Do You Really Need A Range Hood?

Talking to a kitchen modeling contractor about your kitchen means that you may be undergoing a lot of change in your home. If you’ve saved up and decided now is the time for the kitchen of your dreams, or you just want to modernize your kitchen before putting your home up for sale, there are many things to consider. One of the things, especially for older homes that haven’t benefited from a bigger remodeling budget in the past, is whether to add a range hood to your kitchen. Is it all that necessary?

Not Actually Mandatory

First, it’s important to make the distinction that while professional kitchens, such as restaurants, are required, by law, to have some kitchen ventilation, home kitchens are not. This is why some kitchens may have a range hood, or another ventilation system, while some are devoid of this appliance. This is why, especially in older homes that haven’t been touched by a kitchen remodeling contractor in quite some time, it’s not unusual to find kitchens with stovetops, but no range hood.

However, just because range hoods aren’t mandatory for private homes, it doesn’t mean they aren’t a good idea. There’s a reason that professional establishments, for example, are legally required to have them.

The Smell Factor

When you cook, you unleash a wave of odors into your home, thanks to the ingredients being cooked, vaporized, and rendered into some gas due to the various chemical reactions cooking creates. A range hood takes those vapors and uses a fan and air circulation to move them out right at the source, where the cooking is happening.

If you don’t have this, the smells linger in the home, settling into the walls of the kitchen and other spaces. If you don’t mind this, then it’s not an issue. However, for the next homeowner, this might be a big problem.

Gases

While the smell is one of the biggest motivators, safety is another, and this is why professional establishments are legally required to have ventilation. When you cook, you are producing various gases due to the chemical reactions involved in cooking. For some, these gas chemical reactions are more pronounced because they’ve started off cooking by burning an existing gas.

Cooking eggs, for example, releases hydrogen sulfide gas into the air, which, in large amounts can be harmful to people. Even the gas that is emitted from a gas burning stove is producing carbon monoxide as a byproduct, so for safety reasons, it’s a good idea to have a range hood present to help move these potentially harmful, ultra-fine particles out of the space.

Stains

A final reason that you might want to talk to a kitchen remodeling contractor about getting a range hood installed is to preserve the beauty of your kitchen. With no place to go, smoke, steam, oils, vapors and other gases remain in the kitchen, and it’s not just the smell that embeds itself into the walls. This can eventually hurt your paint, cabinetry and take the shine off your kitchen at a much faster rate than if you’d been protecting it with proper ventilation.