It’s not the end of the world if you don’t mind a much heavier and more frequent cleaning load for your condo and poorer indoor air quality and health.

It depends on where you live, but it might be required by code to have a range hood.

Just where do you think all that greas is going to land? I would never buy a house or condo that didn't have a vent over the stove. Even the ones on an island that are supposed to do the job.

If you order in all the time and don't cook - you won[t need one.

So nothing > poor substitute? Makes no sense.

My sister has a small condo and the range hood is fairly useless, plus it doesn't vent outside. We actually have no idea if the fan actually circulates anything. She doesn't do any frying, and just has to watch that things don't burn/smoke. Other than a little lingering cooking smells, it's completely workable. Her's isn't an open floor plan, however, so maybe that makes a difference. She does have a big window in the kitchen and can set up cross ventilation if she needs it. Just my two cents!

There's a blog that discusses one woman's rebellion: https://victoriaelizabethbarnes.com/options-for-no-range-hood-over-stove/

Her blog is the first link when googling "don't want to install a range hood," so I imagine it is a sentiment/question that is googled often enough. I don't have one for my new induction cooktop, because I never used a hood vent in my previous residences. I do have windows, though, and space to add a hood, on the outside wall, if really necessary in the future.

I don’t have one currently and have never really used any I’ve had in the past. I usually have my kitchen window open. I rarely fry food. Oh, and I have shelving instead of upper cabinets. No regrets!

If you are renovating, and it sounds like you are since you plan on removing uppers. You need a vent/fan if your local codes say you do. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, just like you are doing now with your MW fan. If you never run it, you are already effectively going without a range hood. Are you good with not using ventilation now? Then if you can do so code-wise, then do so. Or would you like to have better ventilation, even if just a little bit like with your MW fan? Consider replacing that with something quieter and possibly more efficient.

I have not rebelled in this regard per se since I do have ventilation (and to the best of my recollection always have had ventilation in all of my places of abode). But I don’t always use it. Does that count? Now, having said that, regardless of whether I use it or not, I wouldn’t want to be without it. Yes, in a perfect world, every kitchen would have a barely audible, dedicated, ducted-ventilation system (I suppose), but when that’s not possible, something is better than nothing. So for that reason, I encourage you to look into a recirculating system.

best to have it for your healt, but if you cannot please see here: https://www.thekitchn.com/10-survival-tips-for-when-you-dont-have-a-range-hood-rental-kitchen-problems-215897

I have lived in my home for 10 years, and have a range on a peninsula with no range hood or ventilation of any sort. I cook frequently. It does not bother me—at all. I have 92 inch ceilings above. They are painted in flat white ceiling paint: there is no discoloration. I notice no need for extra cleaning because of the lack of hood. I’m not bothered by lingering smells of my cooking, because my food smells good. I barely see why food smells are a thing people want to avoid. I’m putting a vented range hood in the kitchen I’m doing right now, just because hoods are such a “thing.” Based on my own personal experience, I don’t get why hoods & venting are considered such a must have item.

I lived 10+ years in apartments with no/little ventilation. End of the world? No. Gross? Yes. By my standards anyway. Thankfully I moved every few years but those cabinets and painted surfaces got gross quick if you didn’t scrub them regularly. If you don’t/rarely cook I don’t think it’s a big deal. If you do cook and are willing to do a wall/backsplash/cabinet wipe down after each meal you’ll probably be fine too. I never quite had the discipline.

I have a vented hood and still can't get that "fish" smell out of my house a couple of days after cooking it. Maybe due to the fact that I have a strong sense of smell, whereas my husband can't smell a darn thing!

A lot of people never turn on their range hoods. They do turn on their lights, though. Make sure you have lighting over the cooking surface!

(I always use my hood when I cook, and sometimes when I'm just slicing onions. :P)

Hi Barbara. I live in a 1950's mid century modern house with an induction cooktop on an island with a minimal exhaust fan on the ceiling just for steam. 160 cfm I think. Hasn't really been an issue as I open the windows when cooking something a little on the "heavy" side. I think it really depends on what you cook.

Hi, Barbara,

I don't have an induction cooktop, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and I'm a--pardon the expression--fan of ventilating cooktops/ranges. That said, here's how I would evaluate your options.

From a functional standpoint, a vent hood over a cooktop or range is installed to deal with products of combustion, moisture, and odors. You might also include trapping grease and oils as a function, too, but that depends on what you cook and how often. We are "heavy users" of olive oil in our home and I find it deposits mainly on the cooktop and adjacent counters and isn't trapped in the overhead vent hood.

An induction cooktop doesn't generate any products of combustion unless your preferred cooking method favors incineration temperatures. That narrows down the functional requirements to venting moisture and odors. You don't have a vent fan currently, and I'm guessing that you're not running a catering business from home, so the moisture generated may not be an issue for your regular daily use. The issue of odor depends on what you cook and what your olfactory senses find objectionable. If you fry fish or prepare steak au poivre on a regular basis, you and your guests will likely appreciate a vent hood. Your neighbors will not.

That's this amateur chef's take on it. Hope it helps.

Yes, I've lived without a range hood; No, I would never voluntarily do it again. If unable to vent outside I'd be looking at a pretty serious filtration system, something like this https://www.euromate.com/en/products/kitchen-air-filter/

Barbara--Do you have windows right in the kitchen that can open? Do you live in a climate where you can easily open them year aro9und to provide ventilation?

I am avidly following this conversation since I too am remodeling a condo kitchen and am planning to put in an induction range and do not have the possibility of any real ducted venting. I have the additio9nal challenge that the kitchen is completely interior with no windows and natural ight or ventilation.

Not for OP, but anyone else wondering, if you have a gas range....definitely should have it vented outside. BTUs and CFMs should all be considered too.

My parents don't have a rangehood and you can definitely tell! There's grease build-up on the ceiling above (8' ceilings) as well as on the cabinets above the range (both the bottoms and the doors/front frame), the wall behind it, and the wall on the side. They're "poster children" for the need for a rangehood! When we kids were home, it was our job to frequently scrub the cabinets and walls to remove the grease/gunk.

Food odors also linger for hours and sometime days.

We have a very old kitchen with no fan. Hopefully remodeling in the next year. I have lived with this for 20 years and it is not nice. Smells, grease, and generally unpleasant.

And the least bit of smoke starts the smoke detector going.

We lived with our kitchen with no hood for 34 years. It had a window and was open to an eating area that had a window, so we could open those (even in winter - our wood stove threw enough heat that you would consider shorts & a tshirt). We rarely do any serious frying, but we did have the occasional smoke alarm go off when something would drip inside the oven. The stove was in a peninsula, so I never noticed cabinets getting greasy from cooking. Just demo’d the kitchen to do an addition - you could see that the ceiling was a little yellowed, but after 34 years hard to know whether that was cooking, wood stove or just age. Honestly never even thought about it until we started this renovation. We did put a hood in the new kitchen (although the cost of the make up air system we were originally told we wouldn’t need almost had me putting in the ducting for sale purposes, but leaving out the hood).

Oh yea...the grease build-up! My previous home had a vent that was in the ceiling of the kitchen not directly over the stove -- there was a film of grease all over the soffits, film on items/furniture in other rooms of the house, etc. I had an OTR microwave with vent finally put in over the stove, and it was better but not great. I would do you what you can to figure it out. Don't know about you, but I like a CLEAN house, and wiping greasy film off the ceiling, walls, furniture is a drag. (plus, it attracts dust/dirt -- another layer of yuck)

I have a second home that has no ventilation with an electric stove. The wall with the stove has a few open shelves with chotchkies on it. We use this house only in the summer, so the stove does not get alot of use as we primarily grill. That said usually we make bacon 2x in the summer on the stove, the smells linger for days, even with all of the windows open. I usually have a big kitchen clean every other year (no judgements) where I take down the stuff on the shelves and do a heavy degreasing of them. They do get gross with grease even though we barely use the stove for the 3 months that we are in the house.

I have had recirculating OTR microwave in the past in a previous home, there seems to be more gunk and grease than in that home.

All if those cooking odors and grease deposits are there, even if you don’t think they are, or you’re noseblind to your own home’s smells.

"All if those cooking odors and grease deposits are there, even if you don’t think they are, or you’re noseblind to your own home’s smells."

You're not kidding! My hood fan hasn't been working properly since DH had to take it down then re-install it for some demolition and the cooking odor is terrible. I noticed it immediately, but DH kept poo-pooing my complaints. Then it finally hit him after about day 3...