--- title: "Installation and setup — Range Hood Guides" description: "Sizing a hood to the burners below, running the duct and fitting the backdraft damper, recirculating when no duct can reach outside, and the make-up air a…" url: "https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/installation-and-setup/" --- Size, duct, damper and make-up air # Installation and setup guides. Sizing a hood to the burners below, running the duct and fitting the backdraft damper, recirculating when no duct can reach outside, and the make-up air a strong blower needs in a tight house. ## Installation and setup, guide by guide. Many range hood complaints are settled on the day the hood goes up, long before anything wears out. A canopy mounted too high or too narrow lets smoke escape at any speed, a blower rated for one duct size is choked by a smaller one, a flap at the outside cap sticks and lets winter in, and a large hood in a tight house pulls against the whole building. This section covers the choices that decide how well a hood works for the next fifteen years. [All 18 guides](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/) 4-minute read ### [Sizing a Range Hood: Width, Mounting Height and CFM for Wall and Island](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/sizing-a-hood-and-its-airflow/) HVI's 100 and 150 CFM per foot, a canopy that covers the burners, the height windows makers print, and the duct a rating depends on. 5-minute read ### [Range Hood Duct Runs and the Backdraft Damper: Size, Elbows and the Cap Outside](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/duct-runs-and-the-backdraft-damper/) Smooth metal at full diameter, five feet for every elbow, where a duct may and may not end, and how a flap that sticks lets in cold air or chokes the fan. 5-minute read ### [Make-Up Air for a Strong Range Hood: The 400 CFM Line and What It Protects](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/make-up-air-for-a-strong-hood/) Why a tight house fights a big blower, the code line above 400 CFM, backdrafting gas flues, where the intake goes and who sizes and tests it. ## Size, duct, damper and make-up air. It is written for owners planning a new kitchen, replacing an old hood with a stronger one, or living with a hood that has never performed as the brochure promised. The guides follow the order a job follows: how much airflow and how wide a canopy the cooking needs, how the duct carries that air outdoors, and where the replacement air comes from once the blower is large enough to need it. The measurements here are ones an owner can take and check. The work is not: running the electrical supply to a hood, notching studs or joists for a duct, working on a roof, and adding a make-up air damper to the heating system belong with qualified installers and HVAC contractors working under local codes. Where a guide reaches that point, it says so plainly. The figures come from published sources, cited next to the sections they support: the Home Ventilating Institute for airflow per foot of cooking surface, the makers' installation manuals for mounting heights, duct sizes and damper rules, and Broan's make-up air guide for the code line above 400 CFM. Where two manuals disagree, the one for your own model is the one that applies. [Not sure where to start?](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Sizing a Range Hood: Width, Mounting Height and CFM for Wall and Island Range hood CFM and size come down to three measurements. ### The short answer Range Hood Duct Runs and the Backdraft Damper: Size, Elbows and the Cap Outside A range hood duct and backdraft damper decide how much of the blower's rating reaches outdoors. ### The short answer Make-Up Air for a Strong Range Hood: The 400 CFM Line and What It Protects Make-up air for a range hood is outdoor air let in to replace what the hood exhausts. ## 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](https://rangehooderepair.center/cost/) 1. 01 Airflow, speed by speed 2. 02 A figure before any work 3. 03 Common parts in the van 4. 04 Pulling 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](https://rangehooderepair.center/problems/) Problem ### Range Hood Runs but Barely Pulls Smoke 7 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Range Hood Too Loud: Roar, Whine or Grinding 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Pop-Up Downdraft Vent Not Rising 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Cold Draft or a Flapping Damper Through the Range Hood 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about installation and setup. ### How high should a range hood hang above the burners? Whatever your model's manual prints. The windows vary between makers and even between series from one maker, so a number read for another hood does not transfer. The cooking surface's own minimum clearance applies as well. ### What size duct does a range hood need? The size its manual lists for that blower, carried all the way to the outside cap without reducing it. A stronger blower generally calls for a larger duct, which is why an old run behind a new hood is worth checking first. ### When does a range hood need make-up air? Broan's guide describes the code line as hoods over 400 CFM, which need an automatically controlled air supply. Local codes can be stricter, so check with the building department before buying. ### Can the hood vent into the attic or a wall cavity? No. Every maker requires the duct to end outdoors at a wall or roof cap; grease building up in an attic becomes a fire hazard. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/) What the hood is telling you ### [Common problems](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Why the hood stopped pulling smoke: filters, the damper and the air around it](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/why-the-hood-stopped-pulling-smoke/) - [Why a range hood gets loud: buzzing filters, a chattering flap and worn bearings](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/why-a-range-hood-gets-loud/) - [Why the hood fan runs on its own: heat sensors, delay-off and a keypad in the sun](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/why-the-hood-fan-runs-on-its-own/) Checks you can make from the floor ### [Troubleshooting](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [Ten minutes of range hood checks from the breaker to a paper-towel draw test](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/range-hood-checks-before-booking/) - [Reading the hood indicator lights: filter timers, heat protection and blinking keys](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/reading-the-hood-indicator-lights/) - [Find the range hood model label behind the filters, inside the canopy or below the counter](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/find-the-range-hood-model-label/) Habits that keep it pulling for years ### [Maintenance and prevention](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [Cleaning Mesh and Baffle Filters Without Bending or Dulling Them](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/cleaning-mesh-and-baffle-filters/) - [When to Change Charcoal Filters in a Recirculating Hood](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/when-to-change-charcoal-filters/) - [A Yearly Range Hood Check: Mounting, Fan Speeds, Steam Test and the Outside Cap](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/a-yearly-range-hood-check/) Keeping people, the kitchen and the air safe ### [Grease, fire and air](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/safety-and-food/) - [A Grease Fire Under the Range Hood: Lid On, Burner Off, Never Water](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/a-grease-fire-under-the-hood/) - [A Range Hood Pulling Away From the Wall or Ceiling: Clear the Space Below](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/a-hood-pulling-away-from-the-wall/) - [Cooking Fumes and Indoor Air: What a Vent Hood Actually Removes](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/cooking-fumes-and-indoor-air/) Which hood, and fix or replace ### [Choosing and comparing](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [Ducted or Recirculating Hood: What Leaves the House and What Stays](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/ducted-or-recirculating-hood/) - [Wall, Island or Insert: Picking a Range Hood Shape That Catches the Plume](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/wall-island-or-insert/) - [Repair or Replace a Range Hood: The Shell, the Part and the Woodwork Around It](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/repair-or-replace-a-range-hood/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: Installation and setup — Range Hood Guides](https://rangehooderepair.center/guides/installation-and-setup/)** **[Book a visit with RangeHoodeRepair.center](https://rangehooderepair.center/schedule/)**