going to hit you in the head:) A wood hood should be at least 30" up from the range.

Hi Jhmarie - Thank you for the immediate response. It is a Stainless steel hood and it is only 24" deep.

Your counter/range is 24 inches deep and 36 high, the hood is 20 inches above. You are going to poke out an EYE, or cut open a lip on the "only 24 deep thing" over the range, and you will DO that every time you go to wipe adjacent areas.

The only reason you don't poke your eye out with a micro over the range is that it is 15 inches deep.

Remove the cabinet above, or get a slide out hood to mount below it, You need about thirty inches clearance above a range. Is it powerful? No. it's better than the microwave was.

Is the new hood venting or recirculating and what is inside the upper cabinet? I hope nothing. Otherwise........cabinet out with real venting and hood in its place.

Hi Jan, the range is 27" deep (Technogas Superiore), the hood is 24" deep, and 18" High. It is a venting hood. Inside the cabinet above is venting to the outside (for the microwave), as well as an outlet that the microwave was plugged into.

Hi

READ above again. Or go get some cardboard, mimic the size/ construction and tape it up there. Waiting............ Now......... stir a pot, pretend style .......what do YOU think? The cabinet needs to come out and be replaced with a hood that suits your "Not renovating" kitchen, or live with a hood in your face, or get a slide out range hood

Don't believe it? Go tape a box to extend over an upper cabinet anywhere in the kitchen to that 24 inch depth, over the 13" depth that are your uppers and stand 3 inches away. NOW what do you think? See below, The hood match is 23.5 deep and the SPLASH GUARD is 26 inches for every hood they make.....and the hood mounts above the splash guard. Which means you are at least 6 inches too low.

How would you even be able to stir a tall pot or even look into the pot with a hood at 20 inches above range top? Here is a photo of our hood that is 24 inches deep and 32 inches above range top. My DH is 6 ft and DS is around 5ft 9. The backguard shelf is 24 inches high Now picture your 24 inch deep hood at 20 inches above range top.

Vinmarks, a picture is worth a thousand words! And I also agree that taping a box the same size as the new hood will show the OP the uselessness of 20” above the range. Some of us are more visual than others and a mock-up would help.

The hood needs to be mounted at 66”-72” AFF. The cabinet above must go away. A chimney hood would be easier at that point as you don’t need a custom cabinet maker to try to make a smaller cabinet to attach an under cabinet hood to.

There is no way 20” will work remove the cabinet get a proper hood that uses the vent and hang it 30” above the range for sure.

The minimum clearance needed will be outlined in the Stoves installation manual. Codes do not specify a particular clearance they require you to follow the manufacturers specified clearance. As this is a minimum you can place the hood higher in the event that you might bang your head into it.

Our hood is 33" above and my husband still hits his head on the corner of it occasionally. I'm only 5'2" but there's no way I could function with a hood as low as you are suggesting.

20" will be all wrong. You need to choose a different hood because you cannot fit your 18"H hood in your configuration, or else you'll have to move or remove the cabinet. There are plenty of hoods for sale that are 8" or 9"H. Buy one of those.

The standard distance between the cooktop and the bottom of the hood is 30-36". Lower than that and it is cramped looking and cramped feeling, and you may have difficulty stirring tall pots. Higher than that and you are giving the smoke and grease too much opportunity to escape.

I disagree with The Kitchen Abode's post. Stoves' and hoods' manuals can be too conservative a guideline for this distance to the hood. They are afraid if they go to 30" distance, an anemic hood won't be powerful enough, so they use the lowest common denominator and say 26"-36".

The Technogas manual says minimum of 30" and max of 36". A hood mounted at 20" would be absolutely dangerous.

Check your range specs. My Bluestar says 30" min. to 36" I mounted mine at 36" and it works fine.

friedajune

"I disagree with The Kitchen Abode's post. Stoves' and hoods' manuals are too conservative a guideline for this distance to the hood. They are afraid if they go to 30" distance, an anemic hood won't be powerful enough, so they use the lowest common denominator and say 26"-36"."

Please review the building code, they specifically state that the installation manual for the cooking device shall be used. The manufacturers are responsible to test their stoves to determine the minimum required clearances. The reason for this is that each cooking device varies in it's BTU output. It is the clearances outlined in the manual for the stove that must be adhered to.

The hood installation guidelines are not applicable as it relates to clearances from combustibles nor are they code required, they are just general guidelines for best performance.

@The Kitchen Abode - can you please provide a link to that Code that says that, or a section reference to the Code so I can look it up? My city's Building Code is actually silent on the subject, but I had thought that the International Residential Code requires a minimum clearance of 30 inches between the top of a range and a hood. It only mentions using manufacturers' installation manuals in the context of OTR microwaves because OTR MWs are designed by the manufacturers to be mounted much lower than hoods. I may be out of date on my information as I have not looked that up in years. Or, is the building code that you are talking about a regional one?

I think someone who does KITCHENS for a living has trusted info...............: ) The city is silent on the subject for the reason Kitchen Abode stated. Basically? Too many variables in materials and manufacturers.. The hood is not a toilet..........: ) Use your head, don't BUMP it.

Thank you to all the pros and the non-pros for your comments, suggestions, input, and recommendations. I sincerely appreciate it and, I wish time would allow me to respond individually to each one of you.

Because of your expertise and wise information, hubby and I are nixing the under cabinet range hood and going for the wall mount.

Above our [old] range was a microwave, with venting that runs to the outside of the house, and an outlet inside a two door cabinet directly above where the microwave was. Since we have a two story home (so no running the vent up the attic), and do not have a contractor, we have to find an HVAC guy (?) to come in and give us a quote, as well as to how this can best be accomplished.

Guessing we will need to look at wall hoods that t-off where the current vent is to the outside, but ascetically will give the illusion of running up to the ceiling?

Thoughts?

Thank you again EVERYONE! :) :)

California has a minimum 24" of clearance IF the range hood is non-combustible, but that can be superseded by local codes: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/california-code-installing-microwave-above-stove-top-63108.html

The GE appliance manual I read said 13 - 16" from the top of the range to the bottom of the microwave as long as the top of the microwave is at least 66" from the floor: https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=21841 I think that our California inspectors will use the 24" clearance standard rather than the manufacturer's minimum.

Jora,

The VENTING on a wall mount hood, is to the outside wall as was the old "venting" (if a microwave could actually vent as that is a joke ) Not up to the roof. " Chimneys" on the hood are the decorative aspect, they are not sending the stink and grease to the roof line. For heavens sake, get a contractor that knows what he is doing, to manage the entire project. Be ARMED with all the specs for every appliance you are changing. This go it alone stuff, even on cosmetic tweaks can lead to serious disasters, out of code electrical and gas issues and a royal waste of time and money , not to mention safety issues. No malice intended whatsoever, but if you struggled with the height of the hood as you originally planned it, you are way out of your depth. Get the help. The pro help. Which only goes to show yet again that even "minor" changes benefit from a pro KD, who will have all the other people you will ever need, at his or her fingertips. In fact? Post a photo of this existing kitchen. Please?

friedajune,

Sorting through this can be a bit challenging due to code hierarchy. For example, you have the IRC then you will likely have a State Code and then possibly a City or Municipality Code. The IRC is the primary code, States, Cities and Municipalities are permitted to add supplemental regional requirements to the IRC.,the IRC is the minimum unless otherwise stated.

Many Cities or Municipalities will not duplicate the IRC, they will just prepare supplements to cover their specific needs. This means you need both codes to understand the entire code. Even within the IRC they will reference other codes versus replicating them within the IRC.

Concerning the subject at hand this can mean that to get the full story you may need to visit two or three codes. The other consideration is that there are two different types of residential cooking devices, electric and fuel(gas), the requirements vary accordingly. When it comes to fuel type cooking devices there are listed(tested) and non-listed and on top of this there are differing requirements for commercial versus residential. Requires some very careful reading to make sure you are in the applicable code section and correctly interpreting the applicable parameters.

Be very careful when reading. A good example is the link provided above by Frank Hagan. At the beginning they state a clearance of 24" from the bottom of the Microwave to the cook top, the pic to the right shows a microwave over a gas cooktop. If you read several paragraphs further on they then state that the clearance may be greater if the microwave is over a gas cooking surface.

FYI, many hoods are actually vented through the roof, but if you already have the facility to vent through the wall then you would want to do that.

Thank you all again!

Jan, I would love to have a KD, but unfortunately finances will not accommodate one. I can already hear you say "Well then save your money until you can instead of throwing your money out and regretting later" ;). But this was to be a 'countertop replacement only' project that kind of moved to 'let's get a new range and fridge while we're at it" kind of thing. Hubby is actually in the Construction business, and I know he'd be shaking his head if I knew that I'm going online to find this kind of info., instead of directly to him! :)

To Brickwood Builders, I greatly appreciate your expertise (as well as all others on this thread).

You guys, all, have helped more than you can imagine. We've already 'nixed' the under the cabinet hood and trying to decide on an appropriate wall unit that will both fit our needs aesthetically as well as meet our city code! :)

Friedajune,

Just checked through the IRC. Sections M1901.1 & M1901.2 provide the info you are looking for.

M1901.1 "Clearances" - they make reference to a minimum 30" clearance, they permit this to be reduced if the device is listed, labeled and installed according to the manufacturers instructions. They then reference M1505.1 "Installation Microwave Ovens" - listed, labelled and installed according to the manufacturers instructions.

M1901.2 "Cooking Appliances" - they state that these must be listed, labelled and installed according to the manufactures instructions.

As you can see there appears to be somewhat of a conflict as to when the 30" in M1901.1 applies. However, as M1901.2 "Cooking Appliances" states that these "must" be listed, labelled and install according to the manufactures instruction then this takes precedent over the 30" rule in M1901.1. The same goes for the Microwave Oven in M1505.1. The key here is whether or not the appliance is "Listed & Labelled". In other words, if the appliance is listed and labelled it is to be installed according to the manufactures instructions, if for some reason it is not listed and labelled then the minimum 30" rule applies.

It is most likely that the 30" rule is a leftover from a time when appliances were not listed and labelled as they are required to be today. In codes this is very common, they rarely completely eliminate something, usually just write additional subsections that either severely limits it's use or makes it obsolete.

Hi. Just want to say that I used to come here back when it was Gardenweb, and I'm not at all sure about the addition, since then, of "Pros" to the discussions. I'm hoping this post is an outlier...but many "Pros" I'm seeing are really beating up on the OPs. People come here already stressed out! Please, pros, don't increase their stress! Back in the day, this kind of thing only used to happen on the Appliances forum ;)

I have a Futuro Futuro hood mounted above my induction range top. The back of the hood is 24" above cook top. Hood comes up in center and at the front is 27" above cook top. The depth of hood is 20". This hood comes with grounded plug and vents out my back wall (the shorter the distance better exhaust). Highly recommend looking at wall hoods from this company. Very well made in Italy and better construction than ones from other companies for twice the price. Have had this hood for over ten years with no issues and still looks brand new. First pic taken 2007 during construction. Second Photo taken 2 years ago when new backsplash installed. Extremely easy install for do it yourselfer. https://futurofuturo.com/range-hood-category/wall-range-hoods/

Here is an example where the manufacturers instructions require a clearance to combustibles greater than the IRC M1901.1. In this case you must use the 36" minimum stated by the manufacturer, not the IRC 30" minimum.

As further evidence that the manufacturers instructions must be used IRC Chapter 1 Scope & Administration states under R102.4 "where enforcement of the code would violate the conditions of the listing of the equipment or appliance, the conditions of the listing and the manufacturer's instructions shall apply."

J: there are many hoods out there that can go under a cabinet that are a lot less than 18" tall.

Kobe hood