Kitchen Appliances: Over Head

While homeowners may covet high-end cooktops for their kitchens, they often overlook the importance of ventilation hoods, leaving pros to explain why these appliances are necessary and when certain models are appropriate.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘I really don’t need a vent,’” says Christine Shaw, owner of Limited Editions Design in Denver. “We have to tell them, ‘Yes, you do.’” Such explanations must encompass the variety of ventilation options—updraft or downdraft, wall-mounted or island, and in-unit or exterior blowers—that remove excess moisture, odor, and grease from the kitchen.

Getting Started. Clients should select a hood only after choosing a cooktop, says Kent Eberle of Eberle Remodeling in Sacramento, Calif. Once that choice has been made, the cooktop should be paired with a hood that’s 6 inches larger to allow for more space to catch grease, moisture, and odors. “If you have a 36-inch cooktop, you’d want a 42-inch hood,” Shaw says.

This is especially true for hoods mounted above an island, says Marty Troiani, GE Monogram marketing manager, adding, “When you go to an island, you lose that back wall, which helps move smoke and steam up it.” Greater strength is also required in such an instance, he notes, adding that the company’s model ZV950 offers 750 cfms in a wall-mount versus 1,050 cfms for an island.

Cooktop strength is also a key consideration. While normal gas ranges might generate 6,000 to 9,000 BTUs, a professional-grade gas range could generate up to 15,000 BTUs or more per burner. Less powerful hoods, such as low-profile or combination microwave/venting units are usually not appropriate for use with a professional-grade product.

The Integrated Ventilation System can be inserted into a custom canopy hood to maintain a unified kitchen design, says the manufacturer. Shown in a stainless steel finish, the product includes variable blower controls, halogen lights, and dishwasher-friendly filters. A remote blower is required for some models. 800.793.0093. www.dacor.com Before installing the hood, pros should first install the necessary ductwork, being careful to limit the number of turns. “Every time you make a turn in your ducting, you’re cutting down your performance,” says Karen Collins, marketing communications manager for Best by Broan. “A direct shot is best and limiting the number of turns is all the better.”

Pros recommend maintaining ductwork all the way to the exterior of a home and venting outside rather than to an attic or other interior space. Some areas, like Denver, require the construction of a secondary “makeup” air duct to replenish the air vented by hoods in tightly built new homes.

Hoods should be installed between 30 and 36 inches above the cooktop surface. Although consumers may choose to alter it—“a pro basketball player might want it higher,” says Troiani—the performance of the hood may start to be reduced as it is moved farther from the source of heat and steam.

Contemporary Styling. Starting about 15 years ago, homeowners “wanted to look like chefs,” says Blake Woodall, director of sales and marketing for Vent-A-Hood. The result was a trend towards large stainless steel hoods to complement professional-style appliances.

Today, stainless steel hoods are still popular and mix in other materials such as easy-to-clean tempered glass. GE Monogram is “feeling the need to have more glass,” says Troiani, because consumers are demanding more of that style. The brand distinguishes between its contemporary and commercial design, such as model ZV48R, which “really looks like something you would see in a restaurant,” he adds.

The Custom Hood liner is 36 inches wide and available with either a 900- or 1,200-cfm rating. Custom cabinetry can be built around the model as shown to create a unique look. 800.422.1230. www.kitchenaid.com Best by Broan’s Model WM24 was designed by F.A. Porsche. Made of aluminum composite, the material allowed for a more drastic, obvious curve, says Collins.

The contemporary look can also include lower profile, slim-line designs that may feature metal arcs. But experts caution that low-profile models cannot adequately capture the enormous heat put out by professional-grade ranges.

Rustic Look. While stainless steel is “still very important,” says Collins, custom home owners are increasingly turning to other materials such as wood, stone, plaster, or copper to make a statement and create a softer, less commercial look.

The Concave hood combines a cylindrical satin-finished stainless steel chimney with a sweeping blue-painted aluminum hood. The product features an internal blower with a 600-cfm capacity and halogen lighting to illuminate the cooking area. Designed by David Lewis, the hood relies on a ductless configuration that cleans and redistributes the air with carbon fibers. 877.937.4975. www.zephyronline.com “What’s really popular right now is that the homeowner or designer designs their own hood and they use inserts, which we produce,” says Collins. Cabinetry, shelving, stucco, or tile can be used around it to complement the look.

Vent-A-Hood first began offering rustic-looking canopies as a custom product about eight years ago. The company standardized its product line five years ago. Since then the look has gone from 1 percent of the company’s sales to more than 40 percent, Woodall says.

The Professional restaurant-style hood is crafted of hand-buffed stainless steel and operates at a maximum venting capacity of 1,200 cfm. The model features infrared warming lights and halogen lamps. 800.626.2000. www.ge.com To create a rustic look, Abbaka offers four antiqued metal finishes on its hoods. The looks include antique copper, antique bronze, blackened stainless, and a hammered aged copper finish new for 2006. The finishes add between $2,500 and $3,000 to the models’ cost at retail. “Aesthetically, sure it’s the nicest but it’s also the most expensive look to achieve,” says Eberle.

Cabinet companies have also caught onto the trend, creating canopies into which the motors and blowers can be inserted. Prior to that, “we’d just have to build it out of parts and pieces,” says Shaw. In response, most ventilation hood manufacturers offer liner kits—which include the pre-wired venting, blower, and lights—that can be inserted directly into these canopies.

This exclusive F.A. Porsche design features aluminum, matte-finish skin, dishwasher-safe filters, halogen lighting and a telescopic flue for 8- or 9-foot ceilings. The model also includes a blue LCD display, a Heat Sentry sensor that adjusts blower speed when needed and optional ducted or non-ducted custom extensions. 800.558.1711. www.bestbybroan.com In the Future. If you look closely, you can spot some of tomorrow’s ventilation trends today. Increasingly more manufacturers include sensors to automatically regulate ventilation, remote controls for easy accessibility, and easy-to-read LCD displays. In the future, pros predict that technological features such as these will become the norm. Additionally, companies are working on making sleeker, quieter models that make less noise. “It’s not your grandmother’s range hood any-more,” says Collins.

Tomorrow’s styling could also recall decades past. Some companies are returning to the bright colors once popular in the 1950s. Dacor’s Preference wall oven line has six different colors available in glass; the company has plans to take those colors into its hood line.

The industry has gone to powder-coated colors rather than enamel to create a harder, more ecologically safe finish, says Woodall. Some appliance manufacturers such as Aga Range have already introduced such colors for ranges and the look could spread to other products, he notes, adding “that may be a direction the American public leans toward.”

This story first appeared in BUILDING PRODUCTS magazine.