Use a downdraft and vent it through the cabinet to the outside of the house. Some will say it's not sufficient, but it worked fine for me.

Your mileage may vary. Good luck!

P.S. I think your kitchen looks lovely and has a nice work triangle. I understand *most* people want a range hood and thus a range on a peninsula is a no go. I don't fry foods a lot, and I use lids when cooking. I don't find it a burden :)

That would be a code issue in CA and called out during a home inspection. Unless it has a built in downdraft exhaust you need a hood, which in this case will not be easy.

Theoretically you could completely reconfigure the stove area and install a down draft. They are not particularly effective but they operate as somewhat of a hood.

Whether you "need" a hood desperately depends on what you cook.

I lived for years with a combination microwave/hood above the stove and I really don't think it was effective in actually venting. I didn't cook with prodigious amounts of fat or deep fry alot or even cook bacon so my venting needs were pretty minimal. Yes I know not the optimal but I survived for many years with what I think was the equivalent of no real hood.

Now I have an actual hood that is connects to some kind of place that theoretically vents whatever I am cooking.

Ironically many wall ovens used to be made with vents. My friend wants to change her wall oven and was heart broken when she found out that ovens no longer have the abiity to be vented because her husband generally manages to create a smokey burned mess when he uses the oven. Far worst than any fumes from what is cooked on the cooktop :-).

The majority of homes seem to have the same kind of setup (ineffectual mirowave/venting appliance) so I would imagine that most of America is cooking without the venting systems deemed essential on this forum.

I don't know a lot about the code in California. But in some areas, a range hood is not required at all (for instance, one locale I lived in, as long as you have a kitchen window you're o.k.)

Is yours an electric range (it looks it). If so, perhaps something like this will work. Of course, I don't know your specific situation, so please consult a professional.

Downdraft

Helen- Your comment is hilarious! I agree, except for the part about a big retrofit. If there is space on the counter I don't see why it would be a big retrofit, and surely not as much as hanging a big hood from the ceiling.

There are mixed reviews on everything. I had an Amana downdraft with the grill and the burners (it was a lot like a Jenn-aire that a relative had but thousands cheaper). It worked great (including the downdraft). I think a big part of how well any vent works is the distance to the outdoors. I routed mine through the wall into the pantry, and outside... so a relatively short run.

@User I agree. We have a six burner Wolf gas rangetop with downdraft in our island. Husband likes to cook and refuses to do so with a vent hood in his face. We NEVER turn on the downdraft. We use lids. Some say we should be dead after 15 years of breathing gas fumes. We are still alive...no health issues at all. My house is not full of greasy effluent either. There are way more toxic things in houses today.

@User 😂😂I avoided the ultimate blasphemy by not mentioning having grown up when no one had a hood and we all avoided asphyxiation and gross containation of our homes with particulates 😂😂 That would cause me to be denounced as a Luddite who doesnt recognize the benefis of technological progress 🤫 And of course someone will point out that homes are now more airtight

Perhaps i am more sanguine about internal pollution because of what comes into my windows from living on a busy city street 😂😂🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I do imagine there are more and less effective down draft sysytems and my comment on reconfiguration is wondering how you would retrofit with existing stove, counter and where would it actually vent to. Based on my Experience, I am not sure I would go through significant effort and expense for a result that was equivalent to what I had with my old microwave vent system

Before the pollution got me, I'd be dead from the constant cleaning required to get all the grease and ick off the cabinets, floors, and every piece of furniture and decor on the first floor with the way my DH cooks... So I'm hood fan all the way.

Helen your comments are the best. Luddite indeed!

I don't think age has a heck of a lot to do with an undertanding of new trends or technological progress. Much like you, I find that most range hoods are not terribly effective, and they are not universally required.

mxk3 z5b_MI... on the bright side, I guess, he cooks!

Yes, but oftentimes I wish he didn't {eyeroll}...

I think cooking style has something to do with it. If a person is cooking up lots of greasy Chinese dishes without lids, maybe ventilation would be nice. We always use lids and do our grilling outside. The off gassing from all the toxic materials in our homes will likely get us before a little bit of gas fumes. I think range hoods are a design feature and we have been brainwashed into thinking they are necessary. My favorite article on whether or not a range hood is necessary...

Is Range Hood Necessary?

How do you cook? If it's not gas, you don't need one per code (probably... check your location). I wouldn't buy a house without one, personally. I cook a wide variety, in a lot of cookware, and my cooking generates a lot of grease. Even with a hood, I still ended up with grease on my cabinets. I can't imagine how filthy my cabinets and ceiling would be without one. But that's how I cook.
You can mount a range hood 6 feet above the ground, so unless you are a very tall woman or an above average height man, the hood won't be "in your face." Really you'd need to be 6'6" for it to actually be in your face.
And putting lids on pots changes the cooking method from frying or sautéing to steaming. That's fine if that's what you want and it works for you, but I would rather have a hood than change my cooking.
Of course, it's up to you and your cooking style. You may want to just live with it for awhile and see if it works for you or if it drives you crazy.

“And of course someone will point out that homes are now more airtight”

Not only that, but cooktops are so much more powerful today. People are waxing nostalgic, like, ”in them thar good ol days we didn’t need no exhaust hoods”. Except they forget about the drafty non-insulated homes, and the anemic fire power of ranges then. I remember in our kitchen growing up that we had to crack the window even in the dead of winter because cooking dinner made it terribly smoky. Our gas burners were probably 800 btus max, or not even that.

To the OP - you could install a downdraft since you don’t have a lot of options. A downdraft is problematic because it functions against the laws of physics—smoke and grease rise. A downdraft attempts to pull them down, usually with minimal cfms. Alternatively, depending on your home’s construction, it may or may not be difficult to install an overhead hood, and duct it out. You should contact an HVAC contractor to discuss it. Keep in mind that even with a downdraft the smoke and grease still have to go sonewhere, and that will have to be cleaned.

I am wondering why smoke would be generated while cooking unless you burn something or are grilling indoors. Lids can be very helpful. Perhaps the OP has a cooking style where lids can be effective. I just examined my ceiling closely above my six burner Wolf range top. Not seeing any grease there. I do have ten foot ceilings. Maybe I have a strange cooking style.

Not waxing nostalgic (although I am wondering how so much smoke was produced while cooking dinner!! :). I am just speaking to the poster's dilemma. They appear to have an electric range. There are downdraft exhaust fans available. Some of us, depending on our style of cooking, have had excellent experiences with them.

Style of cooking (heavy on the grease, grilling inside rather than out) etc., will have a big impact on the amount of exhaust one might need.

Here is a very nice article from Yale Appliances Yale Appliance - Hoods & Downdrafts that discusses the pros and cons of each, including info on island hoods, and downdrafts, and how cooking stye might impact what you need, etc.

Good luck :)

“I am wondering how so much smoke was produced while cooking dinner!! :)”

I grew up in the ’70s when frying hamburgers in a cast iron pan was a staple of dinner. As was frying bacon for breakfast. And pork chops, and other various fried things. We didn't think about cholesterol and trans fat back then. I can definitely wax nostalgic about that.

The first house my parents bought had an exhaust fan on the wall, probably about 8" x8" with a pull chain to turn on/off. It was about 4 ft from the stove and placed on the outside wall, between the counter and the upper cabinet. No need to open the windows!

Our 70's home had coppertone appliances, including the recirculation hood vent. Nothing like bad air filters and, yes, fried hamburgers.

I also remember being embarrassed that my parent's wouldn't get carpeting. All my friends had "wall to wall" carpeting and we had hardwoods and oriental rugs.......

IMO one thing that makes a difference with regard to ventilation is how big and open an area is and how tall the ceilings are. A small closed off kitchen or a tiny house is going to be more of a problem.

Where was the original cooktop/range located, before the remodel? I have a feeling it was along the exterior wall. Sometimes people just drywall over the old venting duct. Could be in the ceiling though. Can you tell by looking outside if there is still anything on the exterior wall, or on the roof?

When remodeling our kitchen, we took down a wall the stove butted up against to create an open concept. We checked our local code and as long as we had some venting ( window/door and we have both) a hood or downdraft was not required so we opted to forego it. An old pic but you get the idea.

Thanks for all the input guys, I spoke to my realtor because of this thread, and he thought the house had a downdraft (which it does not). After speaking about how important it was to me that the house had proper circulation, he told me he's going to help me out and hire some contractors to install a range hood for me.

You are going to have your REALTOR arrange for contractors? No. That is your responsibility. They often know people in the trade, and sometimes they're good and sometimes they're not, plus you don't know if you're getting over-charged. Do you own homework on this and choose your own contractors. Was lack of proper venting noted in the inspection report? If it was, did you try to negotiate purchase price to account for your out of pocket cost? Was downdraft listed on the RE listing? If so, there may be something that can be done on there too (mis-representation).

Also airflow patterns and where your smoke detector is. If I don't use the vent while wearing meat; I will be reminded.

I have an electric stove. I put lids on my pans. Plenty of steam rises and heads up the hood.

PS You can’t do a lid if you’re frying.

With a high efficiency, tight, home neither smoke nor steam is leaving the house without a hood. My air exchanger can’t handle it all.

We remodeled our previous home to replace the microwave/hood combo with a true, vented hood. We noticed the change in the amount of cooking odor and greasy film on the cabinets. Now we’re in a condo, with no option but a recirculating hood. So we grin and bear it, and clean the cabinets often. But I would love a fully vented hood.

I have had an island cooktop with a downdraft for twenty years. As long as you do sauteeing, etc on back burners it works fine. I’ve only had the normal height ceiling painted once. And love cooking with a view!

You can look at the Cattura downdraft.

On a related note, if your range isn't induction I'd replace it with a 30" Bosch 800 or Frigidaire slide-in. This difference in performance and cleanup is night and day.

Have you found out if the home you are buying is non code compliant with this range without any hood? You asked if you ‘need one’. Obviously you will get responses both ways from all cooks out there but the fact remains that you may have purchased something that doesn’t meet code and your future buyer may catch this if you don’t correct it.

We have something similar in our house and we put in a down draft hood. It vents ouside from under the range area.