You know that bacony smell you smell in someone’s house, or maybe your own?
That’s a byproduct of poor ventilation and most of the vent hoods on the market like ceiling blowers, down drafts and even range hoods are not designed to handle a significant volume of grease, splatter, odor and the many gases of a high output burner. So it stays in your house.
In this article, you’ll learn seven vents that will safely evacuate all the odor, grease and gasses out of your kitchen.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Why You Need to Vent?
My mother cooks bacon for my daughter Sunday mornings and the place always smells like a smokehouse until the afternoon.
It’s because her Miele hood doesn’t cover the front burners of her high output range and every stove, even the basic ones, have high output burners on the front.
So these seven hoods will not only have the right exhaust, but also enough height and depth to capture whatever you cook below.
Best Value Hood
The Yale hood line has been redesigned after about a four year process. The PWLCL48 is the newest hood. It can be exhausted in an inline, outside or internal with the same blower.
The depth is also a little bit bigger at 25 inches, so it covers a bit more of the range than the standard recommended 24 inch styles.
This hood features a built-in heat sensor automatically switching the hood when the range reaches hotter temperatures.
Like all Yale hoods, it has ‘S’ shaped baffle filters to capture the most grease and smoke and allow more air to be vented than the mesh types of most other range hoods.
Yale hoods now feature hush sound suppression for 35% less noise and the lighting is LED with up to 1,580 lumens on the largest size, it’s not the old fashioned halogen bulbs.
Yale hoods feature an industry best five year warranty and all the knobs are recessed with push button controls.
Best Capture and CFM
Wolf has the best capture area 27 inches deep. You have choices for blowers inside, in line or outside up to 1500 CFM.
Like the Yale, Wolf has a heat sensor activating the hood at 200 degrees.
Wolf is the most expensive, but it does have the best capture area and highest CFM in the industry.
Best Looking Hood
The Europeans popularized the triangle hood vent for a cooler look and a more traditional canopy style. However, most triangular hoods are not designed for pro or high output range at 21 inches deep.
Thermador is one of the only hoods in the shape of 24 inches. CFM is 1,000, CFM maximum, so I’d only use the Thermador up to 36 inches.
Most Versatile Hood
The Yale triangle shape is brand new but Thermador is 24 inches deep and designed to be placed over pro range. It’ll be quieter with better lighting and the ability to choose whatever location you want to blow either inside, outside or in line.
Along with the heat sensing and other advantages outlined like lighting and better filters. Max size is only 36 inches wide, so you can’t use this hood on the larger 48 or 60 inch ranges.
Like all Yale hoods, the warranty is five years.
Best Color and Size
The biggest selection of hoods is BlueStar with sizes up to 70 inches wide with 1400 CFM output.
BlueStar offers customization with over 1000 colors and 10 trims to choose from a variety of hoods. It’s perfect if you’re interested in a customized range and hood combination.
They can even match nail polish color to a hood, but you do pay more for color, over $10,000 more than a Yale hood.
It also has commercial-grade stainless steel construction, welded seamless corners, dishwasher safe, stainless steel baffles, a three speed blower, variable light control, and reversible top or rear exhaust.
Best Undercabinet Hood
Most woods will have problems exhausting high output ranges because of shorter depths.
The powerful front burners are at 21 to 23 inches, so some smoke and grease will always blow past the hood into your kitchen.
The PUCCM360, with a 36 inch version of PUCCM636SS, is 23 inches with a decent CFM of 600 and designed to handle a pro range burner.
However, you want a deeper, more powerful hood with a grill or griddle. You have less sound as well as the five year warranty plus baffle filters are included unlike most under cabinet hoods.
Best Custom Option
If you don’t like stainless steel or color, then you can do it yourself with a wood hood blower. All you need is the mechanical parts. Just make sure the hood is 24 to 27 inches deep.
Most manufacturers will have the hood insert. Yale offers three sizes for any customized hood in different widths and depths.
You choose whatever blower position inside, outside or in line. You get the better lighting filtersand the five year warranty.
What CFM Do You Need?
You want a higher CFM if you like to grill, griddle, wok or stir fry. Look for a minimum of 900 to 1200 CFM for 36 inch range and 1200 to 1500 for a 48 or 60 inch range.
It doesn’t cost that much to vent properly. Now consider a better vent and then spend a little bit less on another appliance.
Key Takeaways
Buying the right ventilation will improve the indoor quality of your home. Just remember to buy the right capture CFM and plan your duct accordingly.
Yale, Wolf and Thermador are all decent options. It’ll evacuate the smoke, heat and gases from your home efficiently.
You can also choose BlueStar for custom color or size or you can just do it yourself with your own custom cabinetry.