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A wall-mount chimney range hood and an island range hood in one open kitchen.

Which hood, and fix or replace

Choosing and comparing
guides.

Wall-mount, under-cabinet, island or an insert in a custom hood, ducted or recirculating, and when an aging range hood deserves a repair and when it is time to buy another.

(844) 398-3217

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Three guides
  • Read before you book
  • Says where to stop

Book a visit

Three short steps, about a minute.

or call (844) 398-3217

Choosing and comparing,
guide by guide.

Read this section when a kitchen is on the drawing board, or when a hood has lost its pull and somebody has quoted a figure for fixing it. The guides set the shapes of range hood side by side instead of the brand names: the wall-mount chimney, the under-cabinet unit, the island canopy hanging from the ceiling, a liner or power pack set into a built wood or plaster hood, and the downdraft vent that pops up behind the burners.

All 18 guides
A brushed stainless under-cabinet range hood below white shaker cabinets on an outside kitchen wall, a round metal duct disappearing into the cabinet above, steam from a pot rising into the range hood, the burners below cropped and out of focus.
5-minute read

Ducted or Recirculating Hood: What Leaves the House and What Stays

Where the air goes after the grease filter, what charcoal can and cannot remove, what converting a hood involves and the places a duct must never end.

A stainless island range hood hanging from a white ceiling over a kitchen island, a tall rectangular flue cover rising to the ceiling, steam from a simmering pan rising into the range hood, the burners and island top below cropped and softly out of focus, pendant-free open space around it.
4-minute read

Wall, Island or Insert: Picking a Range Hood Shape That Catches the Plume

Chimney, under-cabinet, island canopy, custom-hood liner and the downdraft vent compared on airflow per foot, mounting height and how each is reached for service.

A wall-mount stainless chimney range hood on a white subway-tile wall, seen slightly from below with its filters in place and its lights on, a thin column of steam rising into the range hood from a pot on the burners cropped out of focus at the bottom edge.
4-minute read

Repair or Replace a Range Hood: The Shell, the Part and the Woodwork Around It

Why a sound body usually means repair, which parts are routine and which bodies are not worth saving, and why an insert in a custom hood leans hardest toward fixing.

Which hood, and fix or replace.

The other comparison that shapes every kitchen is where the air goes. A hood that sends it outdoors through a metal duct and one that filters it through charcoal and returns it to the room behave very differently on a busy night, and the difference follows the building more often than the buyer's preference.

Our angle is the service call. Showrooms talk about finishes and quoted airflow; we talk about how a plume is caught over an island, what a remote blower means on the afternoon its bearing starts to growl, how a liner is reached through its filter opening, and which duct size and mounting points a future hood will need to line up with.

Where a figure matters to the decision, such as the Home Ventilating Institute's airflow per foot of cooking surface or the mounting-height window in a manual, its source is printed beneath the section that relies on it. If the right answer changes from one model to the next, we name that limit plainly and send you to the installation manual for your own unit.

Not sure where to start?

The short answerDucted or Recirculating Hood: What Leaves the House and What Stays

A ducted or recirculating range hood differs in where the air ends up.

The short answerWall, Island or Insert: Picking a Range Hood Shape That Catches the Plume

Choosing a wall or island range hood comes down to capture.

The short answerRepair or Replace a Range Hood: The Shell, the Part and the Woodwork Around It

Whether to repair or replace a range hood depends less on the failed part than on the shell around it.

When reading
is not enough.

If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop.

What repairs cost
  1. 01Airflow, speed by speed
  2. 02A figure before any work
  3. 03Common parts in the van
  4. 04Pulling steam before we go

The problems
these answer.

Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
A stainless wall-mount chimney range hood on a tiled wall fills the upper half of the frame, a haze of cooking steam spilling past the front and side edges of the range hood's canopy and hanging in the kitchen air, a mesh grease filter under the canopy visibly dark with grease. Problem

Range Hood Runs but Barely Pulls Smoke

7 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless wall-mount chimney range hood on a tiled wall in winter light fills the upper half of the frame, faint cold condensation beading on the range hood's lower edge and a fine mist visible drifting down from the canopy, the burners below off. Problem

Cold Draft or a Flapping Damper Through the Range Hood

6 causes, cheapest first

 Close view from below of the underside of a stainless wall-mount range hood, one baffle filter hanging slightly crooked out of its track and the blower's intake visible in shadow behind it, the rest of the range hood's filters seated flat. Problem

Range Hood Too Loud: Roar, Whine or Grinding

6 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless wall-mount chimney range hood on a pale tiled wall fills the upper half of the frame, a visible dark gap opening between the top of the canopy and the wall and the chimney cover slightly out of line, the range hood tilted a little forward, the kitchen below empty with nobody under it. Stop cooking under it

Range Hood Pulling Away From the Wall or Ceiling

6 causes, cheapest first
A family cooking together under a stainless range hood in a bright kitchen.
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
choosing and comparing.

Which hood shape is simplest to keep running?
An under-cabinet hood, because its filters, lights and usually its blower are reached from below without moving anything. Island canopies and inserts with remote blowers take longer to service.
Is a more powerful hood always better?
Only up to what the cooking needs and the duct can carry. A blower too big for a narrow or very long duct is noisy and pulls poorly, and a strong ducted hood can also call for make-up air.
Do these guides favor one maker over another?
No. They weigh designs across every make we service, and a brand appears only when its own manual publishes something useful, such as a mounting height or a filter interval.
When does a new hood make more sense than a repair?
Usually when the body is rusted, bent or fire-damaged, or when a discontinued board has no substitute. A sound shell with a worn motor or switch is normally worth repairing.

The other
sections.

Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns.

All guides
Steam curling out past the edge of a range hood instead of rising into it.
What the hood is telling you

Common problems

A finger pressing a button on the control strip of a range hood, the indicator lights dark.
Checks you can make from the floor

Troubleshooting

Stainless baffle filters from a range hood soaking in a sink of hot soapy water.
Habits that keep it pulling for years

Maintenance and prevention

A pan lid resting on a small pan under a range hood, the burner off.
Keeping people, the kitchen and the air safe

Grease, fire and air

A round metal duct rising from the top of a range hood into the ceiling, the chimney cover set aside.
Size, duct, damper and make-up air

Installation and setup

Not sure which section?

Start from your question

The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it.

18 guidesWhere to start Where to start

Back to your everyday

Let’s get your range hood working again.

Three short steps online, or one call. Tell us what you are seeing and pick a window that works.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 398-3217
(844) 398-3217 Schedule a repair