Can anyone tell me about the quality of re-circulating fans (such as integrated on microwaves.) We need to install ventilation above the cooking area and were wondering about this product as opposed to a standard vent directed to an outside outlet. I noticed it seems to be a cheaper option but does it work? Thanks in advance for any info. (…or opinions)
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do you cookalot ? i do major kitchen renovations and have installed many diffrent type hoods .Some hoods go as high as 1500.00 they are very quiet and really pull the oders out of the room. I happen to have the vent on my micreo wave unite aslo although you can vent them as well i am not so crazy about the duct conections . when i do kitchens i also do the demo and it always seems that these poor duct conections always show alot of grease build up which makes me concerned about smell and fire
Hi and thanks for the reply.
My main objective is to get smoke and fumes sucked up and not let them fill the house. My house is very small (960 s.f.) so as soon as I do some frying or grilling the smoke and odor quickly invades every room. I like the idea of microwave-fan combo because it is a great space saver for a small house but I was just wondering if it really works... oh yeah and I also like the fact the a re-circulating is much cheaper on installation costs. I don't spend my days grilling and frying, but I do cook dinner every night!
Edited 3/19/2004 8:22 pm ET by nanou
i think you should be okay with the recirculating unit
If you do much frying you definitely want it going outside, but for your moderate amt and for a small house, the recirc unit will do OK IF you keep it clean. Run th escreen in the dishwasher or however they recommend.
But if you want it venting out, there are Microwave units that will ven tout also.
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I've had both and I hate hate hate the microwave recirculating "vent". It doesn't take the smells or the smoke out of the room/house and it just blows hot air back in your face. This keeps the kitchen hot, smelly (if you ever burn something) and keeps the grease in. Yuck. When you wake up in the am, you can still smell whatever you cooked the night before. I've had two different recirculating units and both were brand new qood quality units. However, if all you do is microwave, it certainly is convenient to have the micro over the stove.
I am renovating my kitchen now and have read that in a year, the average kitchen will have 20 lbs of atomized grease. Get it out!!
Besides removing smells, which vents with carbon filters can do to some extent until the carbon gets saturated, vents perform another important function -- removing moisture from the house. In cold climates in the dead of winter some additional moisture in the home is desireable. But as the weather moderates many homes have too much moisture, which condenses out on windows and walls, or within walls, both of which are bad. So, a kitchen vent which exhausts outdoors is helpful in this respect.
Trying not to hijack this thread...has anyone ever built their own hood exhaust system? I'm talking about a large wooden hood concealing some type of grease filter with ducting to the outside of the house? I may try to build my own unit just using commercially available filters. I wonder if it would be quieter to put the fan at the end of the duct run on or near the outside wall. I hate noisy hoods!
I had mine built over an island. It is vented up and between the ceiling joists to the outside. The carpenter suggested I place the fan unit in the horizontal run to cut down noise, but I was concerned about having to clean and repair in that location. It would mean removing some t&g pine ceiling etc. So I had the fan unit placed in the hood cavity. Boy is that noisey. That was 10 years ago. There were few, if any, units that had a 1000-1200 CFM capability then.
Next time, and because they are now widely available, I will buy a quiet high cfm intergrated unit.
Cheers,
Peter
I would question the wisdom of making a hood out of wood. It's bad enough if the grease in a metal hood catches fire, but wood would be worse. Incidentally, fiberglas would be worse than wood. We had fiberglas bodied buses where I used to work. One caught on fire (engine) and the driver carried one handicapped child off (thank God that was all there were aboard) and the bus was so involved in flames she couldn't go back to get her purse. The thing burned to the axles before the fire dept. arrived. Fiberglas burns like gasoline. Grease soaked wood would probably come in a close second.
I am sure it could be done but I would caution you to not go way overboard with the fans cfm rating, you do not want to create a negative pressure in the home or you will need an expensive make up air unit to balance it.
bake
I have instaled a few microwave/hood fan combos that had an outside venting option. You may want to look for one of these.