The kitchen range hood is an important, but often overlooked, appliance. A range hood is a fan (blower) surrounded by an enclosure designed to capture and remove the air pollution created by the cooking process. While there are many types, shapes, and designs on the market, all range hoods have the same primary function: to keep the kitchen air clean.
During the cooking process, air pollutants such as smoke, steam, grease particles, and odors come up from the cooking surface. Gas cooktops and ranges add carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide to the mix, and grilling tops it off with volumes of greasy smoke. In addition, excess moisture from the dishwasher, escaping odors from the trash can, the lingering smell of last night’s takeout, and many other sources, together create a serious air quality problem.
Range hoods solve this problem by removing the polluted air to the outside (ducted installation) or cleaning it with a series of filters (ductless / recirculating installation). However, besides the obvious benefit of keeping the kitchen air odor-free, range hoods offer several other, more subtle, advantages.
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