we just bought a house..it is an old house but has been renovated substantially by the previous owners..there is no kitchen hood and whenever we cook all the steam goes to the installed wooden panels around the cooking range..can you please advise which is a good and reasonable kitchen hood and also how much would it cost to install. thanks
There are two kinds of hoods. Well really many kinds, but I will only consider two.
Some hoods are vented and some are not. Some can be put in either way.
Vented is best. It removes most of the moisture and odor out of your home. In the summer it also removes a lot of the heat.
Non-vented is a lot easer to put in (no vent to put in). It will move the moisture and heat away from the cooking area, but not out of the house. Most come with some sort of charcoal filter to help control odors and they work OK for about a week.
For myself, I first chose a vented unit, then I looked for one with a quiet fan and a good volume of air movement. Next I looked at how well they would look in my kitchen.
You might consider installing a microwave or combination Convection/Microwave oven above the stove. They have built in exhaust fans.
Is it a ranch house? Just wondering if you can run a vent through the attic to the roof.
NuTone and Broan make some decent hoods. So does Viking
As for the installation cost, is can be $50 or $500 or more. You don't give any information so no one can give an estimate. Is there a source of electric nearby? Does a wire have to be run? From where? Is it on an outside wall where it is a short distance to vent or does it have to go above or through cabinets? Through siding or brick to the outside?
It depends!
Our house underwent some major renovations by the previous owners. The end result was that the kitchen was centrally located, with no outside wall to vent the range hood. They did install a dryer vent down the wall, through the basement to an outside wall. The problem was that the vent was too small, too long and had too many elbows. The back pressure on the range hood (never installed) would have been so high, as to make it useless. We considered several options, from going up to the roof (not possible), going between the joists (not possible, wrong orientation) and a few others. The final solution was to go through the next room and enclose the 3x10 ducts on two full walls to make it look symmetrical.
The end result was very good, but we probably spent over $1,000 between the Range Hood, ducts, strapping, drywall, mud and miscellaneous drywall tools. I can't imagine what a contractor would charge, but then he would have been a hell of a lot faster with the mud then I was.
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