Do I really need a range hood?
SEE OUR FINISHED KITCHEN HERE!
I need to tell you my deepest darkest kitchen secret:
I do not like a range hood.
I hate them all.
I particularly detest the massive monument-to-wasted-space that has become a bizarre status symbol; like mounting a Range Rover over your stove.
Sure, you can choose one that is low-profile, but that would be in direct opposition to the opportunity to install an oversized jet-engine, directly in the place your face goes while standing at the stove.
Although obviously, (like any sensible person) I would trade a good portion of my soul for this kitchen.
Those sentences above are the beginning of a post I started months ago… Back when I thought I could withstand the scorn of the internet if I chose to not waste money and space on an appliance that I will never use.
However.
I have since begun to fear the wrath of the Appropriate-Cooking-Evaluators: a band of angry militants who patrol the internet for violations which offend them personally; and who believe that forgoing a direct-vented range hood is akin to voluntarily injecting yourself with Ebola virus— unbelievably stupid.
Like this kitchen below– so terrible! Let’s take a moment to reflect on how badly we feel for these people that their kitchen is so subpar!
I’m practically BLIND FROM HOW HORRIBLE THIS IS.
So why would I consider an about-face from hood-denier to herd-animal; when my preferred response to scorn and judgment is always to dig in my heels and run forward towards the executioner?
I guess the internet has broken me.
Specifically, a particular element to the internet that pervades every single topic that people can possibly form an opinion about: the mindset that there is ONLY ONE GOOD ACCEPTABLE WAY to do something that has zero impact on anyone else’s life.
The ONLY ONE GOOD ACCEPTABLE WAY people believe ONE THING, and then that is ALL THEY BELIEVE and they make it their life’s work to make sure anyone not doing THE WAY is immediately disqualified from life, clapped in irons, and dragged to the town square to be flogged for idiocy.
Which, upon reflection, is the source of all human conflict through history: your own opinions are fine, but other people’s are moronic and intolerable and deserving of the flaming cannonballs with chains.
Unless they happen to agree with you, in which case they are well-informed.
The ONLY ONE GOOD ACCEPTABLE WAY people’s initial input is well-meaning! (If bordering on didactic and unhinged.)
But if you fail to PROPERLY HEED THEIR WARNING AND APPRECIATE THEIR WISDOM…they become enraged.
WHY! Why would someone WHO HAS BEEN WARNED!! Fail to instal a direct-vent range hood???
Look at THESE IDIOTS! Living without a range hood!
Imbeciles!
I am thinking specifically of a kitchen-chatboard thread, where a woman explained that it was IMPOSSIBLE to direct-vent her range hood. And she wondered if (seeing as how she couldn’t direct vent,) could she just skip the questionably-effective-substitute-which-is-essentially-just-a-fan and install a light fixture she had fallen in love with.
It was the light fixture of her dreams! A design element that would bring her peace and joy and goodwill towards all! A lamp that would improve her very existence on earth and she could die happy because SHE HAD THE BEST LAMP.
The responses varied… but there were an ALARMING number of respondents who were EXTREMELY BOTHERED by the fact that this woman was not gutting her kitchen to the studs and reconfiguring everything towards the goal of direct-venting the range hood… and she should probably just go out and rent a bulldozer THAT VERY NIGHT and knock it all down to the ground while flagellating herself for having considered any other option.
They basically went on to suggest that she was a filthy, squalor-dwelling subhuman moron.
And as I read on and on and on… I have to tell you that I was AMAZED at the PASSION total strangers were bringing to disparaging this woman and her lamp… I mean, who has time for lengthy screeds decrying other people’s DESIGN CHOICES?
And then I was EVEN MORE AMAZED at how these people do not realize that they look like flaming lunatics.
My FAVORITE response was from a woman who wrote:
This one time, we didn’t have a range hood, and we had to THROW AWAY ALL OF OUR BELONGINGS INCLUDING THE FURNITURE after one month BECAUSE THEY SMELLED SO FOUL AND HORRIBLE from non-vented cooking odors.
I don’t know about you… but that does NOT sell me on a vent… it DOES, however, make me wonder WHAT THIS WOMAN IS MAKING FOR DINNER.
Anyway. All of this is to explain that I do not want a range hood.
But that I am thinking about it anyway.
Because of the internet.
And I am mad about it.
The way I’ve decided to deal with this irritating anxiety that MY kitchen in MY house designed to MY preferences might draw the ire of some random stranger on the internet is to turn it over to you.
Here’s what you need to know: our township construction code does not require one. I will not have an eight-burner stove outgassing 67 billion btu’s/therms/whatever other specs.
Ok! GO FOR IT!
This is your chance!
I WASH MY HANDS.
And if you fail to draw me out from the cave and convince me of the shadows on the wall, then you must return to your war room and inform the other ONLY ONE GOOD ACCEPTABLE WAY-ers that your method is flawed.
Please make a good argument! Definitely do not include information like this: you NEED a hood!
Because: SURPRISE! I do not!
I can prove that to you because we HAD a hood! It was direct-vented!
And I NEVER USED IT.
I never used it SO MUCH that I had Paul take it out.
Every single night I was like— WHY IS THIS THING RIGHT IN MY FACE?
Until eventually I was like– Plague of nonsense, BE GONE!
p.s.— save some outrage for the post where I explain how I’m thinking of not having a freezer.
xoxo,
VEB, squalor-dwelling subhuman moron, esq.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:27 am
I think part of this issue depends on your kitchen. I need that fan when I’m browning meat or making some smoke (cooking, that is). Without it, our fire alarm shrieks to kingdom come. At our old house, a jewel box Victorian (e.g. Small but fabulous), no vent was needed in that kitchen. And nothing smelled.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:28 am
My mom just installed a vent that is stored in the counter top and then when you need it you simply hit a button and it raises up out of the counter to vent from behind. It’s great because there isn’t a giant hood anywhere. And unless you actually NEED it, you aren’t inconvenienced by it. It also works very well when needed.
I don’t know the exact brand, but something like this:
http://www.houzz.com/pop-up-vent
Now, her house is very modern, but since this is something that essentially disappears I imagine it would work with more traditional styles.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:28 am
Duh. Your house=your opinions. I cook like a fiend and have an above range microwave with a useless fan attached. I use it when I need an excuse to complain about how incredibly useless it is at venting odors or steam. Gratefully, smoke is not an issue because I am a rock star cook who basically never makes any mistakes. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Ha.
Anyway, skip the hood. And also hurry up and finish your kitchen so you can show us pictures. *smooches*
December 14, 2016 @ 11:29 am
My parents’ original kitchen had the range on a peninsula with a NuTone fan flush with the ceiling. The ones from the 50’s with the round chrome grilles. My grandparents had a range with a small recirculating vent hood above it and it wasn’t enough so they put one of those NuTone fans in the wall next to the range, and they were fine. It would have been a similar distance from the wall to yours. My other grandparents had no vent hood and open shelving on the stove wall and things got greasy there, but that’s because my grandfather didn’t clean very thoroughly after my grandmother died.
If you don’t want the wasted space the low profile hoods are probably fine, or the side-vent, or nothing. I don’t turn my vent fan on all the time anyway.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:30 am
I have a microwave over the range. It has a vent. Sometimes I use the vent. I love to fill my house with cooking smells. All is good!
December 14, 2016 @ 11:31 am
You’re very brave. I applaud you for naming things that shall not be named. Such as internet warriors taking a bold stand behind their tiny phone keyboards about other people’s lives. I love my range hood “con un passion” as they say in hotter climates because my cooking tends to fall victim of Words With Friends. My hooded friend prevents embarrassment from hungry family members’ comments. The only argument I could make regarding a hood in YOUR darling house is if you randomly decided to sell it to me as is. And then I would buy it regardless of hoodedness. And so I hereby grant you my permission to enjoy your home in the way that suits you best.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:32 am
I am with you! YOU DO NOT NEED A RANGE HOOD! our kitchen is on the list to be remodeled but until we get there we have a beautiful pot rack that we made hanging above our stove. I love it and I want to keep it when that remodel does happen. DO NOT CAVE TO ONLY ONE GOOD WAY ACCEPTABLE-rs! Don’t let them win!
December 14, 2016 @ 11:32 am
If you’re not already set on a range, they do make them with their own vent in the range itself. Called a “downdraft range”. So no big range hood hanging in your face. A link that explains and has a few examples.
http://ovens.reviewed.com/news/no-vent-required-kitchenaid-offers-new-downdraft-ranges
December 14, 2016 @ 11:33 am
I have a 66″ x 36″ one (brand new, never installed or used) sitting in my garage, as I have been cooking without on a 6 burner commercial Vulcan Stove for 23+ years without one. (will probably donate it to Habitat Restore but hesitating because I paid $3500 for it!) I did purchase two slim ones (30″ each) that I plan to mount under a cornice over the stove, side by side, because I am going to be selling my c.1799 home in the near future and I figured the buyer would want one. I have an 8 burner 5 star stove in my other house with a matching hood and have used it a few times. The draw is so strong it sucks in the smoky air from the fireplace, LOL! The choice is yours.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:33 am
Oh, please…….forgo the range hood. They are ugly and ridiculous. I far prefer the “subpar” kitchens without them! I will confess that I have lived without a range hood and do not have stinky furniture throughout the house. OMG! People are ridiculous and that is why WE LIKE YOU!!! Open a window people! For god’s sake! Do what you like and do not follow the internet herd!!!!!!!
December 14, 2016 @ 11:33 am
Now I’m wondering if I blindly installed a hood because I assumed everyone had to have one. I never use it although Viking installed in their hoods an auto feature that comes on if the heat or smoke are too much. I would love to not have one. I’m saving most of the pictures you’ve shared because I hope, one day, I don’t have to have a hood.
xo,
Karen
December 14, 2016 @ 11:33 am
I live in an apartment with a windowless kitchen. I have a self venting stove and the vent is pretty useless. If- like you- I had windows and a door that would open if it got smokey- then I would not worry about a hood. So there.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:36 am
You do you! You’re the one who is going to have to live with the useless monstrosity every day. Particularly since you had one before and never used it, it would likely be the same with any new one you install. I don’t have one in my rented place. There only seems to be a tiny amount of grease that settles on things around the kitchen (it might even be the same with a vent – who can say?), and it’s nothing that a little extra vinegar/water wipedown doesn’t fix 2x a year. I’d be more worried about it if I had open shelving. However, it’s really a personal choice. Either it fits in with your glorious kitchen vision and lifestyle or it doesn’t.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:37 am
I can’t say if you should or shouldn’t. I can only tell you about my kitchen. I have one great room. Kitchen, dinning and living room. I do not have a vent hood (by choice during a remodel). I really regret it. I cook a lot. Breakfast? Yes the smell of fried eggs last until lunch. Lunch? Eat cold food it has less odor.Dinner last night? Homemade spaghetti. Lots of garlic and spice’s. Served at 5:30. Even though I opened the kitchen window while cooking and clean up, I could still smell it faintly this morning. Did I mention it was 18 degrees here yesterday? With the wind chill it was below zero and yes I had the window open. I have it open a lot all winter long. I have spent two years trying to get my husband to put in a vent. He refuses to rip out the custom cabinets above the stove and beside those really. To reconfigure it for a vent. Some things sound good in theory but don’t work in real life. Did I mention I am teaching my 14 year old son to cook so he doesn’t leave home totally clueless? We need that vent.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:38 am
I vote NAY! We have a tiny kitchen that we IKEA remodeled several years ago. We skipped the “required” hood because if we had one we would be left with only 2 upper cabinets. Ridiculous. It’s been 2 years. Yes, we occasionally have to crack a window when cooking. Yes, we have to wipe down the cabinets above the stove on a quarterly basis (though I’m fairly sure I’m the only person that notices anything.) Our house doesn’t stink. Nothing has burned down. We cook a ton and this choice has had zero negative impact on our lives. In fact, the additional cabinets have been wonderful and it allowed us to have a visually seamless design. Skip the hood.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:38 am
I’ve had 4 houses and only one had a range hood. Hated it. My current house has none. I do have a little cottage that came with a range hood, but as soon as I get around to renovating, it’s gone. Although I admit on rare occasions, it does keep the smoke alarm from sounding.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:39 am
This post is RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS.
I thank you for it. I very much enjoyed it. I also enjoyed telling our contractor that I had no desire to have a range hood, and had not ordered one when I ordered the kitchen components, and intended to live without one forever. We even have—gasp!!!!—cabinets over our induction stovetop. It’s totally fine. Range hoods can take a flying leap.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:39 am
I agree that the need for a hood is dependent on the way you cook.; maybe you don’t need one.
I cook a variety of ways and like to be prepared, so even though I do not like them, I do have a hood. Its a simple stainless steel direct exhaust hood, set higher up- to avoid head bumping and claustrophobia, with 2 good lights, a variable speed motor, and I use it sometimes.
I have always hated the noise of a hood, so I found one that has adjustable speeds and is pretty darned quiet on the lower speeds. I start with it on a high speed to bet the proper air flow going, and then turn it down.
Still, I rarely use it. I use it when cooking something I do not want my house to smell like, or something that creates a smog of steam. Certainly when frying something. Over the years, that steam will create a film of yuck on your walls, no.t to mention the rarely used pots hanging from a pot rack. (I do love my pot rack- just grab the pot you want- no opening doors, or shuffling and clanging of pots.)
Perhaps you do not need a “hood.” There are other apparatus’ that will do the job of creating an exhaust. Some stoves have a downdraft exhaust. True, I haven’t seen one in years, but you are an excellent researcher. I’m not sure how effective they are- seemed to me they just pull the heat from under the pots on the stove.
I have a friend who has a flat-to-the-wall, in-the-wall pull chain operated exhaust. Not as efficient as a hood, but it helps.
I think you must remember that many of those photos of kitchens are staged- not true to life.
Happy decision making,
Cyn
December 14, 2016 @ 11:40 am
Our house came without a vent hood. The stovetop is on a peninsula and there is zero venting. I’ve always wished it did have a hood or even a down draft vent. Something. Anything. No my furniture doesn’t need to be replaced every month. And I actually probably do less cooking than most (it’s not my favorite thing in the world). But cooking onions…. Yeah, would be nice to have a vent. Not to mention the pendant light fixtures above the peninsula get grubby looking from grease (not a ton…. Remember my dislike of cooking) and then dust sticking to them. It isn’t horrible. But it is enough that I wish we had one. Oh and last point, cooking anything that boils or has tons of steam… Good luck seeing what you’re doing with the billowing clouds in your face haha! There you have it. My top reasons for wanting a vent hood. If none of those bother you then I say, forgo it! We’ve lived here 7 years and no major issues from it.
December 14, 2016 @ 11:40 am
I say do what you want – if you’re not planning on selling your house anytime soon then there’s absolutely NO point in installing something you don’t like the look or function of. That said, I have one dimension to the hood debate that perhaps you haven’t heard…we just renovated our kitchen and we now have a “real” hood (our old one was the microwave fan variety) but I always forget to turn it on. Consequently, despite the fact that we’ve only been using the kitchen 2 months and I never fry things and rarely smoke up the room, the beautiful giant glass globe pendant lights I spent countless hours choosing for over the island are FILTHY. I didn’t have this problem in my old house because the light fixtures just didn’t show the gunk. I am not a person who cleans light fixtures, you know, ever. So, I guess what I’m saying is, while most people consider the proximity of open shelves to the stove (and the contents’ frequency of use/cleaning), I would add light fixtures to the list of considerations – some will show cooking grease a lot more than others depending on the type of glass, etc. All a moot point if you’re *really* never going to use a hood – I’m working on training myself, but it’s slow-going. Good luck with the decision!
December 14, 2016 @ 12:16 pm
You can get that grease off pretty easily. Just mix a spoonful of baking soda in some water, stir til dissolved, and then apply with a sponge/scrubber to anything covered in grease. A little gentle scrubbing and it’ll come right off. I just cleaned years of accumulated grease off one of our kitchen light fixtures last week.
December 14, 2016 @ 5:50 pm
I unscrew mine and stick them in the dishwasher. I have to do that from time to time because I have a useless microwave/vent thingy that just makes a lot of noise.