What's Wrong With This Picture? Range Hood Exhaust

Answer: Improper Kitchen Fan Venting

"Surely this will exhaust and vent all that smoke and steam from the kitchen stove!"

Here is a 'vented' range hood.  It was originally designed to be recirculating until the homeowner got creative and added a tube to the exterior, through the window sash. Have you noticed how nicely the hole was drilled through the sash?

Many home inspections reveal a recirculating type exhaust fan within the kitchen, (as opposed to a properly engineered exterior vent ducting system). Recirculating fans simply pull in cooking exhaust and moisture, process through a filter, and release 'purfied' air back into the house environment. The recurring task with either type of venting system is to keep the filter(s) free of debris.

No one can be sure what the homeowner was intending to accomplish here, perhaps he preferred a vented hood rather than a recirculating one and wished to make the conversion inexpensively himself. Or maybe this was a case of purchasing a new gas range, getting rid of the previous electric range, and not wanting to spend the additional dollars on a new exterior roof vent.

Nevertheless, we don't really know how efficient this new venting system would be, but my guess is, "not very." And it's also important to note that it's never a good idea to modify any appliance to do something it is not designed to do. The results are usually less than satisfactory and will void any manufacturer's warranty.

We might also be looking at an inconvenience or safety issue with the 'vent pipe' being within the cooking area. How likely would one be to come in contact with the pipe while moving to and from the stove with food and utensils?

As are so many of these pictures in this blog series, the wonderment never ceases! We hope we've brought a smile to your face today!

Thanks Eric Carpenter of our Maryland area inspection team for this 'shaking my head' moment!