Nearly every kitchen has a range hood. The range hood is the exhaust system that cleans the air out of your kitchen while you are cooking. Without a range hood, vapors from cooking will stay in the air for a long time. How much to install a range hood, and what factors make the installation more or less expensive?
Range hoods are placed over your cooker to catch vapors and small particles before they spread to the rest of your house. You don’t want to let cooking smells spread into other rooms. Cooking scents that smell good at first should not stay in the house for very long, as they will make the air stuffy in the long run.
Opening up the window or using an ordinary fan is not always good enough. A range hood is the best way.
If you are getting a new kitchen or improving yours, you might need an entirely new range hood installed. This is not always cheap.
If there is already a vent in your kitchen, you can get a range hood installed for less than $450. A new ductless hood that goes under your cabinet and does not have a vent costs more like $700 than $400. A “ductless hood” is a range hood that uses a filter rather than vents the air outside. Filters do work well and might be preferable if installing new ducts is too expensive.
Sometimes, you can pay more than $1000 or even more than $1500, with $2000 being uncommon. If you are installing a fancy type of range hood and need new ducts installed, it can be expensive. However, the installation usually costs less than that.
Installation Cost VS Purchase Cost
Part of the cost of a range hood is buying the equipment; another part is the labor cost to have it installed. The labor cost can be a significant part of the total. If you need to install ducts, it is much more expensive than if there are already ducts to attach the range hood to.
Sometimes, you only need to replace a range hood and not install a new one from scratch. In that case, it is cheap. If you only need to get the hood replaced, it may cost you as little as $300. $300 refers to the labor cost, not the total cost, which might never be that low. The less work the installers have to do, the cheaper it is.
If the installers have to do a lot of work, it might cost you $900 just for the installation and much more with the cost of the equipment. Some types of hoods are harder and more expensive to install than others. If the hood is time-consuming to install and you need new ducts, the labor cost can be close to $1000.
It is harder to install ducts in some rooms than in others. You might have to pay hundreds of extra dollars if your ducts have to go up through the roof, not straight through the wall, which is an easier job. If you are trying to save money, make sure it is easy to install ducts in the room you choose.
How much to install a range hood?
A small, 24-inch hood might cost only $427 to install.
A larger range hood of standard quality might set you back $714. These 42-inch hoods clean the air a lot faster than small, budget-friendly range hoods do, so they may be worth the extra $300.
A custom wall-mounted hood that blends into your wall and doesn’t interfere with the style of your kitchen is more expensive. You might have to spend something like $1540 to install it.
If you want a vent installed on your floor rather than your wall or ceiling, that can be even more expensive. Sometimes these down-draft hoods only cost $1000, but they can cost as much as $2500. It may be a lot of work to build a vent on your floor. However, some people love the fact that floor vents are not easy to notice.
Different Types of Range Hoods and Their Prices
Different types have different advantages, disadvantages, and prices. Some are for average customers, others for people who want an unusual type.
The Down-Draft Range Hood
Since down-draft range hoods are both less effective than other types of range hoods and more expensive, they are not for everyone. However, there is still a market for down-draft range hoods.
They are for people who want a minimalist kitchen and don’t want a range hood that is too visible. They are small and fit into the floor, so people hardly notice them.
Depending on how you want your kitchen to look and how much money you have, they might be the right way to go. While they don’t work as fast as regular range hoods do (the heat rises rather than sinks into the floor), they still clean the air in your kitchen.
However, they are a hassle to install, so they cost more than usual. It depends on how important your kitchen’s appearance is and whether or not you really need a mostly invisible vent on the floor.
The Wall-Mounted Hood
These are the most common and, in some ways, the best kind. They are effective and are not very expensive.
The disadvantage of a wall-mounted type is that you can’t have any cabinets above your stove. If your cabinets take up the whole wall, you will need a different kind of range hood.
The Cabinet Insert Type
Sometimes, people don’t like how their range hood looks because it doesn’t blend in with the rest of the kitchen. You can avoid this by getting a range hood that blends into and seems to be part of your cabinetry. These are custom hoods that blend in with your kitchen but are not very expensive and are much less expensive than the downdraft type.
The Under-Cabinet Range Hood
Under-cabinet range hoods are attached to the bottom of your cabinets. These save space and allow you to put a range hood above your stove even if the cabinets are only barely far enough above it. They are not an expensive choice.
The Island Range Hood
Some people install “islands” or counters in the middle of their kitchens. If your kitchen is big enough, the island can make your kitchen look better and make it easy to use. However, some people regret installing these kitchen islands.
Always make sure you have enough room – if you aren’t sure, be on the safe side. Your kitchen probably isn’t big enough and will feel too crowded. Kitchen islands do look great in some larger kitchens and do give you more counter space.
How are Ductless Range Hoods Different?
Ductless range hoods work very differently from vented range hoods. A range hood with a duct/vent pushes air outside of your home. A ductless hood does not have a vent, so it uses a filter to clean the air. It pumps filtered air back into the room rather than pumps unfiltered air outside.
One advantage of ductless range hoods is that you don’t have to install ducts. If you are turning a room without ducts into a kitchen, you can install a ductless range hood and save money on installation costs.
How much to install a range hood that is convertible?
Some range hoods are hooked up to ducts and work perfectly well as ducted range hoods but also have filters. Sometimes, you might not want to vent the air in your home.
If you have a convertible range hood, you can switch ducted mode off and use the filter instead. Are these an expensive choice?
Convertible range hoods are somewhat more expensive but not much more than ducted range hoods cost. You might not be able to find a convertible range hood at the lower end of the price range. Even if installing a range hood in your kitchen is easy because it already has ducts, the equipment might make a convertible range hood a bit expensive.
How Much do Range Hoods Cost to Maintain?
Maintaining a ductless range hood is not the same as maintaining a ranged hood with ducts. To maintain a ductless hood, you have to change the charcoal filter once in a while. Otherwise, it will become too dirty to work eventually.
Range hoods with ducts take longer to clean, but you don’t need to clean them very often. You can clean dirt, grease, oil, and residue out of your hood once in a while. If you pay for this service, it may not be very cheap (about $150), but it only needs to be done once every few years.
How much to install a range hood with a fancy appearance?
You can get a range hood with a finish that helps it blend in with the rest of your kitchen. This adds to the range hood’s price in some cases. For example, a glass finish is more expensive than a white metal finish. Does the finish have a lot to do with the price, or does it only have a small effect?
You can get white and black colored metal range hoods for the lowest prices. A copper range hood is a bit more expensive (costing up to $1250 rather than up to $1000), and a glass range hood can cost up to $1500. The cheaper hoods also vary in cost depending on what the finish is.
A dark-colored bronze range hood can also be expensive (about $1500), but some people love the look of the oil-rubbed bronze. Stainless steel hoods also look great but are as expensive as bronze or glass.
Read Also: Ducted Vs Ductless Range Hood
How Long Does it Take to Install an Exhaust Fan?
Installing an exhaust fan is fairly quick. It usually won’t take more than four hours, and it can take as little as an hour. You will lose access to your stove for a little while.
Does it Take an Electrician to Install a Range Hood?
It depends on how complex the wiring is. If the wiring is easy, a contractor with a bit of experience can do it. An electrician might be needed to do more complex wiring. A contractor with a lot of experience building range hoods might do it better than an electrician with less experience.
Sound Reduction
One very useful feature that a lot of people overlook is sound reduction. A lot of people are irritated by the noise of a kitchen exhaust fan. Some not necessarily expensive range hoods are quiet.
Not every range hood that is advertised as quiet always is. However, some are genuinely quiet. Be sure that the brand you are buying has a good reputation.
CFM (Cubic Feet Per Minute)
Better range hoods are capable of moving more cubic feet of air per minute. This cubic feet per minute (CFM) rating is one of the most important things to consider. The higher the CFM is, the fresher the air in your house will stay.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if you don’t have a range hood?
You are often required to have some sort of an exhaust system by law, but it does not have to be a range hood. Most people have range hoods in their kitchens. A range hood is the best way of keeping the air in your house fresh.
However, some people do without them. You can open a window to air out your house – it doesn’t work as well, but your air will freshen after a while.
Opening two windows can work better than opening only one – the air might flow through your house, into one window and out the other. A fan can also work to create airflow. If the air in hour house isn’t moving around very much, the air might not get clean for a long time.
You don’t always need a kitchen exhaust fan – a ceiling fan or a fan you can plug into the wall will work. You can also buy a standing filter fan that will remove small particles from the air.
Not having a range hood is livable, but it is not great. If you frequently cook without a range hood, your house will start to smell bad after a while. You will have to air out your house and use air freshener a lot more often if you don’t have a range hood. A range hood saves you the hassle of airing out your house, so it is worth the money.
What if you move your kitchen somewhere else?
There is no way to install ducts for a range hood without damaging your wall. If you move your kitchen and relocate your range hood, you may have to repair some damage to the wall or the roof.
Before deciding on moving your kitchen, consider the cost of patching up your wall. After you find out how much to install a range hood in your new kitchen, add the cost of repairing the old one.
When are you legally required to have a range hood?
You are quite likely not required to have one. Again, building codes might require some sort of an exhaust system, but it doesn’t have to be a range hood. Some people assume that a gas range has to have a range hood, but this is not a legal requirement. Range hoods are very common and are better than the alternatives, but they are not legally required.
What if you can’t install vents in your kitchen?
You can clean the air with a filter. A charcoal filter works perfectly well to remove gases and small particles from the air. You do have to change the filter once in a while, but you can certainly build a kitchen in a room where you can’t install vents.
Do range hoods have to be over a certain size?
Range hoods must be wider than the cooking surface, by a few inches on each side. Too much smoke will get into the air, and your air won’t stay fresh if the range hood is too small. Larger range hoods also tend to move more cubic feet of air each minute.
Conclusion
A lot of the time, a simple white or black range hood that fits into existing ducts is the best choice. These range hoods are cheap and work well enough to keep the air in your kitchen fresh. However, these simple and cheap hoods are not the best for everyone.
If there are no ducts in your kitchen, you may use a range hood with a filter rather than a vent. You can also have new ducts installed, but this can be expensive, especially if the duct has to go through the roof rather than the wall.
Some people have a bigger budget than others and care more about their kitchen’s appearance than others. These people might get a range hood with a pricey bronze or glass finish.
Other people want a range hood that people hardly notice, so they pay extra to install a floor vent. Most installations are at the lower end of the price range (about $700), but there is still a market for more expensive options.
Some people assume that range hoods are more expensive to install than they are. They are actually affordable for most people. If you find out how much to install a range hood in your kitchen, you may be surprised by how little it costs.