Each cook knows the requirement of having a high-quality range hood for his/her kitchen. Its first application is to suck out the warm air from your kitchen for refreshing your area during cooking. Secondly, and more importantly, the appliance helps in removing toxins and harmful particles that are released as parts of the cooking process. If you don’t invest in a good quality exhaust system, you’ll attain poor air quality at your home, and this bad air quality will affect you and your dear ones’ health. So, are you tense for how to find the perfect range hood for your kitchen! Then, don’t worry. In this blog, you’ll find the most effective tips for purchasing a kitchen exhaust system.
Buying a kitchen exhaust system:
The primary aim of a range hood is to ventilate your kitchen for removing smoke, heat, and odours. This appliance also helps you absorb and trap grease that could otherwise stick to your walls, cabinets, and kitchen appliances. Before we look at some considerable factors for buying a standard kitchen exhaust system in Pakistan, let’s first observe the terms that you should know before purchasing a range hood.
Notable terms for buying a reliable kitchen exhaust system:
- CFM (cubic feet per minute)
- Makeup air damper
- Air capture area
CFM (cubic feet per minute):
CFM stands for cubic feet per minute. This is the measurement unit through which the power of air movement is calculated. So, you could calculate how effective your kitchen exhaust system is. Well, for your gas stoves, a minimum ventilation level of 100 CFM per 10,000 British Thermal Units (BTUs) is suggested. As an example, if the total output of your gas stove is 45,000 BTUs, your range hood should have at least 450 CFM output for providing the best ventilation.
Makeup air damper:
A makeup air damper is an appliance that is opened and closed to allow fresh air in your home. This helps us replace the air that your range hood extracts.
Air capture area:
An air capture area determines the area that a kitchen hood actually covers. When you have to choose the best kitchen exhaust system, you must know that there are various kinds of air capture options to vent in a kitchen range hood.
Considerable factors for buying a kitchen exhaust system:
You must consider the following factors while choosing the right kitchen hood:
- Filters
- Product size
- Installation
- Ventilation
- Height
- Noise
- Power
Let’s discuss these factors in detail below.
FILTERS:
Mesh filter:
You should keep the mesh filter of your range hood clean. So, clean the mesh filter of your range hood reliably. Well, the most crucial factor for selecting a reliable range hood is picking the right filter that could effectively remove grease, dirt, and smoke. This filter helps us keep the kitchen clean and improve our indoor air quality. Well, there are three separate kinds of filters that are employed in a range hood.
An aluminium mesh filter has a filter like a mesh that captures the grease within your kitchen. This mesh requires to be properly cleaned; otherwise, the grease blocks the pores of the mesh. In case of some range hoods which have mesh filters there are separate containers that gather the oil and grease for you.
Baffle filter:
A baffle filter is the most useful filter for capturing grease, and it is most used in ducted range hoods. Such filters have alternating three-sided baffles that could maximize the airflow and grease filtering mechanism when the hoods are under operation.
Charcoal filter:
Most circulating or ductless range hoods employ charcoal filters. Such filters require to be changed often; otherwise, your exhaust system can’t work in a standard way.
Product size:
The best way for calculating the efficiency of air removal while buying an exhaust system for your kitchen is to check the width of your range hood. This exhaust system should be of the same width at minimum as that of your cooking surface.
Ideally, the product size of a kitchen hood should overlap 3 inches on either side of the cooktop for covering the maximum area. So, if your cooktop is 30 inches wide, a 36-inch-wide range hood could be the right choice for you. Just keep this in mind that the exhaust system should be deep enough to cover the back burners and at least the half area of the front burners. And, if your range hood is shallow, it should be installed near the cooktop.
If you have a kitchen island, the kitchen range hood should cover at least 6 inches more on either side of your cooktop. The reason is there are cross breezes within a kitchen island that could carry the heat & smoke all around you and make your environment suffocating for you.
Kinds of mounting options:
Once you determine the size of your exhaust system; afterwards, you should determine how you’re going to mount that in your kitchen. There are four various varieties of exhaust systems in the market.
Under-cabinet hood:
An under-cabinet hood is present under an already existing cabinet, and that is also above your cooktop. And, its duct or vent passes through the wall and is hidden under the cabinet.
Wall-mounted or chimney hood:
A wall-mounted or chimney hood is mounted on a wall, and the duct is hidden inside the chimney.
Island range hood:
An island range hood hangs from your chimney above the island cooktop.
Custom hoods:
Custom hoods are known as insert or liner hoods, so such an appliance is installed directly inside an already existing hood of your kitchen.
Kinds of venting options:
There are three kinds of venting options of range hoods.
Vented or ducted option:
A vented or ducted option of a range hood funnels the bad air out of your home through a duct or vent.
Ductless ventilation:
Ductless ventilation for a range hood is generally done inside an apartment or condo where you don’t have direct access to the rooftop or ceiling. Therefore, this ventilation is ductless, and it pulls out the bad air through a charcoal filter. Then, this process recycles the clean air back into the room. This is always a good idea to change the charcoal filter on a regular basis; otherwise, your exhaust system would not be that much effective.
Convertible ventilation:
Convertible ventilation of a range hood has both options. That are vented and non-vented options. So, you could use the vented option when you need it.
Power:
As already mentioned, the ability of a range hood is to move the air that is measured in CFM. And, to know the cubic feet per minute of a range hood, you must know what kind of a stove you have. For an electric stove, you’ll need 100 CFM for every 10 inches of the width of the cooktop. For example, you have a 40-inch-wide cooktop; then, you’ll need a 400 CFM.
Plus, if you have a gas cooktop, you have to take the maximum number of BTUs or British Thermal Units and divide that by a number, hundred. So, if you have 65,000 BTUs, you’ll need 650 CFM.
Noise:
Another considerable factor while buying a kitchen hood or exhaust system for your kitchen is how quiet you want your exhaust system to function. The volume of your range hood is characteristically measured in sones. So, as low the number of sones, as quiet your range hood could be. And for a reference, 1 sone is equal to the sound made by a quiet functioning refrigerator.
Plus, the noise of an exhaust system is generally created by the blower. However, this is also determined by the air movement. You could reduce the noise level of your exhaust system by adding a remote blower that is located away from your kitchen, and the blower is situated inside the duct or on your rooftop.
Height:
The height of your range hood is an important considerable factor.
Well, the height of a range hood plays a significant role in determining the efficiency of your exhaust system. So, if you place the hood too high, the heat and smoke would not be successfully filtered. Plus, an average cooktop is situated 36 inches above the kitchen floor generally. And, the bottom of the range hood should be present 28 to 36 inches above the cooking surface. So, if you want to determine how tall your range hood should be, you should apply simple mathematics.
Total ceiling height:
The total ceiling height is the cooktop height; this is the distance from your cooktop to your range hood, and the distance is the total height of your range hood.
Well, if you have a ceiling height of 96 inches, your cooktop height is 36 inches, and the distance above the cooktop is 30 inches that should be further subtracted from the ceiling height. Plus, the concluded height would be the range hood height that is 30 inches in this situation.
Finest Kitchen Hood in Pakistan:
| Model Name | Price in Pakistan |
| KITCHEN HOOD Y&B HT90 SS | Rs22,250 |
| KITCHEN HOOD DM-101C60P BLACK | ₨25,000 |
| KITCHEN HOOD DM-101C90P BLACK | Rs30,650 |
Conclusion:
We hope that you might have understood everything regarding how to pick the best kitchen range hood. Now, only one point is remaining from our side. Well, Rays (empowered by Connect Solutions) sells quality kitchen range hoods, and this store has been doing business for a long period. You might check its website and check several options there. There are high chances that you could find the product of your needs. Hmm, one more thing. If you actually admire our efforts, do comment below and share our blog piece with your loved ones so that they could purchase a quality kitchen hood for their homes.