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For kitchen ventilation to be effective, designers will also want to adhere to the following general rules:

• To determine the appropriate kitchen CFM required for the cook surface, consideration should be given to increasing the CFM if:
  • More aggressive cooking style is practiced;
  • The hood is installed higher than manufacturer recommends;
  • The capture area is compromised by width or depth; or
  • The duct run is unusually long or complex.
• Install range hoods at the lowest acceptable height to maximize capture while complying with manufacturers’ recommendation for minimum height requirements—typically 18–24 inches.
• Use a hood that is at least as wide as the cook top.
• The hood should be deep enough to completely cover rear burners and half the front burners.
• If the hood is installed over an island or peninsula cook top, the hood should extend 3 inches on each side and back, and at least to the middle of the front burners.
• Increase the hood size and depth to compensate for higher mounting heights or when there are greater cooking demands than usual.
• As a minimal guide, maintain the same square inch area of duct as originated at the hood. Airflow can be maximized by increasing duct size from the hood.

For peninsulas or islands with cook tops, where no option exists for a canopy hood:

• Use a downdraft system.
• Design the counter so there is a raised section behind the cook top to reduce the effects of cross drafts.
• Choose the downdraft to address the height for the typical cookware.
• Make sure that the downdraft system is appropriate for the BTU output.
• Shelter the cooking area to prevent drafts—cross drafts from nearby doors and windows will reduce the effectiveness of the fan.

Use It or Lose It

Homes must be designed properly and incorporate appropriate ventilation technology to provide the potential for good indoor air quality.

To actually generate good IAQ, the homeowner must be educated on its invaluable role—that of operator and maintainer of their residential ventilation system.

If equipment is not used, or not used correctly, good IAQ will not be achieved or maintained.

Educating homeowners on the operation of their continuous and intermittent ventilation system and resulting benefits is critical to providing a healthy environment for all the occupants of their residence in addition to maintaining its structural integrity and overall value.

About The Home Ventilating Institute

The Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) is a non-profit association representing manufacturers of home ventilating products from the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe. HVI offers a variety of services including test standards and certification programs that provide a voluntary means for residential ventilation manufacturers to report product performance information based upon uniformly applied testing standards and procedures performed by independent laboratories.

The Certified Rating Programs of HVI were created to provide a fair and credible method of comparing ventilation performance of similar products, and architects and specifiers can rely on HVI certified products to perform as represented. HVI represents a wide range of home ventilating products including bathroom fans, kitchen range hoods, downdraft kitchen fans, inline fans, heat/energy recovery ventilators, single and multi-port exhaust fans, exterior mounted fans, balanced ventilators, whole house cooling fans, powered attic ventilators, passive fresh air inlets and static ventilation devices for attics and crawl spaces.