The hood is looking for its place

Installing the hood at first glance a simple matter, but at the stage of selection the buyer must solve several serious issues.

The first and most important question – what type of hood should appear in the kitchen. It determines how the hood is installed on the project site and what additional technical considerations must be taken into account.

Consultants: O. Gray, Faber, H. Meshchaninov, “Turboair”.

You have to try very hard to fly down the chimney

For the hood, which operates in flowing mode, a very important issue – the device of the duct. The air must be led out into the ventilation shaft or directly into the street. Most homes, even modern ones, do not have a separate exhaust duct. So the user is forced to look for his own solutions.

1. Closing the existing ventilation opening with a duct is not an option, as it would compromise the overall ventilation of the room.

Some people think that high-capacity hoods can be a substitute for natural ventilation. But in order to do this, the unit must work practically round the clock.

2. For the outlet sometimes make a separate hole in their ventilation duct. But this is not the recommended course of action! The air will still return to the kitchen. In addition, it is possible that the air flow from the hood will “block” the natural ventilation in the kitchen.

3. In a city apartment attempts to punch a hole in the neighborhood, next to an existing one, often leads to the fact that you get into someone else’s duct, and the exhaust air will go into the neighbor’s apartment.

4. There is a variant of direct output to the street through the kitchen wall. In this case, the most difficult issue can be the coordination of the project with the relevant organizations. In addition, it is possible to blow air from the street into the room when the hood is turned off or weakly on. To avoid this, you will need to install an additional return valve at the outlet of the pipe. But the most important disadvantage of this option is the formation of condensation from the difference in temperature outdoors and indoors, especially in the wintertime. Condensate will not be disposed of in any way, so it just flows down the wall. It is not only ugly, but also very dangerous, because it can cause a short circuit of the electrical wiring of the same hood. Therefore, such work should not be performed independently, it should only be performed by professionals.

5. Some experts offer a simple and witty solution to this complex problem. The hood is installed on the project site, but no ducts are connected to it, and the purchase of an additional set of charcoal filters. In the hole of the ventilation shaft install an ordinary fan. When the hood will work and draw air, it, purified from grease and odor, will rise up, here it will be picked up by the eddy currents created by the fan. This way all the air will be evacuated from the room to where it should be – to the ventilation shaft. As you can see, in this case you need to buy and install a fan additionally. In addition, it is necessary to consider how to arrange synchronized switching of the hood and fan.

In our opinion this is a resourceful solution – one of the few safe ways to use the hood in apartment buildings. True, a number of experts believe it is ineffective, as the filter does not purify the air 100%.

Selecting the pipe with the knowledge of the hood

– Most hood buyers choose flexible corrugated ducting. They are cheap and very easy to install. But we must remember that each bend of this “accordion” reduces the performance of the appliance, since each of them provides resistance to the moving air.

– The aluminium fume cupboards make a characteristic rustling noise when the hood is in operation. If you choose a duct of thicker sheet metal, the sound pattern will change, but not disappear.

– The best option in this case will be ducting made of PVC, with a smooth surface.

The ducting can be not only circular in diameter, its cross-section can also be rectangular. This shape allows you to lay the pipe on top of the cabinets, the pipe itself will remain unnoticed.

Ducts with a rectangular cross section is more convenient to install in a grommet. But one very important condition must be taken into account. The cross-sectional area of the pipe must remain the same. The point is that the hood tends to extract the necessary volume of air. Narrowing the duct will lead to the fact that the appliance will need more power to evacuate the same volume. As a result the hood will always work at high power, the noise produced by the device will increase, and most importantly the wear and tear of the motor will increase.

Hoods have one dream – height

It’s also important to know how high you want the hood to sit from the stove. There are several conditions that must be met for safe operation of the appliance.

If you have a gas stove in the kitchen, the height of the installation of the hood must be at least 80-85 cm.

This is due to the fact that the grease filters in the hood and if there has not been any cleaning for a long time, the tube itself from the inside are covered with a layer of grease. This grease is quite flammable. Disposable acrylic filters can also pose a danger. That’s why it’s so important not to leave the flame on the stove, to always place the cookware on the stove immediately and to keep the filters tidy or change them in good time.

The distance from the electric stove to the hood should be 70-85 cm. If you plan to install the appliance at a distance greater than 85 cm, you will need to select a more powerful model for effective air intake.

We’ll take the direct route

The ducting should be as short as possible, with as few bends as possible. Each turn – an elbow reduces the performance of the hood by 7-15%.

If you need to install a horizontal section, it is better to give it a slight slope towards the outlet. It is not superfluous to be reminded of the need to make all joints airtight.

Let everything out, nothing in

When the hood is running, it creates a flow of air from the kitchen to the ventilation shaft. But if the appliance is off, the duct becomes a full-fledged “appendage” of the shaft, and all odors that are in it, can freely penetrate into the room.

Therefore, when choosing a hood, it is worth paying attention to the presence of an anti-return valve. It is designed to ensure that the movement of air through the pipes is carried out only in one, necessary direction.

Whatever the stove, whatever the hood

The hood is chosen on the basis of the size of the cooking surface or the width of the stove. The rule of thumb here is that the width of the hood must not be less than the width of the stove. That’s why you should buy a hood together with or after choosing a stove. Their width is standard and is 50, 60, 90, 120 centimeters. Keeping this simple precondition will ensure the efficiency of your appliance.

The surface that captures the air will correspond to the area of the hob, so all the steam and smoke, along with cooking odors will be captured and removed or cleaned .

The outlet becomes invisible

Ducts can be routed along the wall, as well as in it. The second option is possible at the stage of construction of own cottage or during serious repair. A large grommet is placed in the wall, and the air duct is placed in it. It can be a regular round, or it can be flat, in which case it will be easier to screw through the wall. It is necessary to lead one end of the duct into the ventilation shaft and leave the other at the design elevation.

It is determined on the basis of the floor height clean floor + screed + floor covering , the height of kitchen floor cabinets 80-90 cm , plus 70-85 cm – the height of the installation over the hob, and the structural dimensions of the selected hood.

Hood documentation specifies where the outlet must be located.

You can also cover it with a box

If the user does not want to make such a serious design for air extraction, you can hide the duct in a box of plasterboard. It can be “decorated” with light fixtures or simulate a false beam in case the hood is installed above the island. Ducts can be laid over a suspended ceiling, such as a stretch ceiling it is mounted in one day , plasterboard attached to the metal frame , Armstong type, rack and pinion.

The air duct can be concealed with a shelf that is placed on top of the kitchen cabinets. It is called a mensola. Not all kitchens can be equipped with them. Mensoles make kitchens heavier, besides they are mostly used in paneled, wooden kitchens. Fancy sets with low wall units are not equipped with mensols.

Three wires for one hood

It is advisable to connect the hood to the mains electricity supply. That means there must be a separate power outlet for the appliance. Ideally, it should only power the hood and shut off at the fuse box, for example, in case of fire but at least a disconnecting plug – for the same extreme cases .

Hoods are almost always sold with a three-wire cord. In accordance with modern requirements, the appliances have three conductors: phase, neutral and earth. This is how they must be connected.

The main purpose of grounding is to protect people from electric shock when they touch the cabinet or when it is switched on in case of an insulation breakdown. In case of a breakdown of the insulation, the fuses on the electric meter are turned off, and the hood power is turned off completely.

If this is not done, in the event of a wiring fault, voltage will be transmitted to the hood body, creating a “potential difference” the cause of the electrical current between the hood and the floor. If you touch the hood with your hand, the circuit will short out and an electric current will flow through the person – from the hood to the floor. To prevent this from happening, this third wire carries the current, thereby making the “potential difference” zero, and the faulty hood can even work at this time. The need for grounding is dictated by the possible surges in the network. In an emergency, grounding will “save” the hood motor, the entire electrical appliance.

1. It is advisable to provide an electrical socket for the hood as early as the renovation phase. To do this, it is necessary to lay a strobo – a groove in the wall, in which the wires are laid.

2. If you buy a hood during “peacetime”, you can install a cable duct for the wires. This is a plastic box consisting of two parts. The first is a U-shaped profile, which is attached to the supporting structure, in which the wires are laid. The second part, the cover, snaps into place from above, completely hiding the contents of the box. The cable duct is attached to the wall, cabinets if you run it on top of the cabinets, it will be completely invisible .

Many expensive kitchens are equipped with such a box. It is installed underneath the base of wall cabinets. In it installed outlets, lights, it can also accommodate wires from the hood. Such a box is an accessory and bought separately. It has the advantage that it blends in with the kitchen exterior, which is not the case with “makeshift” ducts.

3. You can try to hide the wiring behind a wall panel, which can easily be removed and installed in place.

Who is hiding in the cabinet?

Built-in models are fully concealed in a special cupboard. If you open its doors, you can see that the cabinet has a small internal volume, and the back wall as if put forward. Behind this wall, the hood’s utilities – the ductwork and electrical system – are concealed. If you look under the cabinet, you can see the hood itself. The cabinet is suitable for storing small objects e.g. spice rack .

If you opt for a built-in hood, then you must first select or purchase a model. Then in the kitchen showroom to pick up a cabinet for it. The cabinet must not only appropriate in size, but also fit the method of installation.

Externally, the cabinet is practically the same as the rest of the furniture set, only it has a lower height. This difference is just “covered” by the height of the hood and a small gap. Built-in hood can be telescopic. This means that when in operation, an additional section is extended, due to which the air intake area is increased, and the appliance works more efficiently.

Hood installation is carried out during the kitchen assembly phase.

The hood is fastened to the cabinet, then this construction is hung on the wall, on the cabinet hinges. Electricity is connected, and the ducts are connected. You can do a test run.

To the wall of it, to the wall…

Wall mounted hoods are appliances, most often working in recirculation mode. Their installation is the easiest. It is necessary to determine the projected position of the appliance and with the help of a level and an extractor template to mark the fixing points. Hoods are simply hung on top of them.

The user must remember that in some models of such hoods the slots for air return are on the top panel, but closer to the front edge. Therefore, if you plan to hang a cabinet over it, it must be narrow. There are models in which the purified air is discharged through slots located on the front panel. In this case, you can choose to place over the appliance a regular cabinet.

Wall-mounted hood is installed regardless of the renovation and assembly of the kitchen furniture.

Similar to a fireplace, but without fire – only smoke

Wall mounted hoods, also known as chimney hoods, are chosen when the kitchen is being fitted. The hood must not only match the overall design solution, but also fit the dimensions. At the stage of repair, the question of power supply is solved and arranged in the wall or in the structure of the duct if so planned according to the scheme attached to the device in serious kitchen showrooms are issued a complete plan of the conclusion of all communications .

Finishing work is performed, including the kitchen apron, if it is laid out of ceramic tiles. Then mount all the furniture of the kitchen set on the projected places, worktop and wall panel when it is provided . If a mensola is used, a hole is cut in it, in which the air duct will pass.

The size of the hole must be slightly larger than the dimensions of the pipe cross-section, but smaller than the dimensions of the hood. When installing the hood, the opening will be closed. Mensola is placed on top of the cabinets and fastened.

Now it’s time to deal with built-in appliances, including hoods. Some models are equipped with a special template that helps to accurately mark the position of fixing elements. It will not be superfluous to check the level. Hoods without hoods are installed on the wall and all air ducts are routed to the outlet if there is no ducting .

Pipes are fixed with special couplings or laid on the furniture. Then the power supply is connected and a test run is performed. Subject to normal operation, the hood is installed, adjustable in height to the mensola it has a sliding design .

Sometimes it is better to take from the ceiling

Installation of the ceiling-type hood is different in that at the stage of construction must be arranged ducts.

Then mount the suspended ceiling structures, false beams and so on, it is very important to strictly observe the level of all structures.

It is necessary to provide at the points of installation of the hood embedding elements for a rigid and secure attachment of the appliance metal frame attached to the main ceiling, or wooden bars . After all, a suspended ceiling, as a rule, has a low load-bearing capacity and simply can not withstand the weight of the device.

The unit is installed after the installation of kitchen furniture, including the island over which the hood is planned.

And who will make?

Hoods are usually installed by the crews assembling the kitchen furniture. It is the employees of the salon. Therefore, the kitchen salon is responsible for the quality of their work. If you buy a hood in a household appliance store, it can be installed by a specialist in the store, there should also be a warranty.

In principle, you can install a hood yourself, especially a simple inexpensive wall-mounted model that operates in recirculation mode. Although it makes sense to get acquainted with the manufacturer’s warranty terms beforehand is the warranty still valid if you assemble it yourself .

Hoods require a certain amount of attention. At the time of purchase, the user must address a number of technical issues. However, the increase in sales of these devices indicates that it is not as difficult as it seems at first glance, the more so that the specialists are always ready to help you.