Kitchen Exhaust Vent

We have a kitchen exhaust vent above the stove. I've noticed that it is not very effective at sucking out the cooking aromas. Seems the fan is weak. Anyone replaced theirs with a stronger fan or have any insight on why its not effective? Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

Are you sure that it is actually an exhaust vent, and not a recirculating vent? Our microwave (above the stove) has a vent, but it doesn't exhaust the vapors outside; they are filtered and sent back into the kitchen. We have a downdraft vent in our cook-top that vents outside; we use this one when trying to exhaust vapors.

 

Yep I'm sure. There is an exhaust flap outside which opens slightly when on.

 

Is there any way to check and see if the vent piping joints are sealed completely?

 

We actually have the same setup. Vent over the stove on the center island .... and so far it seems to be working very well ... it might be the vent piping joints …

 

Same topic different question. Pats Fan, maybe you can field this one. We have an island range vent that allows soooo much cold air into the house. It feels like I am standing next to an open window when near it! Is this normal? We are losing heat!!!

 

I have also noticed a draft when standing next to the stove when the vent fan isn't running.

 

When your house fan turns on, during normal heating operation, it sucks air from wherever it can get it. i.e. around windows, doors, or other gaps, fireplaces, attic access doors, etc. This includes exhaust vents.

If you are desperate you can seal the outside, but remember to open it again when you want to use the exhaust. An easy way to seal it is to stuff a wad of insulation into the tube from the outside, and then close the flap. Just remember it is there for future removal. You might also look and make sure the outside flap closes efficiently during normal operation.

Normally the flap should be sucked inward when your whole house fan is on, and this cuts off most of the flow of "inbound" air. If your flap is warped or bent it will not create as efficient of a seal as it might be able too.

This is a hard one to fix, I am not aware of any relatively inexpensive fixes. There are fan exhaust units that seal themselves when not in use, but most of those are big bucks. Maybe someone else has an idea.

Also, the farther away from the exhaust your HVAC air intake vents are the better. Lot of good that'll do you now, post construction.

 

Hi Sunny,

We have the same issue. Our downdraft vent ducting runs through the cabinet below our cook-top. It is pretty cold in that cabinet in the wintertime; we definitely have a pretty good draft coming from under there. We haven't done anything about it. One thing that probably helps minimize our heat loss is that we don't use that cabinet very often (there is not a lot of room in the cabinet anyway, between the ducting and the electrical outlet for the fan and cook-top). We also have child locks on those doors, so our little ones don't play in there, either.

If your draft is that bad, you could probably try to insulate around the piping and the joints, or you could follow AFGM's advice and insulate & seal the vent entirely. But then, of course, you won't be able to use the vent anymore.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice!
I must admit that I had never considered checking the flap outside....and it was not shut all the way! The big vent pipe is sticking out pretty far and prevents the flap from shutting! Van Metre scheduled McCrea to come out today and take care of it (I am past my one year...but have been complaining about this for awhile and they told me that the range top was just drafty by nature).
Thanks Again!!!