A range hood is critical to achieving quality indoor kitchen air since it captures awful hot air and grime produced when cooking. Typically, there are two designs, ducted or ductless. Unfortunately, most people cannot tell the difference between these two.
Being able to distinguish between these two is essential when buying one for your kitchen or when shopping around for a new house. This discussion sheds more light on the main distinctive features to look out for when choosing between the two types of equipment.
Presence of Conduits
The most distinctive feature that identifies a ducted exhaust hood is the presence of conduits. The conduit is the aluminum-insulated pipework that extends from the rear side of the equipment to the exterior of the house.
Range hood, the focal point of your home
The ductwork is meant to capture awful hot air and grime from the cooking area and lose it to the exterior of your house. The absence of the same implies that the equipment lacks pipework. This works by capturing hot gases and blowing the clean air back into the range.
Consulting the User Manual
The simplest way to tell between the two equipment designs is by referring to the usage instruction booklet that comes with the equipment. Along with other mounting directions, instruction booklets come with other specific information about a range hood such as the model number, manufacturer details, and if it requires conduits for operation. If the information provides room for conduit installation, then it has pipework. If the equipment does not come with conduit information, then this type lacks pipework. In cases where the equipment does not come with or the user manual is not available, you can just key in the equipment model number and search online.
Airflow Capacity
Another great way of differentiating between the two pieces of equipment is by observing its blowing rate. An equipment connected to pipework comes with a more powerful blower to be able to push the hot cooking air and grime along the conduit. To determine the speed of the blower of an equipment, check the cubic feet per minute, and CFM capacity on the user directions booklet that comes with the equipment. A ductless equipment on the other hand comes with a less powerful blower since it does not need to push hot air along a conduit. A ducted one is typically noisier compared to its ductless counterpart. This is because the higher the CFM capacity of an equipment, the noisier it is.
Functionality of the Equipment
Ducted set of equipment typically consist of just a hood that sucks the hot awful hot air and grime from the cooktop and a blower that pushes the air to the outside through pipework. When mounted properly, a ducted equipment does not require a very serious maintenance regime since all the materials from the cooking are lost to the surroundings. A ductless counterpart on the other hand consists of filaments made of charcoal or carbon. These are designed to trap the chocking hot fumes and grease produced during a cooking session. The cleaned air is then blown back into the range, providing a comfortable and seamless cooking experience. Ductless type of equipment must be allocated a proper maintenance regime, or risk its complete failure.
Cost of the Equipment
Ducted equipment are usually higher priced both at upfront and installation costs. This is because they come with a more powerful blower and airflow ability than their counterparts. After purchasing, mounting process of the pipework calls for a specialized technician, something that inflates the upfront costs further. However, after mounting, maintenance costs are almost negligible. A ductless air cleaner is cheaper but more expensive to maintain, going into the future. It therefore implies that by just comparing the market prices, you can easily tell between these two types of equipment.
Location of the Equipment
Due to the extension of a conduit, a ducted range hood is mounted against a wall, while the fan hangs over the burner stove. It can also be mounted under a cabinet to make it easier to connect the pipework. However, if you find the equipment in unusual locations like over a kitchen island, chances are that it is a ductless air cleaner since it does not require a conduit.
With a keen evaluation of the above-discussed distinctive features, you should be able to tell between the types of range hoods. This will in turn help you choose the most appropriate one for your style, budget, and cooking experience in your kitchen size.