Buyer's Guide | How To Choose a Range Hood - Hauslane

Figuring out how to choose a range hood may seem overwhelming at first—but it’s actually very simple and straightforward once you understand the terminology and how it all works.

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That’s why Hauslane put together this short, handy guide.

Why Does Choosing the Right Range Hood Matter?

Shopping for a range hood is a much bigger decision than buying, say, an inexpensive kitchen knife. You could probably select a knife from a catalog based on appearance alone, and in most cases it will do its job of slicing, dicing, and prepping food. Eventually, the blades will get dull and you’ll replace it. That’s simply not how things work with range hoods.

A range hood is something you’ll keep for many, many years.

Once installed, it’s time-consuming and costly to replace, so we want to help you get it right the first time.

If you choose a range hood with a fan that isn’t powerful enough for the burners on your stove, for example, the smoke and odor will linger and spread throughout your home. And if you choose a model you can’t integrate with your ductwork (we’ll explain that below), you may not be able to install it in the first place. Knowing how to choose a range hood is important for the proper function of your entire kitchen.

Buying a range hood is an investment, and if you choose the ideal product for your needs, it will serve you for many years—even decades! Hauslane range hoods are built to last, and they deliver a professional cooking experience at an affordable price.

Why Range Hood Is an Essential Component of a Healthy Kitchen >

Ducted/Ductless Range Hoods have both technologies built in, so you can install them in any kind of kitchen. Many of our range hoods can be used as either ducted or ductless units, depending on your needs. Learn how to know if a ducted or ductless range hood is right for your kitchen.

Why go ductless?

Some homes have ducts built into the kitchen, ready to connect to a range hood, while others do not. If your cooktop is not next to an exterior wall, there might not be any ducts because there is no clear path to run the ductwork.

If you don’t have ducts, or cannot access them from your point of installation, be sure to choose a unit with a ductless option.

You may also choose a model with ductless capabilities simply because it’s more versatile. For example, if you’re remodeling and decide to place the stove in a part of the kitchen that isn’t near the duct, ductless models will eliminate the need to redo the ducting.

Why go ducted?

If your kitchen has ducts exactly where you want them, a ducted range hood may be ideal because it will do a better job of sucking up grease particles and cooking fumes.

Ducted range hoods also allow you to install a more powerful blower (see Step 4), which will come in handy if you have a large, professional-grade range that produces a lot of smoke when used at full capacity.

Step 2: Select Your Mounting Style

Now it’s time to decide where, and how, you want to mount your range hood. When figuring out how to choose a range hood, you’ve got four main options: under the cabinet, against the wall, directly into the ceiling (island), or recessed (inside the wall or cabinet). Here’s how each of these options work.

3. Island

If you’ve got an island stove, an island range hood can mount from your ceiling and hang directly over your cooktop. Island range hoods tend to be larger and contain more powerful blowers.

Why do they need more power? Units tucked away under cabinets or against the wall don’t have to contend with air currents blowing in from multiple directions. The stronger power and wider surface area of island mounted range hoods keep smoke and odor from dispersing around the kitchen.

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Step 4: Find the Right Blower Strength for Your Needs

The blower is the workhorse of your range hood. Without the right size blower to fit your needs, your range hood won’t be able to clear your home of smoke, grease, and odor. Hauslane sells high-quality range hoods with powerful blowers that will accommodate everyone from the occasional chef to the culinary enthusiast.

A blower’s strength is measured in its ability to move a specific volume of air over a specific period of time—a measurement called Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). Each range hood we sell lists the CFM capacity for its blower. Blowers that reach 900+ CFM are considered professional grade and will accommodate any serious chef. Here, discover how to tell what CFM you need for your kitchen.

Going Beyond ‘Good Enough’: These figures, again, are the bare minimum you need to have a blower that does its job—but why settle for ‘good enough?’

Blowers in Hauslane range hoods approach, or exceed, professional grade. This keeps your home healthy and smoke/odor-free, even when running your cooktop at max capacity. When figuring out how to choose a range hood for your home’s kitchen, look no further than Hauslane for premium products with the power and effectiveness you’re sure to love.

Why limit yourself as a chef? Hauslane products deliver an exceptional experience at an affordable price.

Height Requirements for All Units: Range hoods should be mounted 24-30 inches above your range top. You can use this information to determine how tall your range hood must be to connect with your ductwork.

Range hoods might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about upgrading a kitchen, but breathing fresh, clean air and keeping your home free of smoke and other pollutants requires an informed buying decision.

At Hauslane, we’re as passionate about cooking as we are about the technology that makes it possible, and we bring professional-grade equipment into ordinary homes at an affordable price. If you need additional help figuring out how to choose a range hood, the professionals at Hauslane are happy to help. Get in touch with us today.

Happy cooking!

1. The Exhaust System 

A ducted exhaust system, also sometimes called a vented system, uses ducts to channel air away and out of the home. “Out” being the key word here. In other words, you can’t vent into another interior space of your home such as an attic. If you have a ducted system, you can probably already guess that it’s best to mount your kitchen hood to an exterior wall. That way, the ducting is shorter and more efficient. The further away you get from an exterior wall, the more complicated and more expensive the ducting and hood installation will be.

With a duct-free exhaust system or non-vented system, the air is filtered, cleaned and then returned to the kitchen rather than being directed outside. As you might imagine, these systems are generally less efficient than ducted systems, and they require more maintenance with regular cleaning and filer replacement. So it’s good to know up front what you can expect.

2. Your Kitchen Layout

Your kitchen layout will determine how much space you have to work with and how best to fit your oven hood into place. A good rule of thumb is to aim to mount the hood between 24-30 inches above the cooktop, but always read the manufacturer’s recommendations to be sure.

Depending on the configuration kitchen vent hoods can be mounted on a wall, incorporated into your cabinets, made part of an overhead canopy or suspended from the ceiling over island cooktops. There are even telescoping chimney hoods that can be expanded when in use or retracted and hidden out of the way when they’re not needed. Another clever, space-saving option is a downdraft kitchen hood. It’s designed to come up from a special slot in the work surface and conveniently stow away when the cooktop’s not in use.   

3. Fan Power

The size of the space will dictate how powerful the exhaust hood fan needs to be to clear the air and help prevent strong cooking odors. To determine what your needs are, multiply the kitchen ceiling height by the length and width of the room. This will give you the volume of your kitchen. 

Kitchen Ceiling Height X Width of the Room = Volume of the Kitchen

Ideally, you should choose a range hood that is capable of replacing or cleaning the air in that space no less than eight times every hour.

4. Calculate Kitchen Hood Energy

You can work out how much air a kitchen hood can extract per hour with a little simple math and the fan’s CFM is a measurement of fan power and stands for “Cubic feet per minute.” For example, an exhaust hood fan with a1,000 CFM can remove all of the air from an area that is 10ft x 10ft x 10ft in one minute. To determine how much air a particular hood can replace per hour, simply multiply that CFM by 60 (the minutes in one hour).

Contact us to discuss your requirements of cabinet range hood. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.