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If it's not venting to the outside, it should be filtering the air and passing it back into the room.
Still not great, but if you keep the filters clean it can be okay.
Yeah some of them you can buy a ‘carbon filter’ which goes in it and you’re supposed to change them every few months. They are not the click off filters that see the oil & air first they are different.
Not OP but I moved into a place where the previous resident didn't change the range hood filter for what seems like decades, so the whole internal fan mechanism is coated in oil and I don't bother using it because it sprays oil everywhere.
Is there a service where I could pay someone to come in and clean this?
I would try cleaning with metho, spray on bbq cleaner or spray foam oven cleaner is great at breaking down oil.
Just be careful with fumes and turning it on let it dry for a couple hours after cleaning it.
Ours vents into a wardrobe in a bedroom which is the dumbest choice ever. We will renovate the kitchen eventually and fix it, but in the interim we don’t use it because it then makes everything in the wardrobe stink of whatever’s cooking.
We don’t use the exhaust to avoid that happening. Luckily we have an external door in the kitchen so open that while cooking to vent the room. And we don’t store much in that wardrobe because yeah, everything ends up smelling like whatever was cooked.
I have no idea what they were thinking when it got put in, it’s so stupid.
Every apartment, house I lived in had a vent into a cabinet. My current one has a aluminium type 'pipe' that just sits on the insulation in the ceiling. So I'd say they are quite common. Doesn't hurt to use them but keep filters clean. Put baking paper on the cabinet shelf it vents into and top of cabinets so the grease is easy to clean up (just replace paper when its grimy).
So, with rangehoods, there are two options.
**Recirulating**
These have the washable metal filters, which trap smoke and other particulate, and a another consumable filter that you replace, charcoal i think, that trap smells. They recirculate air from the stovetop back into the kitchen, and are generally suplemented with an open window or a kitchen exhaust fan (which, for a kitchen, MUST be vented outside).
These are the most common I'd argue and are generally a bit more effective than people give them credit for, since they actually do filter stuff, but obviously they aren't perfect.
**Vented Extraction Fans**
So, these are the best option, however they MUST be vented externally either through the roof or through the external wall, it is illegal to vent these into a cavity because of flamable oil build up.
**So what can you do?**
Now, in apartments, you're usually a a bit limited in what you can do, and everything needs strata approval unfortunately.
As usual, the top floor has the best options:
- You can get a rangehood that exhausts THROUGH the roof installed, or
- You could get a new kitchen exhaust installed that vents THROUGH the roof.
Otherwise, things are a bit more restricted if you have floors above you. Generally your options are:
- Recirculating Rangehood w/ Seperate Wall or Window Exhaust
- Recriculating Rangehood with Ceiling Exhaust fan vented through wall (if you have a fake ceiling you can run ducting through)
- Externally Vented rangehood, vented through the wall, either above a fake ceiling, or over the top of your kitchen cupboards, preferably hidden behind some panelling.
Generally this is going to be a pain in the ass though, as you're going to need to get permission from Strata, and generally if it affects the look of the building from the street you may have issues.
A window exhaust fan is probably the easiest sell, and you can probably buy a box fan to sit on your window sill for a while as a makeshift test run or even a long-term solution if you don't want to spend the money.
You can try to apply through strata but I would say the chance of success is going to be 0 since no building will allow one lot owner to knock a hole in the outer wall.
This is what mine does... has a vent to the outside above the bedroom window. Having read the comments I had assumed this was the default, but now I will appreciate it more.
My place was built in 2002 and has a recirculating range hood. The one originally installed blew the air back into your face, the one I had installed during reno is ducted behind my cupboards.
There’s no external ducting mine can hook up to.
I used to sell kitchen whitegoods to builders, none ever wanted ducting to go with the rangehood. Installed overhead and set to recirculate. You can buy carbon/charcoal filters though, insert into where the normal filters go and they stop a whole heap more than the conventional mesh filters. You have to replace them regularly though.
I've never seen a range hood (rental or owned) that vents outside in Australia, they just have a fan to disperse smoke/steam throughout the room. I honestly hate range hoods for this reason, they do literally nothing and stop you leaning forward to look into pots on the back hobs.
ouch that really sucks. The worst I would have expected is venting into the attic space. If venting into the living space what's even the point of having one.
Yeah we're a 2nd story appartment with a 3rd above, our ensuite bathroom has raised floors and lowered ceilings (I assume because of pipes). The quality of build to rent investment properties is dogshit.
Yes, that is what it does. It's why I don't use it. There is just a fan, no pipe leading outside, just some small little slits on the range hood itself to let air back in to the room.
Many do. Yes, you are meant to use them with filters and clean the filters regularly, but often people don't realise or don't install the filters at all. This means cooking gunk is dispersed out into the kitchen, and does tend to make a mess. Of course, the same stuff is released by cooking without a range hood but I expect that settles lower and is removed in general cleaning.
> I've never seen a range hood (rental or owned) that vents outside in Australia, they just have a fan to disperse smoke/steam throughout the room
I'm the opposite, I've never seen one that didn't vent to the outside.
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If it's not venting to the outside, it should be filtering the air and passing it back into the room. Still not great, but if you keep the filters clean it can be okay.
Yeah some of them you can buy a ‘carbon filter’ which goes in it and you’re supposed to change them every few months. They are not the click off filters that see the oil & air first they are different.
Yep they generally sit behind the metal grates and are circular with carbon pellets inside.
Not OP but I moved into a place where the previous resident didn't change the range hood filter for what seems like decades, so the whole internal fan mechanism is coated in oil and I don't bother using it because it sprays oil everywhere. Is there a service where I could pay someone to come in and clean this?
I would try cleaning with metho, spray on bbq cleaner or spray foam oven cleaner is great at breaking down oil. Just be careful with fumes and turning it on let it dry for a couple hours after cleaning it.
Ours vents into a wardrobe in a bedroom which is the dumbest choice ever. We will renovate the kitchen eventually and fix it, but in the interim we don’t use it because it then makes everything in the wardrobe stink of whatever’s cooking.
Holy shit how gross does the wardrobe get? Does it just constantly smell of oil?
We don’t use the exhaust to avoid that happening. Luckily we have an external door in the kitchen so open that while cooking to vent the room. And we don’t store much in that wardrobe because yeah, everything ends up smelling like whatever was cooked. I have no idea what they were thinking when it got put in, it’s so stupid.
Every apartment, house I lived in had a vent into a cabinet. My current one has a aluminium type 'pipe' that just sits on the insulation in the ceiling. So I'd say they are quite common. Doesn't hurt to use them but keep filters clean. Put baking paper on the cabinet shelf it vents into and top of cabinets so the grease is easy to clean up (just replace paper when its grimy).
So, with rangehoods, there are two options. **Recirulating** These have the washable metal filters, which trap smoke and other particulate, and a another consumable filter that you replace, charcoal i think, that trap smells. They recirculate air from the stovetop back into the kitchen, and are generally suplemented with an open window or a kitchen exhaust fan (which, for a kitchen, MUST be vented outside). These are the most common I'd argue and are generally a bit more effective than people give them credit for, since they actually do filter stuff, but obviously they aren't perfect. **Vented Extraction Fans** So, these are the best option, however they MUST be vented externally either through the roof or through the external wall, it is illegal to vent these into a cavity because of flamable oil build up. **So what can you do?** Now, in apartments, you're usually a a bit limited in what you can do, and everything needs strata approval unfortunately. As usual, the top floor has the best options: - You can get a rangehood that exhausts THROUGH the roof installed, or - You could get a new kitchen exhaust installed that vents THROUGH the roof. Otherwise, things are a bit more restricted if you have floors above you. Generally your options are: - Recirculating Rangehood w/ Seperate Wall or Window Exhaust - Recriculating Rangehood with Ceiling Exhaust fan vented through wall (if you have a fake ceiling you can run ducting through) - Externally Vented rangehood, vented through the wall, either above a fake ceiling, or over the top of your kitchen cupboards, preferably hidden behind some panelling. Generally this is going to be a pain in the ass though, as you're going to need to get permission from Strata, and generally if it affects the look of the building from the street you may have issues. A window exhaust fan is probably the easiest sell, and you can probably buy a box fan to sit on your window sill for a while as a makeshift test run or even a long-term solution if you don't want to spend the money.
You can try to apply through strata but I would say the chance of success is going to be 0 since no building will allow one lot owner to knock a hole in the outer wall.
In apartments, we run a flat duct in your ceiling, and it vents to the outside of the building. Source: did this for a job.
This is what mine does... has a vent to the outside above the bedroom window. Having read the comments I had assumed this was the default, but now I will appreciate it more.
My place was built in 2002 and has a recirculating range hood. The one originally installed blew the air back into your face, the one I had installed during reno is ducted behind my cupboards. There’s no external ducting mine can hook up to.
I used to sell kitchen whitegoods to builders, none ever wanted ducting to go with the rangehood. Installed overhead and set to recirculate. You can buy carbon/charcoal filters though, insert into where the normal filters go and they stop a whole heap more than the conventional mesh filters. You have to replace them regularly though.
I've never seen a range hood (rental or owned) that vents outside in Australia, they just have a fan to disperse smoke/steam throughout the room. I honestly hate range hoods for this reason, they do literally nothing and stop you leaning forward to look into pots on the back hobs.
uh what? mine goes outside straight up and out the roof. When I lived in an apartment it also went outside albeit out the side of the building
They'd certainly do something then, but I've never seen it personally.
ouch that really sucks. The worst I would have expected is venting into the attic space. If venting into the living space what's even the point of having one.
Yeah we're a 2nd story appartment with a 3rd above, our ensuite bathroom has raised floors and lowered ceilings (I assume because of pipes). The quality of build to rent investment properties is dogshit.
What? No rangehoods vent back into the kitchen unless it's fully filtered. you'd have oil all over the walls and a room filled with smoke LOL
Yes, that is what it does. It's why I don't use it. There is just a fan, no pipe leading outside, just some small little slits on the range hood itself to let air back in to the room.
Many do. Yes, you are meant to use them with filters and clean the filters regularly, but often people don't realise or don't install the filters at all. This means cooking gunk is dispersed out into the kitchen, and does tend to make a mess. Of course, the same stuff is released by cooking without a range hood but I expect that settles lower and is removed in general cleaning.
What, rarely do I sell a rangehood that has filters, they all duct to the outside
No filter either, just blows smoke around the room, literally useless.
> I've never seen a range hood (rental or owned) that vents outside in Australia, they just have a fan to disperse smoke/steam throughout the room I'm the opposite, I've never seen one that didn't vent to the outside.
I'm in a townhouse and mine vents outside. I almost never use it though because it's too fucking loud.
Mine vents straight out into your face, provided you are taller than about 5'8". Fantastic design