During a remodel, it’s important to take into account all aspects of the room or area of your home you are renovating. Whether that be the kitchen, the bathroom, or even just the living room, you want all of the details of the entire room to flow well and work together to make your ideal home. Specifically in the kitchen, there are many details that need attention and a well-thought-out plan. For example, there are several appliances, fixtures, and hardware that you should be able to have a common theme and colorway with similar finishes and materials. ranOne important appliance that should not be forgotten about is the range hood.
Your range hood works cohesively with your range, so it should look cohesive in your kitchen as well. In this week’s blog, we are going to discuss the main 10 things to take into consideration before purchasing a range hood.
1. Kitchen Layout
The layout of your kitchen is an important factor as it will determine what size range hood would work best for your kitchen. Also depending on how much renovating you are planning on doing, you may be able to plan where you want specific appliances to go. This can determine what type of range hood you want and what would look best based on what you hope your kitchen to look like.
2. Range Hood Size
The layout of your kitchen can also help you decide on what size range hood will work best in the available space. The size of your range should work with the size of your range hood, as the appliances are designed to work together. For wall-mounted ranges and range hoods, we recommend for the widths of each appliance to be the same size. For island mounted ranges and range hoods, we recommend for the range hood to be one size width larger than the range or cooktop in order for the range hood to efficiently vent all of the grease and smoke. For wall-mounted range hoods, there is no need to have a much larger range hood than your range as it would be a waste of space, money, and functionality. Vice versa, you don’t want to have too small of a range hood or else it won’t have enough functionality for when you cook.
3. Mount Type
It’s important to make sure the placement of the range hood will line up with the mount type of the hood you are looking for. Specifically, if your range is against a wall, then you will want a wall mount range hood. If you are looking to do the cooking in the middle of the kitchen then an island mount range hood is what’s best for you. If you want a custom-built range hood, then all you need is a range hood insert. Lastly, depending on available space the placement of the cabinetry, you may want to look into under-cabinet range hoods.
4. Noise Level
While range hoods do serve a functional purpose in ventilating and removing grease and smoke, that doesn’t mean that you should sacrifice the comfort of your kitchen by having a range hood that is too loud. The kitchen is a great place to spend time with your family or any company, even when you’re cooking, and you don’t want that taken away by a noisy appliance. You should carefully consider the noise level of any range hood, that way you don’t have to worry about any extra unnecessary noise.
5. CFM Rating
The whole purpose of a range hood is to remove unwanted air and ventilate out smoke, grease, and other fumes from cooking. You can find out the ability and power of a range hood by looking at the CFM Rating. CFM is cubic feet per minute, and the CFM rating tells you how much the range hood is able to ventilate out the air. The higher the CFM rating, the more air is able to be vented out. It’s important to note that typically the higher the CFM the noisier the range hood, which goes hand in hand with the previous tip.
6. Stove BTUs
To go along with the CFM rating, it is important to also consider the BTUs of your range. BTU is the British thermal unit, which measures the heat that provides capabilities to the oven and stovetop. This is important to consider as this is the source that provides the air, smoke, and grease that your range hood will need to vent out. The higher the BTUs of your range, the higher of a CFM rating your range hood will need to be. For every 10,000 BTUs of your stovetop, you will need 100 CFM.
7. Ducted or Ductless Ventilation
Being that the range hood is meant to vent out air, this means the air or smoke is being pushed somewhere else. Sometimes the air is ducted outside of the house or recirculated back into the kitchen area through charcoal filters. Regardless, you should be able to know what will work best for your home or kitchen and if a range hood is capable of doing so. Some range hoods give you the option to choose one or the other, but others only allow for one option. It’s important in knowing if the range hood you’re interested in fits your needs for ducted or ductless ventilation.
8. Control Options
Next, you should determine what control options on the range hood you want to be able to have. Specifically, the control of the lighting and the power settings of the range hood. Some range hoods allow you to control the lighting of the hood itself to dimmable or non-dimmable, if this is something that is important to you, then it is something worth considering. Also, you want to be able to have multiple power settings of the range hood that you can choose depending on how much grease and smoke are being produced. For example, if you are doing a small simple meal requiring little ventilation you should be able to put on a low setting, and on the contrary, with cooking meals using multiple burners you may want to use a higher setting.
9. ADA Compliance
To work further on control ability, another very important option is if a range hood is ADA compliant or not. What makes a range hood ADA compliant is complete and easy access to the button panel’s controls and the ability to operate all range hood functions. This would include remote capabilities that allow you to control the range hood without having to reach or have full access to the button panel itself. If this is something that is a need, then it’s definitely important that a range hood in consideration checks this box for you.
10. Finish Type
Aside from functionality and use of your range hood in the kitchen, you will want to take a look into your options for the finish. For example, if your range is stainless steel you will likely want the range hood to also be stainless steel for it to match. Additionally, depending on the style of your home and kitchen, you may want to have a wood or designer finish range hood. You can also have the option of a copper or glass range hood as well, depending on the design of your kitchen. Lastly, you may be looking for an outdoor-rated range hood for an outdoor kitchen.
You can shop for range hoods with all of these tips in mind at The Range Hood Store. You can shop by brand, finish, mount type, size, and several other specifications including accessories. Shop all range hoods here at The Range Hood Store.
That wraps up our list of ways to make the most out of a small kitchen. Make sure to follow us on all of our socials for updates from The Range Hood Store!
Facebook: The Range Hood Store
Instagram: @therangehoodstore
