How to Install a Range Hood Vent Through Ceiling or Wall

The range hood vent uses ducts that are made to run in the roof or walls. It is considered a little more expensive to vent your range hood through the roof than through the wall.

This is why you need to install the range hood vent properly, or you call a roofing contractor. If you are handy enough, you can follow our article step by step, and we will lead you through the whole process.

We understand that you would want to add a new range hood over your stove or gas, and it is critical and vital. If you would want to run your vent through the ceiling, you should be prepared to get adequately sized ducts that would be enough to run through the roof, to the attic, and the rooftop.

This is where it would be successfully connected to the rooftop vent.

Methods involved in venting range Hoods

We are briefly going to be talking about the various methods involved in venting range hoods.

1. Ducted or Vented Hoods

This type of venting is typically the vertically ventilated hood, which we very much like, but they require installation. Even though they require work, this type of ducted hood is usually the most efficient.

They easily trap grease and other unwanted odors to the outside while decreasing the number of times you need to clean your kitchen surfaces.

Investing in the vented hoods also makes sure you do not have to change your filters very often. Having your ducted installation usually cost anything between $1000 and $2000 for a complete job, but in this article, we will be walking you through the step by step process, so save these. Stay tuned.

2. Ductless or Recirculated Hoods

Ductless hoods do not use the same concepts as ducted vents. This is because they do not need any vents installed, but they still trap the needed grease and smoke away.

How they do this is that they draw the odors and smoke, filter it before recirculating into our homes. These ductless models do not need the regular ductwork that is required by the ducted hoods.

Installing these hoods are much cheaper compared to the ducted vents but are not as effective. They also need a constant change of their filters (at least every four months), which costs about $20, or they can be cleaned even though this option is not advisable.

For more details about ductless and ducted range hoods check out our detailed guide on Ducted vs Ductless Range Hoods as it will help you make a better buying decision.

3. Convertible Hoods

The concept of convertible range hoods is slightly different. They can be installed either as a ducted vent or range ductless hood. This also means that they allow both vertical and horizontal ventilation

Having said these, let’s dive into install the most efficient model:

Section 1: How to install a range hood vent through the ceiling

Even if installing a range hood vent is very similar to installing a kitchen hood vent, there is a very slight difference. Note that installing a range hood vent through a metal roof is very similar to when you want to install an asphalt roof.

We do strongly recommend that you call in an experienced range hood vent installer to handle this installation because many a time, if you install it yourself, it would bring issues soon and this you don’t want.

Installing a range hood vent through the ceiling is also called venting vertically, and this is the method we recommend. You should start by drilling a hole through the roof and make sure it goes through where you want your vent to go.

You should obey some basic rules when drilling the hole, like making sure it is at least three feet away from any chimneys, toilet vents, any form of roof protrusion.

Good practices also involve keeping your kitchen vents at least five feet upward from the bottom edge of the eaves(the bottom edge of your roof). After this process is completed, a hole should be cut using a jigsaw.

Also, measure a square or a circle depending on the shape of your vent, make sure it larger than the vent hole, and make sure you remove the shingles in this area using a hooked blade.

Using the hooked blade, pry the shingles around the hole to make sure that the vent can go under. Slide the vent under the shingles after applying asphalt roof cement to the bottom of the vent. We advise to cover the vent from the top and make the lower part of sitting on the shingles.

After this, you should use roofing nails to nail the flange to the corners. Then conduct the roof vent to the accordion duct.

This video should give you an idea on how to go about it

 

Materials needed for the above.

  • Flexible Accordion duct with insulation
  • Hooked blade
  • Roof-mounted exhaust vent
  • Jigsaw
  • Drill
  • Caulk gun
  • Pry bar
  • Asphalt roof cement
  • Roofing nails

Section 2: How to install a range hood vent through the wall

If you find it hard climbing the roof to be able to vent your range hood, then you can vent it through the wall. Another name for venting through the wall is called horizontal wall venting. All you need to do is install an 18 inches straight venting before installing an elbow.

This is another method of installing for installing an elbow that would later go into the wall. You can also run the duct through the ceiling using the guide in section one and then connect it to an exterior wall nearby.

Getting started, you should make a hole a little larger for the ducting of your vent. After doing so, attach the venting unit using flat head screws around the edges to the mounting box, making sure they are at least three inches apart.

Before attaching the ducting through the venting hole, we advise you to trim the vent’s flange so that it can perfectly fit the mounting box. Apply clear roofing graded caulk so that it would seal the vent and the mounting box.

We also recommend getting a vinyl mounting box that is 12×18 inches and cut it down into a round hole ready for the ductwork. Most of the ductworks are 10 inches wide and are usually shaped in an accordion way. You should also make sure the roof vent is of the same size as what you have bored down.

Materials needed for the above:

  • The recommended Accordion ductwork
  • Flathead screws
  • Clear roofing-grade exterior caulk
  • A vent and mounting box
  • Options to consider before venting your kitchen

Range hoods help you to ventilate your kitchen workspace.

Ventilation being an essential factor for your kitchen is why we need range hood vents since it helps remove poisonous gases and smoke and ensure safety.

Some kitchen users rely on range microwaves to do the function of a vented range hood. It doesn’t work this way. The range of microwaves only works for kitchens that have very low space and can’t afford to accommodate more appliances. This makes them force appliances to do double work (i.e., multitask).

This is in some sense good, but it has it’s bad sides too because these appliances multitasking would be easily overloaded and develop faults because they are doing so much work.

Also, nothing can be compared to a properly installed and vented range hood when it comes to functionality. Others can try. Having a range hood vent also makes your kitchen have a stylish look that screams attention and makes it look very first class.

Power is another thing that should be considered when trying to choose between installing a range hood vent or just looking for other means. A range hood venting power measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM) has the power to move air efficiently and functionally.

If you put all these into consideration, you would pick to install a range hood vent into your kitchen to not only keep your home secure from odors but to keep you and your household safe. Fans are another option that tends to considered more often than thought because they are less expensive.

This is because they are rotary fans that are made of blades and shaped mostly like a barrel and sometimes a wheel. We do not advise you to go for them usually because they don’t usually do their jobs effectively, unlike normally ducted vents.

Having a powerful hood also means you will have to get a larger duct. This is because if your duct is too small for the hood, it will begin to make unnecessarily loud noises making your kitchen annoying loud. It can also cause leakages to start in your duct, especially at joints.

We recommend buying a range hood filter that has at least 40 CFM of your workspace, or for every 100 BTUs of your gas cooktops, you should have 1 CFM.

Depending on your needs, you should make an 8-inch duct vent for an average of 600 CFM units and a 15-inch duct vent would need a 1000 CFM unit.

Video Guide: Installing a Range Hood Vent through an interior Wall

 

Key points you should note during installation

Tip 1: Before starting anything in the kitchen, you should switch off the power that is connected to the section of the kitchen to avoid electrical hazards. You should also not use wet hands when handling any electrical appliances.

Tip 2: Determining the type of hood you already have in your possession or want to get would help you know if you would need a ducted vent or not.

Tip 3: You should make sure that the outlet you are plugging your range hood vent is sufficient for its power requirements in order to avoid electrical hazards. The power sufficiency of each outlet and cables are often labeled on them so check properly.

Tip 4: You should always check your user manual or make research to make sure that you install the range hood vent by yourself doesn’t void warranties on the products you buy.

Other Guide: How to Clean Range Hood Filter

Tip 5: Make sure you separate and strip the wires.

Tip 6: The ducts that are run through your roof must be air and watertight because you do not want your roof to be filled with smoke. It will also cost you more to call a professional to fix this.

Tip 7: We advise that you should use painted steel in your ducting endeavors and not plastic. This ensures that there won’t be any leakages due to durability issues.

Tip 1: Make sure your connections are properly made, your white wire is the neutral wire, your black wire is your hot while your green wire is the ground. They should be connected to the largest prong, slightly smaller prong and the long thin one respectively in the order.

Tip 8: Use wire nuts to connect wires.

Tip 9: Make sure you about using plastic when venting your ducted vents. This is because plastics are usually less quality. We advise you to use painted steel, galvanized steel or metal ducting.

Tip 10: Do not use plastic venting or ducting.

Tip 11: Ensure that the smoke leaves the duct easily and quickly, do not use more than 40 feet of ductwork.

Tip 12: To avoid issues with condensation or leakages, you should insulate your ductwork.

Tip 13: Sealing all the joints with HVAC tape is also very advisable and recommended.

Tip 14: In order to make your airflow better and ensure the smoke moves faster, you should avoid using too many elbows. As a matter of fact, it is advised that you make at least 23 inches of straight vents before putting in an elbow. Not more than four 90 degree elbows should be used in your ducting

Jennifer Dumas

My name is Jennifer! Welcome to Dinners and Dreams. My goal here is to encourage you to try out recipes you never thought you could make at home. Furthermore, I also review products that I have used in the past or currently using to make every day buying decisions easier and to ensure you get the best value for your money.

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