Ductless Range Hoods

Ductless range hoods are installed in your kitchen above your stove or range top in order to remove cooking odors and vapors.  Since this style of kitchen range hood is ductless, it circulates the air through a filter and back into your kitchen area.  Other range hoods that have ducts on them will ventilate the vapors and odors to the outside.

Since it isn't always practical to install a ducted range hood, a ductless range hood is the perfect option for a kitchen remodeling job or if you are replacing an existing ductless range hood.  Installation is usually really easy, with a couple of safety precautions to be taken.

Since the ductless range hood has no ductwork installed that would take the odors and vapors from cooking to the outside, they have to rely upon a filtration system to filter the air.  Many ductless hoods have two speeds, low and high.  Sometimes you can find a variable speed fan in a ductless hood, but most just have the 2 settings.

When you turn on the fan of your ductless range hood, it begins to draw the air up from the rangetop and will usually pass it through a filter that is on the underside of the hood itself.  This filter can be a generic one that came with the hood system, or you can also buy specialized filters that can be washed and reused.

Once the air passes through the filter, it then exits the hood system at the top.  This is usually the air that you can feel on your face when the vent fan is on. 

Ductless hood systems work well with capturing the vapors that are generated by cooking, such as grease or oils, however they don't do so well with the odors.  Unless you have a specialized filter installed to eliminate the odors, usually you will still smell what you have been cooking.

One of the first and most important safety factors that you can do is to make sure that the electric going to the old range hood is turned off.  The electricity going to the hood system is standard household current and it can hurt or kill you if you touch it during the removal or installation process.

Note:  this is not meant to be an all inclusive guide on how to install a range hood.  please follow the instructions that come with your new ductless range hood on how to install is, or pay for a qualified contractor to install it.

Often times the first thing you need to do is to measure your old hood.  You can then purchase a new one that will fit widthwise into the same space.  This is the most crucial step to insure proper fit of a ductless range hood.

You will then want to ensure that the electricity is off (see note above) before removing the light bulb or other accessories that are installed in order for you to gain access to the mounting screws.

Once you have found and accessed the mounting screws, you will then want to make sure that you can safely remove the old hood system and disconnect the electric wires that are attached to it.  Once again, be sure that the electric is off!

Once you have the old electric disconnected, you can then reconnect it to the new hood.  Remount the new hood in place and install the accessories (filter, light, etc.) that came with it.

The removal and installation is a rather simple process, however you can get hurt.  Just keep safety in mind and follow all instructions as they relate to tools required and recommended steps in the manufacturers directions.