Range hood for a 36 inch Bluestar all gas

[Recoil Rob]

I did a search and it seems the most recent talk on range hoods 10 years old, let's see if anyone has anything new to recommend.

 

I just put a new kitchen on the back of the house and I am purchasing a Bluestar RNB 36 inch all LP gas range. I doubt there would ever be more than four burners going at one time and certainly not the four 25,000 BTU ones at once.

 

Bluestar's range hoods should seem a bit pricey so I've been looking at alternatives.

 

Would anyone advise going with a range hood wider than the range itself, say a 40 inch to 42 inch hood for a 36 inch range? I thought it might be worthwhile but then again if I really needed to vent some smoke from cooking I would be doing it on the center burner anyway, right in the middle of the hood.

 

The range is up against an exterior wall so a remote blower on an exterior wall or roof is a must for noise control.

 

I've been looking at the Best by Broan professional hoods, specifically a 900 CFM unit that will allow the motor on the exterior of the house.

 

So, I'm looking for at least 900 CFM, and the ability to mount the blower remotely, not in-line.

 

Are there any other options I should consider, what do you have that similar and are you satisfied with it.

 

 

[C. sapidus]

58 minutes ago, Recoil Rob said:

I just put a new kitchen on the back of the house and I am purchasing a Bluestar RNB 36 inch all LP gas range. I doubt there would ever be more than four burners going at one time and certainly not the four 25,000 BTU ones at once.

 

Four 25K BTU burners sounds nice - our 17-year old Bluestar cooktop just has two.

 

We have had at least five burners going at once for holiday meals, but usually most are simmering over low heat.

 

58 minutes ago, Recoil Rob said:

 

Would anyone advise going with a range hood wider than the range itself, say a 40 inch to 42 inch hood for a 36 inch range? I thought it might be worthwhile but then again if I really needed to vent some smoke from cooking I would be doing it on the center burner anyway, right in the middle of the hood.

 

Yes, you want the range hood to be a bit wider than the range for good capture. Ours is 42", which provides 3" overlap on both sides. But keep in mind that the recommended hood installation height is about where your forehead is if you are around 6'-0" tall. Banged my head on the hood corners a few times before adapting.

 

Will one of your high heat burners be front center? On our older model the 25K BTU burners are on the front left and back right corners, so the front left is what we use for high-heat searing and wok cooking.

 

58 minutes ago, Recoil Rob said:

 

The range is up against an exterior wall so a remote blower on an exterior wall or roof is a must for noise control.

 

Remote blower should reduce noise, but keep in mind that a lot of hood noise comes from air turbulence in the filters and ductwork. Large ducts, short and straight duct runs, and gentle (if any) curves make a big difference. You should also ask your installers how they plan to isolate fan vibrations from the ductwork, if noise is a concern.

 

When a fan is rated at 900 CFM, that refers to its performance with no resistance. In the real world, filters and turbulence in the ductwork will reduce the actual airflow significantly. As mentioned above, using larger ducts and short, straight runs reduces airflow loss. But the filter is probably where you lose the most airflow.

 

Give some thought to filters location, too. You want the filter near the range for access/cleaning and to limit grease buildup in the ducts, even though that will increase noise a bit.

 

58 minutes ago, Recoil Rob said:

 

I've been looking at the Best by Broan professional hoods, specifically a 900 CFM unit that will allow the motor on the exterior of the house.

 

So, I'm looking for at least 900 CFM, and the ability to mount the blower remotely, not in-line.

 

900 CFM should work great, assuming make-up air is not a problem. If your house is super-tight, you don't want your hood sucking air from the furnace exhaust and whatnot. In nice weather you can always open a window to provide make-up air.

 

Our 17-year old Vent-A-Hood unit pulls 600 CFM, which is good except when hot wok oil releases capsaicin fumes from dried chiles. The 600 CFM is "equivalent" to a 900 CFM blower because the Vent-A-Hood uses centrifugal force rather than a filter to capture oil fumes.

[dcarch]

check with your town/city Department of Buildings.

There may be Code requirement for make up air, and also distance to boiler exhaust.

 

dcarch

[dscheidt]

Code requires make up air for fans exhausting 400 CFM or more.  If you don't supply it with proper make up, air will be sucked from somewhere, often down the flue of a furnace or water heater, especially in tighter buildings.  Don't pretend you'll open a window when you run it, because you won't.  Even if you do, other people won't, because they won't know they should.  Ideally, make up air is fed into the HVAC, so it can conditioned before being put into the house.  

[Recoil Rob]

My apologies, I got it wrong, here is the actual stock burner configuration from the factory. Apparently there's an option to reconfigure the burners.

Sometimes I overthink things but it seems to me that the two, 22K burners should be in the middle to better vent to the hood. Also, if I wanted to put a griddle on top of those two, much more convenient being centered.

Also, I'm right handed so it seems to me that I would be better off with the simmer burner in the back right so I would not have to be reaching over burners to attend to a delicate sauce or such.

 

New York State requires make up there for over 400 CFM so I think I'm gonna drop the blower size down to 600 CFM to make make up air easier. I didn't plan this out well enough so a lot more research is going to be involved for the make up air.

 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Recoil Rob (log)

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, Recoil Rob said:

Sometimes I overthink things but it seems to me that the two, 22K burners should be in the middle to better vent to the hood. Also, if I wanted to put a griddle on top of those two, much more convenient being centered.

I don’t have a Bluestar range but I don’t think the default configuration is bad.  
Separating the 2 big burners lets you use 2 really big pots that might not fit on adjacent burners. 
It still gives you 2 options for putting a griddle over 2 of the 15K burners. I tend to use a griddle for things like pancakes, grilled cheese, etc so I don’t usually need it over 2 ripping burners. Two 15Ks would be good for me. Of course your needs may be entirely different. 

 

2 hours ago, Recoil Rob said:

Also, I'm right handed so it seems to me that I would be better off with the simmer burner in the back right so I would not have to be reaching over burners to attend to a delicate sauce or such.

My Wolf cooktop also has the simmer burner at the left rear, behind a high heat burner at left front (mine's only 18K) and I'm also right handed. I see your point but it hasn’t been an issue for me.  I honestly use the front center burner for most sauce making, using the simmer burner mostly for warming purposes. 
 

Very nice that you can configure the burners to your liking. Do let us know what you decide. 

[Recoil Rob]

I spoke with Bluestar, they won't put anything larger than an 18 K burner in the rear row. So, as you advised I'm gonna leave the two 15 K's in the center so I can use a griddle, the 22k's in the front corners, and since there is a $750 up charge to switch burners, I'll make do with the simmer in the back left.  Amazing how this stuff works out  😀

 

Now I just have to figure out makeup air.

[dcarch]

Go to YouTube and search for smoke test of kitchen exhaust hood.

You may see that the hood for the exhaust fan may not be that critical, CFM is.

 

dcarch

[Recoil Rob]

I'm sorry, but that's a bit confusing. Aren't hoods rated by CFM?

[AlaMoi]

if you're going to do an external / remote fan & ducting, check with a local sheet metal fabrication shop.

 

you can likely get a to the nth dimension/size stainless steel hood. with filter rack and drip pan and e-z drains, for half - or less - of the big name stuff . . .

and features you may not get in the biggie names....

 

btw . . . 'oversized' is a most excellent choice.

I have a 36" six burner top, with a 36" 'hood' to fit the space,

and windows with lots of 'film deposits' from hi-temp searing/frying, even on the highest fan/CFM setting....

 

given my 'druthers, I'd go for 8" each side and 8" front to back . . . to capture the 'issue' of real cooking.

Edited 1 hour ago by AlaMoi (log)

[paulraphael]

Hoods are the hardest thing to buy, because the residential hood companies are mostly peddling nonsense and the commercial companies won't talk to you. 

 

Most of the conventional wisdom is wrong or misleading. Cubic feet per minute of air flow is not a useful measurement for much; there's no way to translate BTUs/hr of range power to CuF/m. The important factors are range dimensions and basic hood design, particularly the geometry and the cubic feet of hood capture area—a specification I've seen mentioned exactly never by a domestic hood company. 

 

Here's the best short summary of how to design a hood system that I've found. Here's a longer version (scroll past the health scare part). If you figure out an easy way to translate this into a purchase and design decision, please share!

Edited 1 hour ago by paulraphael (log)