I have an old cottage and a very low budget. We "renovated" our kitchen a couple years ago but never installed a range hood and the cabinets above it get very greasy. I don’t want to deal with the hassle of running ducts up the wall (the stove wall is opposite a bedroom), through the attic and out the side of our house, so I’m considering ductless.
Do these work well? Or even pretty good? I’d be happy to just avoid the grease above the cabinet. I have a large ceiling fan and a window right next to the stove, so its not so bad. I’ve also considered an old style pull chain vent model that just sucks it out the side of the house. Can you even get those anymore? Our house was built in the 20s, so I’m sure it wouldn’t look out of place.
My only concern is electrical. Can I run a wire from the range hood to the stove outlet? I’ve dabbled in simple electrical stuff, but I’ve never run a new wire. Any advice would be great, except please not "call an electrician!!" …..they’re too much money! If it seems to dangerous, then I’ll just use the ceiling fan more often….if its simple enough, I’ll give it a shot.
Thanks for any advice!
Thanks very much for the advice, I think I understand the procedure…. I have a double outlet next to my stove, plus the outlet behind my stove which my stove is plugged into. Can I hook up a wire to the outlets by my countertop? Its only about 3 feet tops, so it would be the shortest connection. I’m not sure exactly what the confusion was regarding the stove outlet and extension cords…I might have used the wrong words in my question. I plan on hardwiring it, I just wanted to know if it is okay to hardwire it to a nearby plug. Sounds like it is….? Seems really simple though! I bought 50 feet of 14-2 NM B with Ground. I hope thats the right stuff! Attach to fan, hook up fan to cabinet, run wire through wall to plug, hook up to plug (gotta check my wiring book for specifics on that one) Does this all sound about right? Thanks so much!!!
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They are not that difficult to install, and they do help. You have to remove the filter panel and clean the grease and carbon out periodically. However, I would not recommend trying to connect it via a plug to the outlet on the range deck. It’s a code violation to do so since the fan is a permanently installed unit and it would mean the plug would be near the surface of the hot range while you cooked on it and could be hazardous. Those 120v outlets on the range tops really should only be used for portable equipment when the range is not being operated.
Ideally, you should "hard wire" it. Do you have a basement below or an attic above to which you could drop a wire through a hole in the wall behind the hood? If so, you could tap into an electrical junction box somewhere below oir above. If not, you could fish a wire to the nearest power outlet or light fixture through the wall and connect it there. It’s not all that complicated. Pick up a Basic Wiring book at a home products store like Home Depot and it will show you all you need to know.
A ductless hood is easy to install although you do not mention if the cabinet above the stove is the proper height from the burner surface, at least 30”. These hoods are available in 24” and 30” and 36” sizes with one or two speeds and a light switch. The airborne grease is trapped in the charcoal filter and is blown out through the front of the hood.
The hood has to be grounded and hard wired. This means either Romex or BX cable has to be attached to the junction box in the hood and wired to an existing circuit. An extension cord plugged into the stove is dangerous and may not provide the proper grounding for the hood.