venting a cook top?

12 years ago

Is it possible to install fan/hood with duct small enough to run along side a standard floor joist? We have a split level home and want to add a gas cook top. Problem is the place that is best for hooking up the gas in on a inside wall near the center of the house. I would rather not cut a whole in the closet above on the upper level or the new roof. The only other option would be exposed duct work or having then cover with framing/drywall the whole run through the kitchen & bathroom until it gets out side. Neither is something that we would like to do and extra finish work would blow the costs up I imagine. So is there a small pvc type of pipe/duct that could be used like in a fire place or high pressure AC system?

Featured Answer

Rachel H

12 years ago

I was limited to a downdraft Jennair unless I spent a big chunk of change more for something different. Most appliance stores will say 'I'm sorry' when you tell them this is what you need, but it is an option. I'm not much of a cook so it works just fine for me. Everything is running down through the floor below it. I wasn't home for the final install, but according to my painter that was working at the time, my installer shouted a few choice words trying to get this sucker in. Maybe you'd be lucky enough to find someone who has installed one before. Be warned though that this stove doesn't just slide into place like normal ranges. We had to build up the counter around it to accommodate it, cut the legs off, as well as add an extra piece of granite behind it because it doesn't slide up against the back wall. Again, maybe this would have gone smoother if I worked with someone that has dealt with one of these beasts before.

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Comments (12)

PRO
Brickwood Builders, Inc.
12 years ago
There are hoods that utilize a 6" duct. You would just need to look at the specs. You would also need to make sure your joists run in the proper direction to an exterior wall.
User
12 years ago
Many range hoods have a 3.25" x 10" rectangular knock out for such installations, but even an 8" round duct should fit between most floor joists over 12' long.
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User
12 years ago
The vent has to exit the house at least 3' away from any window or door openings and not above a walking surface. Check local codes.
PRO
Lunada Consulting & Design, Inc.
12 years ago
Another option would be a downdraft ventilation system.
lefty47
12 years ago
HI -- The local codes dictate what you are allowed to do . A good plumber or professional should know what will work the best for you. Propose your question to your city building department .
Curt D'Onofrio
12 years ago
I like Fred S statement above: "The vent has to exit the house at least 3' away from any window or door openings and not above a walking surface. Check local codes."
User
12 years ago
Other than where to vent the hood to, the local codes and city building department will just refer you back to the installation instructions of the hood. The size of the vent depends on the cfm of the hood and the length of the pipe, not the building department. They won't do the engineering calculations for you.
M JD thanked User
pattikee
12 years ago
If you have airspace andover the cooktop you can use a ventless hood. Our was made be Faber. No ductwork necessary Works like a charm.
pattikee
12 years ago
Where's spell check when you need it? Airspace *above the hood.
M JD
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for all of the comments and ideas! We are leaning towards a gas cook top in the 'new' cooking & cabinet area. It seems out local building codes are relaxed about the venting. (Though we will go outside if possible given it is gas) We are planning to do electric double wall ovens in place of the current electric oven. (This way we won't have replace or worry about matching the fairly new granite counters installed just prior to us buying the home.)
mathomson5
11 years ago
In 2005, we were allowed to renovate a 1989 home with a vent to the outdoors above a double wide window above our sink. This wall was the only outdoor wall in our kitchen and the closest reach to the outdoors. In our original kitchen, we had a five burner electric cooktop with a downdraft to the outside -- it was not effective. When we renovated, and added gas cooking to our gas heating, we installed a gas Wolf double oven and cooktop (six burners plus griddle), a 48" double oven range. The 56" hood (Cheng, CA) was vented through our 8 foot ceiling joists, underneath a secondary bedroom (child's).

My greatest safety concern has not been this vent, or the gas pipe that has been installed in the outside corner of this child's closet, but ensuring that the vent is on when the gas stove is being used -- and that the door to the basement and the gas furnace -- is closed when the vent is on.

These safety recommendations were made by a combustion engineer -- not just Wolfe!

To ensure that our cook could hear the game while checking on the chili, while the fan is on, while the vent hood is in operation, we installed two ceiling speakers on either side of his head, when he stands at the stove. A speaker volume control is on the countertop behind him, near the 13" flat screen he could look at for close ups of instant replays. Both of these reside behind a 12 inch deep cabinet that rests on a 24" countertop. Mimics a china cabinet at the end of our cabinets and countertop. For fun, we also installed to other cable outlets in a relatively small kitchen. We could hold cooking classes here if we chose.

The additional speakers added very little to the day of work needed to install the speakers near the flat screen. Continuing to recommend this to anyone who will listen. My husband praises me for my foresight in bringing him up out of the lower level and into the family living area, by placing the plasma above the fireplace --- and I credit him with selecting an installer of commercial restaurant sound systems to install our home system. We still get a slight delay between the two sets of speakers, but it is a small price to pay -- . I could work at the family table, in between the kitchen and the family room, and listen to the game n the kitchen speakers, while still keeping the main sound system low enough so that children upstairs could sleep. But for the occasional "war whoop"! For instant replays, I could choose which screen to watch.