Venting hood (over stove) to outside in townhouse?
Slopemope, every fireplace had its own flue in the chimney. In kitchens from about 1850-1900, usually the wood- or coal-burning range was installed directly inside the kitchen fireplace.
callalily
in Bath & Kitchen 13 years and 4 months ago
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6 replies
realestate | 13 years and 4 months ago
Do townhouses typically vent hood to outside when undergoing renovation? We’re planning a hood over our cooktop and our architect is talking to our HVAC person about this but said that a lot of New York residences have hoods that do NOT vent to outside and just recirculate. I’m wondering what the typical solution is – it would seem that townhouses SHOULD vent to outside!
dazednconfused2 | 13 years and 4 months ago
Wherever possible, we vent to the exterior. Recirculating hoods are ok, but if you’re someone who likes to cook, or if you grill or stir fry, then you should really have the venting hood. In a townhouse it’s usually pretty easy to do.
housepoor | 13 years and 4 months ago
If the kitchen is in the front of the building, you may have to do a very good job hiding the exhaust where it penetrates the facade. In landmarks area, you may be told you cannot do that at all. I think you can run the exhaust to the rear or, as we did, up the old fireplace chase to the roof (our kitchen is front parlor level). But the velocity of the air drops with every turn of the exhaust pipe, to say nothing of the length of the run, and you will need a very powerful fan on the roof. On occasion our neighbors are not too happy about the fan noise. Recirculating fans are a last resort — they move the heat a little bit and do nothing to exhaust smoke.
jockdeboeraia | 13 years and 4 months ago
As long as they can comply with the code, vent it out. Re-cir is better than nothing but really are not doing much.
slopemope | 13 years and 4 months ago
A traditional brownstone layout had the kitchen in the rear, near windows. Cooking some fish, burn some olive oil? OK, just open the window. Inconvenient – absolutely, and not quite as functional, but livable.
Now lately it seems like people are opening up the space and moving the kitchen to the middle sometimes – yet no outside vent. HUGE mistake. Want to guess what its like when you cook fish, bake chicken or burn olive oil? Or want to cook in the hot summer? Not fun.
I consider ventless something for people who boil water and cook pasta and order takeout 99% of the time, or do cook but absolutely love their windows open all the time.
jameskoster | 13 years and 4 months ago
An unvented kitchen is crummy and low-end. If you want to add comfort and value, find a way to vent that hood to the outside. The code may not require this, but let’s remember that the code only exists to establish a set of minimum standards — the fact that developers sell so many “hi-end” units with unventilated kitchens continues to surprise me, but most buyers just aren’t that sophisticated.
Good luck.