A stainless chimney range hood centered on a white tiled wall.

Start with what you own

Range hood
types,
told apart.

Steam from the same pot of pasta can rise into four quite different hoods. A wall-mount chimney hood sends it up a tall stainless cover to a duct, an under-cabinet hood works in the few inches below the cupboards, an island hood hangs from the ceiling with open air on every side, and an insert sits hidden inside a custom wood or plaster hood with its blower sometimes out on the roof. Knowing which one is yours narrows the search before the technician arrives.

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4 types
Serviced in place
What each one costs

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Four types,
each its own job.

Each one is built, reached and repaired differently. Open yours for what fails on it and what the work involves.

A stainless steel wall-mount chimney range hood fixed to a white subway tile wall in a US home kitchen, the range hood's rectangular chimney cover rising straight to the ceiling, soft steam rising from a pot into the canopy, the range hood filling the upper half of the frame, the cooking surface below cropped and out of focus at the bottom edge.

Wall-mount range hood

The chimney hood fixed to a bare stretch of wall above the burners, its canopy catching the rising smoke while a telescoping cover hides the duct that climbs to the ceiling.

Under-cabinet range hood

The slim hood screwed to the bottom of the wall cabinet over the burners, venting up through that cabinet or back through the wall, or cleaning the air and returning it to the room.

Island range hood

The hood that hangs from the ceiling over burners set into a kitchen island, open on all four sides, with its duct and wiring hidden inside a chimney that drops from above.

A custom white plaster range hood with a curved front over a kitchen's burners in a US home, seen from slightly below so the stainless range hood insert with its baffle filters and two glowing lamps shows inside the plaster shell, steam rising into it, the range hood in the upper half of the frame, the cooking surface below cropped and out of focus.

Range hood insert

The working core of a custom hood: a steel liner or power pack carrying the blower, filters, lights and controls, fitted inside a hood built of wood, plaster or metal by a cabinetmaker.

Not sure which you have?

Start from what it is doing

If the range hood in your kitchen does not obviously match one of these, work from the symptom instead. It reaches the same answer from the other end.

17 problemsIn order of costWhat to check first Go to the problems

Which one
is yours?

One look at the range hood usually settles it. The first sign of each type is on the right; its page has the rest, and what that type means for a repair.

Wall, island or insert

Wall-mountWall-mount range hood

Nothing but wall and tile sits above the canopy: a narrow rectangular cover climbs straight from its top to the ceiling.

Under-cabinetUnder-cabinet range hood

A wall cabinet sits directly on top of the hood, and the hood's front edge lines up with the cabinet doors above it.

IslandIsland range hood

The hood hangs free over burners set into an island or peninsula, with open room on all four sides of the canopy.

Insert or linerRange hood insert

The hood looks like furniture or masonry, a wooden mantel, a plaster curve or a hammered metal shell, rather than a stainless appliance.

What a repair
usually costs.

Set the repair against what a new range hood would really take to put up, not just its price on a shelf. A chimney hood needs its brackets, duct collar and tile cut to line up again; an island model comes down from the ceiling frame with two people; an insert has to fit the opening a cabinetmaker built around it. Filters, lamps, switches, dampers, capacitors and heat sensors are small next to that, and even a blower or a board is usually the better choice on those three. A basic recirculating under-cabinet hood is the exception: it is quick to swap, so on an older one with a failed motor the technician shows you both numbers side by side.

Range hood diagnostic visit: A range hood is priced once its fan, its controls and its air path have been tested.

Read the full cost guide

Repair	Relative cost	Notes
Blower motor, run capacitor, bearings or blower wheel	moderate to highest	A capacitor or a degreased wheel sits near the bottom of this band. A complete motor, a twin-blower assembly or a fan that lives in the attic or on the roof climbs to the top, with the reach adding labor of its own.
Rocker or slide switch, key panel, touch strip or wall keypad	low to moderate	A mechanical switch block on a basic hood is a small part. A glass touch strip, a membrane panel for a pro-style canopy or a remote keypad with its cable run through the cabinet moves one step up.
Control board with its relays and power supply	moderate	The board is the dearest electronic part in most hoods, and one for an imported or premium liner can take time to arrive. Clearing the grease or heat that cooked the old one is part of the same job.
Lamps, sockets, lens covers or the LED driver	low	Lamps and lenses are inexpensive. A scorched socket set, a low-voltage transformer or an LED driver hidden above the filters costs more, mostly in the time it takes to reach and test them.
Mesh or baffle filters, charcoal pads and the grease channel	lowest	Cleaning and refitting the filters with a new set of charcoal pads is the smallest job on this page. Replacement baffles for a wide pro-style canopy, or grease that has already reached the hood body, add to it.
Backdraft damper, duct joints or the outside cap flap	low to moderate	Freeing or replacing a damper at the top of the canopy is a small part and a short visit. Resealing joints above a ceiling, replacing a jammed wall or roof cap, or rerouting a choked run is quoted on its own once it has been seen.
Rattles, hum and vibration: wheel balance, mounts, gaskets and screws	low to moderate	Tightening loose panels, reseating filters and adding gaskets costs little beyond the visit. A new motor mount, a replacement wheel or bearings moves it up, and a mounting that has worked loose from the wall or ceiling is priced on sight.
Downdraft lift motor, drive gears, limit switches or its blower	moderate	A limit switch or a cleaned track is modest. A lift motor, a drive screw assembly or the blower under the counter costs more, and the cabinet below has to be emptied to reach them.
Heat sensor or thermostat disc and its lead	low	The sensor is a small part fitted from the underside of the canopy. When the board that reads it has also failed, the job joins the control board row instead.

A family cooking together under a stainless range hood in a bright kitchen. — For the heart of your home.

Questions about
the types.

Which range hoods does this site cover?

Wall-mount chimney hoods, under-cabinet hoods, island hoods hanging from the ceiling, and inserts or liners built into custom wood or plaster hoods, along with pop-up downdraft vents behind a cooking surface. A microwave that also works as a hood belongs to our microwave site, and commercial kitchen hoods with fire-suppression systems are outside what we do.

Is an island hood repaired differently from a wall-mount one?

Mostly in how it is reached. An under-cabinet hood is a short step up, a chimney hood needs its cover lifted off, an island hood hangs from the ceiling with its wiring and duct above, and an insert may have its blower out on the roof or in the attic. The blower, the capacitor, the switches and the lights work the same way in all of them.

Do downdraft vents break in their own ways?

They share the blower, the switches and the filters, but the vent itself rises and falls on a small motor and a gear or a track, and the blower usually sits in the cabinet below. A vent that stops rising or stalls halfway is usually that lift mechanism, or a utensil dropped into the slot, rather than the fan.

What about my range hood helps the technician most?

Which kind it is (wall-mount, under-cabinet, island, a custom insert or a downdraft), who made it, roughly how old it is, whether it vents outside or recirculates, and where the blower sits. With that we know which parts to bring and whether a tall ladder or a second person is needed.

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

Range hoodtypes,told apart.

Four types, each its own job.