How Does a Kitchen Range Hood Work?

A kitchen hood, exhaust hood, or range hood is a device containing a mechanical fan that hangs above the stove or cooktop in the kitchen. It removes airborne grease, combustion products, fumes, smoke, heat, and steam from the air by evacuation of the air and filtration. In commercial kitchens exhaust hoods are often used in combination with fire suppression devices so that fumes from a grease fire are properly vented and the fire is put out quickly. Commercial vent hoods may also be combined with a fresh air fan that draws in exterior air, circulating it with the cooking fumes, which is then drawn out by the hood. In most exhaust hoods, a filtration system removes grease (the grease trap) and other particles. Although many vent hoods exhaust air to the outside, some recirculate the air to the kitchen. In a recirculating system, filters may be used to remove odors in addition to the grease. The device is known as an extractor hood in the United Kingdom, as a range hood in the United States, and as a range hood in Australia. It is also called a stove hood, cooker hood, vent hood, or ventilation hood. Other names include cooking canopy, extractor fan, fume extractor, and electric chimney.

How does an under cabinet range hood work?

Under-cabinet range hoods are one of the most common types of hoods available. They are installed below the kitchen cabinets, usually situated above the cooking range or the cooktop. It offers a great, modern look to your kitchen.

Under-cabinet hoods are of two conventional types — ducted and ductless.

A ducted range hood is one that has been connected to a duct and vent air to the outside. With the help of pipes, a passage is created for the fumes or smoke to travel from the kitchen to the outdoors.

On the other hand, a ductless range hood consists of a fan that sucks up oil particles, fumes, odor, and smoke and filters it before circulating it back into the kitchen. They are quite effective but not as much as the ducted ones.

Installing them is easy if you already have the ductwork and cabinetry in place. If not, it might require a professional to do so if you want a ducted under-cabinet range hood since they will configure the vent from the kitchen to the exterior of your home.

How does a ducted range hood work?

Many people get confused with a ducted and ductless range hood as both falls under the category of under-cabinet range hoods. Here’s how a ducted range hood works:

• A ducted range hood works by pulling air through the ductwork, usually running through the ceiling or the wall.
• It’s connected to the exterior of the house and is one of the most effective options for purifying the air in your kitchen since it vents any type of dirt, odors, fumes, grease, etc. out of the house

How does a ductless range hood work?

You must be curious as to how the mechanism in a ductless range hood works; well, it’s pretty simple, and here’s how it works:

• Firstly, a ductless range hood has two main components: a fan (motor) and a filter.
• The ductless range hood absorbs the air with the air suction mechanism and utilizes its filter steam, fumes, smells, or smoke.
• It simply recirculates the air in the kitchen after filtering it.
• Three types of filters are used in a ductless range hood: Charcoal filters, Mesh filters, and Baffle filters. Each of these works differently, but each main goal is to purify air quality in the kitchen.
• Most ductless range hoods use charcoal filters, but some have HEPA-grade filters too. The filters trap the solid particles from the air along with the order and reduce them to a significant level.

Since the under-cabinet range hood has powerful ventilation fans, it does not allow grease or other particles to stick to the kitchen cabinets. Thus, it is important to look for the fan speed and noise while buying a range hood, as it will determine its efficiency and comfort while using it.

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Reference:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/

[2] https://www.kitchenfeeds.com/

[3] Image resources: https://www.veranda.com/