Have You Been Wondering How to install a range hood vent?
Cooking is fun, which is why a lot of people do it to destress or to bond with friends and family. If you’ve ever cooked at home, you know the struggle of having the scent of onion and garlic spread around the house. If you’re lucky, then it would just be in your kitchen. However, most of the time, the smell travels to the living room.
How Do You Eliminate the Smell?
There’s really no way of getting rid of the smell of onions and garlic, but you can always just keep the scent in the kitchen. This is where you will find a range hood very helpful. With a range hood, you no longer have to worry about funny smells all over your house.
What Is a Range Hood?
A range hood is a kitchen appliance found just above the stove. It’s made of mechanical fans inside that either filter the air or redirect it outdoors. The purpose of a range hood is to take the smell you make from cooking and filter it so that the smell doesn’t go around the house.
Other purposes of range hoods include removing excess heat and steam. More advanced range hoods are able to take the air and filter it so that it recirculates the air back into your kitchen. Range hoods come in different names like ventilation hood, fume extractor, or electric kitchen chimney.
There are two types of range hoods - the vented and the unvented. Vented range hoods are those hoods that are attached to a duct while the unvented are also called ductless. The duct then redirects the air to the outdoors. On the other hand, the unvented range hoods are ductless, and they release the air back into the kitchen. Don’t worry, the air it releases is already “cleansed” of the smell and the grease.
How to Install a Range Hood
Range hoods are not only useful; they also add beauty to a kitchen. Placing a range hood right above the stove will make your kitchen look like an elegant and modern room. If this has gotten you convinced and you finally bought the range hood you like, then you’re probably excited to install it.
Did you know that you can place a range hood by yourself? Most people just hire someone to install it or avail of the installation service their range hood’s company is offering. But since it’s not as easy as you think it is, what’s stopping you from doing it on your own? Just follow these steps to install your range hood.
Step 1: Keep the area empty.
For obvious reasons, the place where you’ll put the vent for range hood should be empty. If there used to be a range hood there, make sure to remove everything - the mount and the screws included. This is because range hoods have different dimensions, and you won’t usually find two models with the same size.
Step 2: Disassemble the cover.
Go back to your new range hood and disassemble the top part. Remove the hood, the fan, and the filter underneath so that it’s easier for you to place the structure of the vent. Do the filters first, and then go to the duct connector and duct knockout. You need a screwdriver to remove all the screws attached to it.
Step 3: Turn off the electricity in the kitchen.
For safety reasons, make sure that the electricity that will be running through the stove and range hood is turned off. Just keep the lights turned on so you can still see what you’re doing.
Step 4: Mark the areas where you will place the range hood.
Now it’s time to place marks on the areas where your range hood will be. This is where you’ll need the template that came with the range hood. It either has a separate manual, or it’s in the manual itself. You can use a pencil to mark where the range hood will be as well as the mounts that will support it.
Step 6: Mark areas for your screws.
Aside from marking the size of your range hood, it will also help to mark where your screws will be. Sure, it’s easy to know when you place a mount right against the wall, but it’s a lot harder than you think. It might even lead to an unbalanced range hood if you mess it up. To make sure that it won’t end up like that, just mark the areas with a pencil.
Step 7: Drill mounting brackets.
Now you can mount the brackets. Using a drill, place the mount just above the areas you’ve marked and drill a screw right into the wall. It’s important that you use a drill for this because the screws need to be driven right into the wall to secure the whole range hood.
Step 8: Place the range hood.
Finally, you can place the range hood, well, the range hood structure at least. Slowly place the structure right onto the mounts. If you followed the template that was given, then it should fit just fine. However, if the mounts are closer together and it’s hard to place the range hood, don’t force it. Just disassemble the mount and do it again.
Step 9: Reattach the hood and other parts.
Once you’ve placed the structure onto the mounts, you can put back the filter and the hood. Just place all the parts that you removed in the first steps of this how-to. Tighten back the screws of the cover as well.
Step 10: Connect the wires.
Lastly, you have to connect the wires. A range hood vent usually has just one or two wires that you connect to electricity. For this one, it’s better to use the manual, so you don’t make a mistake in operating it. Once that’s done, you can test your range hood to see if it’s working correctly.
And there you have it! While it’s not as fast as you think, it’s still worth trying. Besides, you won’t have to pay anyone for service charge.