Range hood is silently one of the most innovative kitchen appliances ever made. It could be a challenge to decide what type of range hood to install, as there are many varieties out there in the market. Though it has several names and functions, it only has two types. One is the Ducted Range Hood, and another one is the Ductless Range Hood. This classification is based on how the hood panel processes the air. For solving the puzzling situation, it is best to know about ducted vs ductless range hood.
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What is a Range Hood?
A range hood is an electrical machine that is placed in the kitchen. There are other names for range hood like exhaust hood, kitchen hood, stove hood, cooker hood, ventilation hood, electric chimney, fume extractor, and many more.
Most of the commercial hoods come in a stainless steel form, and it acts like a vacuum cleaner. A range hood's main job is to extract heat, grease, fume, odor, germs, smoke, and any air-polluting particles resulting from the cooking stove.
The machine is placed above the stove, hanged from the ceiling. It has a capture panel for containing the pollution and a fan inside, which sucks out the air floating beneath the machine. Correspondingly it has a grease filter too.
Range hoods are necessary for a healthy kitchen environment. It makes kitchen cleaning easier than anything.
What is a Ducted Range Hood?
ducted range hood
The word duct means a tube, tunnel, or passageway. Likewise, a ducted range hood uses a duct to extract the pollution generated by the stove. This contaminated air is then vented outside the kitchen with the help of a tube. The tube attached to the machine can go through the kitchen cabinet, ceiling, or just straight through the wall. Large-sized ducted range hoods are mostly used in commercial space and restaurants.
What is a Ductless Range Hood?
What is a ductless range hood? How a ductless range hood works? Just like its name, the ductless range hood doesn't have a duct attached to it. It uses a recirculation process in which the contaminated air is extracted and then filtered out to the kitchen again. The filter uses charcoal or activated carbon to make the contaminated air pure. Other names of ductless range hoods are nonducted range hood and recirculating range hood. Ductless range hoods are usually used in residential households.
Ducted vs Ductless Range Hood
There are a lot of arguments about which range hood is the best one to use. Both of them have some benefits as well as some drawbacks. Due to this reason, it's hard to point out the best one. Discussing ducted vs ductless range hood, we can figure out some of their qualities and distinctive advantages.
Size of the Range Hoods
Ducted range hoods need to be at least 3 to 6 inches bigger (on each side) than the actual cooking stove. For example: if the cooking stove is 30 inches wide in size, then the range hood should be at least 36 inches wide. If the range hood isn't slightly bigger than the cooking stove, it won't capture the contaminated air properly. Ducted range hoods can be 30 to 60 inches wide and up to 18 inches tall.
Ductless range hoods may vary from 21 to 36 inches wide. Though the ductless range hood's size usually doesn't matter because it merely acts as an air filtration that can be placed anywhere in the kitchen.
If the kitchen area is limited and has no room for duct installation, it's better to use a ductless range hood.
You can customize the range hood according to your size preference too.
According to Placement
The ducted range hood's placement needs to be precisely considered since the hood has to be placed just above the kitchen stove. Moreover, there should be enough space nearby for installing a duct. Overall ducted range hood placement can be tricky if the space is not big enough.
In contrast, a ductless range hood is more flexible. It only needs the space of its width because it doesn't require a duct installation.
Grease Capture Capacity
Cooking can emit an incredible amount of oil and heat, which makes the kitchen greasy. A ducted range hood is ideal for grease reduction because it carries out all the heat, steam, grease straight out of the kitchen.
In comparison, the ducted range hood filters the air and recirculates it back into the kitchen. In this process, some amount of grease can still be there after the filtration process.
Odor Reduction
No one likes a stinky kitchen with the fish, onion, and what not smell coming out of it. In this case, a ducted range hood can be your best friend. As it directly carries out the fume and heat straight out of the room, there remains a low amount of odor.
Since the ductless range hood fitters and regulates the air back into the kitchen, some odor can still exist. However, it could be a plus point if your food smells really good, and you want everyone's to enjoy the aroma and fragrance. If you can clean or replace your range hood filter timely, it can be the best for your home kitchen.
Heat and Moisture Reduction
The ductless range hood just pulls in the dirty air, filters it, and pushes out the fresh air. As the filtered air is not entirely fresh, the air contains some amount of moisture. It may make the kitchen humid and dirty pretty quickly.
Whereas the ducted range hood extracts out all the emitting heat and moisture, it is on the safe side for keeping the kitchen more dry and cool. The ducted hoods vent out most of the steam and moisture; thus, the indoor air quality stays clean.
Noise Level
Ductless range hoods are said to be making a loud noise, which can be irritating. The noise is logical as the ductless range hood requires the fans inside it to run quickly. The rapid rotation of the fans makes an unpleasant noise. Thus the decibel level is high.
In comparison, the ducted range hood runs very quietly. The fans installed inside the ducted range hood run smoothly without making any bothersome sound. It doesn't require large scale fan rotation to force the air to go through the filter. As a result, many customers give more credit to the ducted range hood.
Cost Differences Between Ducted and Ductless Range Hood
Ducted or ductless, a range hood will cost a significant amount of money.
Ductless range hoods cost less among the two types. The facts that make it more affordable are: it doesn't require any duct to install, no necessary changes to the kitchen room are needed, no requirement for making holes in the kitchen, easy to move and relocate. From basic to high-end, the price can vary from up to $40 to $1000.
The ducted range hood is usually a bit on the pricier side. As mentioned earlier, it involves a lot of other things that make it costly. The price range is between $100 to $1000. In addition, the installation charge can rise to $750 too.
Maintenance
The ducted range hood needs a fewer amount of cleaning and maintenance, unlike the ductless range hood. One may clean the outer surface of the hood if they think it has become greasy. As the ductless range hood has a filter in it which captures all the dirt, so it's obvious that the filter gets dusty and needs to be changed regularly for optimum performance. These types of filters need to be changed once every 3/4 months.
If the grease builds up over time, the grease will start to drip and capture a lot of dust, which ultimately will make the kitchen environment filthy. The regular filter replacements may become expensive to maintain, but it is for the sake of the standard environment.
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Which Range Hood is Perfect for Your Kitchen? Ducted or Ductless?
Both of the kitchen hoods have some pros and cons. But the perfect range hood can be picked based on the kitchen use.
If you regularly do a lot of frying, grilling, steaming, and use various types of spices, you shall want the kitchen to be odor and grease-free. You can opt for the ducted hood. You will also have to consider whether you have enough space and money to install a ducted range hood.
While doing regular cooking, where produces less grease and heat, you can pick a best ductless range hood. If you are running low on budget and don't have enough space for duct installation, this could be your best option.Final Word
Finally, to sum things up, it can be said that "ducted vs ductless range hood" is a debatable topic. Though it can be overwhelming to learn all the details about the range hoods before renovating your kitchen, the time invested in researching will not go in vain for sure. The cooking style and space availability determine which range hood you should look for.