Range Hood Venting in Carlsbad Kitchens

Nothing about a recirculating hood is wrong until the first night someone sears a steak and the smoke settles on the cabinet faces. The running record carlsbad kitchen remodelers the language bear holds shows that venting is the item most often decided last in a Carlsbad, CA kitchen remodel, and it is the one hardest to fix once drywall is closed.

Ducted or recirculating

A ducted hood moves cooking air outside. A recirculating hood pulls it through a charcoal filter and pushes it back into the room, which handles some smell and almost no moisture or grease vapor. Where an exterior wall or the attic is within reach, the duct run is worth the effort. Condo units near Legoland California and townhomes with shared walls are the usual cases where recirculating is the only choice.

Wall exit or roof exit

A wall exit is the shortest path when the range sits on an outside wall. An island range needs a roof exit or a long run through the ceiling joists to reach one. Joists run one direction, so the duct either follows them or gets a notched path approved by whoever signs off the framing. On a slab home in La Costa the attic is usually the only route, and the roof jack has to be flashed to match the roofing material.

Diameter, length and elbows

Most residential hoods are built for a six, eight or ten inch round duct, and the manual states the maximum equivalent length. Every ninety degree elbow counts as roughly five feet of straight pipe. A run with three elbows and fifteen feet of straight duct is already close to thirty feet of equivalent length, and fan output drops accordingly. Smooth rigid metal duct beats flexible foil, which sags and traps grease in its ribs.

Makeup air

A strong hood pulls air out of the house, and the replacement air has to come from somewhere. Hoods above a certain airflow rating trigger a makeup air requirement in the California mechanical code, usually met with a motorized damper tied to the hood switch. Without it, the hood fights the furnace flue and the bathroom fans, and doors start to whistle.

Salt air and the termination cap

Homes between Carlsbad State Beach and the shore of Agua Hedionda Lagoon see salt in the air year round. A painted steel cap rusts through in a few seasons, and the damper blade seizes open or shut. Stainless or heavy aluminum caps with a gravity damper last longer, and a screen with a fine mesh keeps birds out of the duct. Homes near Batiquitos Lagoon get the same treatment.

What gets settled before demolition

The hood model, its duct size and the exit point should be on paper before the cabinets are ordered, because the upper cabinet above the range may need a chase or a cut-down. A hood chosen after the cabinets arrive often leaves a duct that cannot reach the wall.