Ventilation Types

There are a ton of venting options for your kitchens. We will discuss styles and a few issues to assist in your decisions. You can trust us. We are non commissioned.

The first consideration of ventilation is the output and the usage stove or range. As discussed in the previous post, the vent has to be sized properly. Lets pick a vent:

The most common type is the straight vent or power unit. These hoods vary in price from $60 to $700 depending on style and CFM. Broan has some decent units at lower prices,

but Zephyr has units with higher CFM, and really attractive styling.

Another popular consideration is from Best, which has one unit with variety of separate blower options


A downdraft is decent option in an island design. This vent is commonly placed behind a cooktop, and can be activated or raised when needed. The motor is either housed in the cabinet or on an outside wall. Think of it as a reverse hood, instead of venting up and through the roof, the venting is placed underneath the floor. Although a downdraft is a stylish option, it does not have capture area for professional style products


The canopy range hood is the most popular style of hood for professional and higher output burners. The canopy tends to be a slightly bulkier hood and blowers are usually sold separately at all different CFM levels. Although Wolf, Viking, Vent A Hood and Thermador market decent canopy hoods, look at the Best K260. It is beautifully styled and relatively inexpensive.


The most interesting hood is the pyramid or trinagular shaped hood. This is the consummate statement piece in a kitchen. They can be purchased in different shapes and styles. Although most of them are available at higher CFMs, only one has enough capture area to handle a pro range, The Best k42


The last option is the microwave hood combination. It is likeable, because the cooking products(range and microwave) are in one area, but it has average CFM and capture area, so it should not be placed over a pro range

Basic Lighting Rant

Buying or selling lighting is a difficult proposition. Lighting is like clothes in a way. There are so many styles that you often wonder if you chose the right one, and lighting sets the mood for the whole house, so there is much to consider.

Relax, there are only a few rules about lighting a room properly, and there are only two rooms to really concentrate your efforts, the kitchen and bath. I will cover them in separate posts, but for now, I will dedicate this post on choosing a dining room fixture, an object of much consumer angst.

I was taught that a chandelier needed to be 12 inches less in diameter and roughly 24 inches off the table. As I sit here at home, my fixture is 3 feet off my table and is probably 18 inches less in diameter. Guess what? It looks great.

The other impediment to purchasing a chandelier is this notion that you must stay within a certain style. Although this may have been true when people had more formal living spaces, it is not the case today. Most people have combined living and dining areas to form the "great" room. This room is often an eclectic mix of styles that can acommodate either traditionhal or contemporary pieces. My chendelier? A bendable 7 arm contemporary chandelier from Techlighting over a traditional table with red chairs. It looks pretty cool.


So do not be afraid to try something different and mix a style or three, because that is what you already done.


I promised ventilation, and it will be so next post.

Basic Ventilation

So you have your heart set on the pro range range or you cook a lot. Now you need a vent for one reason. You want the smoke, odor, grease and heat outside your house. Ventilation has become more important in a kitchen plan especially with the advent of high powered ranges.

Buying the proper vent is not hard to do as there are only four characteristics of good ventilation: Capture area, CFM or blower speed, Duct size and Duct run or length of ducting.

Lets look at each.

Capture area is the size of the venting area of the hood. Typically, especially on the more powerful ranges, the hood depth should be at least 24 inches deep. Most renovators will buy a sleek, shallow hood or build out the cabinet as the vent and will beef up the CFM of the hood as a countermeasure. Does not work. Simply, smoke frome the range is captured first by the hood and then blown and filtered out by the motor. The smoke, heat and grease will not be captured by a shallow hood on a Professional range

CFM is short for Cubic Foot per Minute or how many cubes of air are blown out per minute by the motor. Blower speed is a shorter description. Your typical hood and over the range microwave are about 310 CFM. You can buy blowers as high as 1500 CFM residentially. If you cook a lot especially wok cooking or frying, the greater the CFM on the hood should be. On a pro range with a grill or griddle 900 minimum on a 36 inch and 1200 minimum on a 48 inch. There seems to be an on going argument about inside versus outside blower. I prefer the blower inside. It is easier to service, and more aesthetic as you will not have to look at a huge blower outside of your house.

Four inch duct is for dryers. A dryer exhausts at 180 CFM without smoke or grease. Your stove duct should be at least 6 inch and on professional cooking up to 10 inch. If you constrict the duct, then less smoke is exhausted to the outside and more will stay in your house.


I probably could have included duct runs in the previous paragraph. It is, however, the biggest venting mistake. Each time the duct is bended, the efficiency will be curtailed. The best way to vent is straight up, because smoke travels this way naturally or straight back without bends in the ducting. My favorite analogy is drinking a with a straw that is bent two or three ways. Doesn't work too well.

The last word on ventilation is ductless or non-vented installation. If you are unable to duct outside, having a hood with a filter is better than nothing. The smoke and grease will be filtered, but the heat will be recirculated back into the kitchen

Tomorrow, we will blog different styles of vents. There really are some beautiful styles of hoods in the market.

Pro Ranges

The Pro Range. Perhaps one of the many dreams of the remodeler/renovator. Following is a general guide to general features when considering one of these products.

Sizes of a professional range are 24,30,36,48 and 60 inch. The term professional or "pro" range is derived from their commercial style and high output burners that can vary between 15-17,500 BTUs. Interestingly enough, regular gas stoves have one burner that is 15-16,000 BTU
Most pro ranges are available in all gas or dual fuel with an electric convection oven. Electric convection is a little more even on the bake and requires a seperate 220 line.

In a 30 inch product, the range will have 4 burners or 5 in a DCS with gas or electric convection oven


In a 36 inch oven, The options are 6 burners, 4 burners with a grill in the middle or 4 burners with a griddle. Please note: When a grill or griddle is installed, you must consider proper ventilation(we will blog vents in the next couple of posts)


From a 36 inch to a 48 inch range, a second oven and another set of burners is added.


To distinguish between the brands consider the following:

BTU output will vary from 15-17,500 BTU
The simmers will vary from an intermittent 200 to a consistent 500 BTU
Clocks and timers are available on only a few brands
On the larger units, 48 and 60 inch, the secondary oven is self cleaning and convection on only two brands, Wolf and Dacor(48 inch only)

Just some basic information for now, we will delve into this in greater detail in later posts

If you have any questions or would like us to cover specific questions and/or design issues, please email us at steve.sheinkopf@yaleappliance.com