Keep Your Kitchen Fresh With the Best Range Hoods

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While appliances like the refrigerator and stove tend to be the stars of the kitchen, a great range hood can make cooking a much more enjoyable task. They’re designed to remove smoke, heat, odors, and other particles from the air as you cook, which will help keep your kitchen smelling fresh—and prevent the smoke alarm from going off if you accidentally burn something.

Range hoods come in a variety of shapes, sizes and power levels, so it’s important to find the best option to suit your kitchen. Here’s everything you should consider while shopping, as well as some of the best range hoods you can purchase right now.

In the market for a new stove, too? Check out our picks for the best gas stoves, best electric stoves, and best gas cooktops.

Best Range Hoods

• Best Overall: Hauslane Chef Series Under-Cabinet Range Hood

• Best Budget: Winflow Convertible Wall Mount Range Hood

• Most Powerful: Thor Kitchen Ducted Wall Mount Range Hood

• Best Splurge: Fotile Range Hood
  

• Best Telescoping: GE Telescoping Downdraft Range Hood

What to Consider

Location

There are several styles of range hoods, but the main difference is where and how they’re installed in your kitchen. The most popular options are under-cabinet and wall-mounted range hoods, which are easy to install in most kitchens.

Range hood inserts are suitable for custom cabinetry, whereas you can install hanging range hoods over islands or in the middle of a kitchen. If you can’t fit a range hood over your stove, there are also downdraft options, which are positioned in the counter behind your cooktop.

Ducted Versus Ductless

Ducted range hoods are more efficient as they vent odors directly out of your home through a vent. Not every house is fit with the right ductwork for a range hood, though—you can sometimes have ductwork installed retroactively, but the process is often complicated and expensive. If you go with a ducted unit, make sure its connector is compatible with the duct size in your kitchen.

If your kitchen isn’t suited for a ducted option, it’s best to opt for a ductless range hood, which uses carbon filters to remove odors from the air before recirculating it into the room. We recommend a few convertible range hoods as well, which can be converted from ducted to ductless as needed.

Airflow

Another important consideration is the unit’s cubic feet per minute specification, which measures how many cubic feet of air it can suck up each minute. Today’s best range hoods have ratings anywhere from 300 to 1,000 CFM—the higher the CFM, the more efficiently the range hood will be able to capture odors and smoke as you cook. Aim for around 15 air changes per hour—that’s every four minutes.

To figure out if a range hood is the right CFM for your kitchen, roughly calculate the cubic footage of your kitchen (floor area times ceiling height) to see how much air you need to circulate. Then, multiply the cubic footage by 15, for 15 changes per hour. Divide the total by 60 to find the ideal cubic feet per minute for your kitchen range hood.

Cubic Footage x 15 = Air Changes per Hour (ACH)
ACH ÷ 60 = Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM)

For instance, if your kitchen is roughly 200 square feet with eight-foot ceilings, that’s a total area of 1,600 cubic feet. That’s 24,000 cubic feet per hour, or 400 cubic feet per minute. That means a range hood with 400 CFM should perform great.

How We Selected

Because there are so many styles of range hoods available, we looked for the best options in each category, prioritizing high-quality products from trusted brands. We read dozens of reviews from past buyers, as well as professional testers, to figure out which models performed the best and were most reliable over time. Our recommendations are made from durable, grease-resistant materials that’ll keep your kitchen smelling fresh.

Chef Series 30-Inch PS18 Under-Cabinet Range Hood

If you have a cabinet above your stove, you’re going to need a range hood like this Hauslane Chef Series under-cabinet model. This unit comes in three finishes and two common sizes, and its ducted design fits underneath your kitchen cabinets.

The range hood has six speed settings with a maximum of 500 CFM, and it comes with three vent options to fit most common ductwork styles. It has a button-free touchscreen control panel that’s easy to clean, as well as changeable LED lights, and its stainless steel filters can be washed in the dishwasher.

30-Inch Convertible Wall Mount Range Hood

This Winflo Wall Mount Range Hood has a classic stainless steel design that will look stately in any kitchen, and it offers 350 CFM of power on the highest of its three speed settings.

The convertible design can be used with either a duct system (it has a 6-inch round vent) or charcoal filters (sold separately) for air recirculation, and it has a telescoping chimney that ensures the unit will fit perfectly in your kitchen. The wall-mounted range hood has two soft white LED lights, and its mesh filters can be washed in the dishwasher for easy maintenance.

48-Inch Ducted Wall Mount Range Hood

Most range hoods offer air flow between 300 and 700 CFM, but if you want a unit that delivers unbeatable power, the ThorKitchen Ducted Wall Mount Range Hood delivers an impressive 1,200 CFM on its highest setting.

This professional-grade range hood is 48 inches wide (larger than your average cooktop), and has three ventilation speeds. It’s designed to be installed on any open wall, but can also fit under a cabinet if need be. The unit has three LED lights that you can turn on, and its brushed stainless steel finish will look attractive in any kitchen.

QG9001 30-Inch Range Hood

If you’re willing to spend top dollar for a range hood, this Fotile 36-inch is a worthwhile splurge. It has a unique side-draft design with a 90-degree baffle plate—a component that helps keep the noise level down—that automatically opens when the unit is turned on. The angled form also helps to channel smoke and fumes into the vent.

This range hood mounts to the wall or underneath your cabinets, and it comes in three classic finishes. It’s quiet during operation despite its maximum air flow of 1,000 CFM, and it has a sleek touchscreen control that allows you to select between the three speed settings and operate the LED lights.

30-Inch Telescoping Downdraft Range Hood

If you want a discreet exhaust system in your kitchen, the GE telescoping downdraft hood is a worthwhile investment. This downdraft-type range hood goes into your countertop behind the stove, as opposed to above it. The unique design retracts into the counter when not in use, so you can barely even tell it’s there.

You can adjust the speed anywhere between one and 500 CFM for just the right level of air movement, and it’s compatible with GE, GE Profile, Cafe, and Haier ranges and cooktops.

36-Inch Ducted Insert Range Hood

For those who are renovating a kitchen or have a built-in range hood, this insert range hood is a perfect fit. It’s designed to be used with custom cabinetry, giving your stove area a seamless appearance.

The insert is 36 inches wide, which should suit most stovetops, and it has a round duct connection at the top. It offers three speeds with a maximum of 600 CFM, and there are push-button controls on the bottom of the unit. The range hood’s baffle filter is dishwasher safe for easy maintenance, and there are two LED lights to help illuminate your stovetop as you cook.

413001 Ductless Range Hood

Not only is the Broan-NuTone 413001 Ductless Range Hood affordable, but it also comes in several sizes and colors to perfectly suit your kitchen. This budget-friendly range hood has a ductless design that’s easy to install, and it uses replaceable charcoal filters to remove grease, smoke, and oil from the air. It offers two speeds and an incandescent light, and the whole unit is made from rust-resistant materials for longevity.

30-inch Ducted Island Range Hood

This ducted range hood from Cosmo is designed to hang from the ceiling, which makes it the perfect option if your cooktop is located on a kitchen island. The range hood vents out the top, so you will need a duct system for installation, but if you don’t have one, the hood can be converted with a kit (sold separately).

This island range hood has four built-in lights that you can turn on and off via its soft-touch controls, and its backlit digital display is easy to see, even at night. It uses dishwasher-safe filters, which makes for easy maintenance, and the product is backed by a three-year warranty.

Wall Mounted Range Hood

This Zline hood comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, allowing you to select the option that best fits your kitchen. The hood is made from a classic brushed stainless steel, and it can either be hooked up to a duct system or used with charcoal filters. Plus, there are chimney extension kits available for the wall-mounted design, and it can be extended to reach 12-foot ceilings.

In addition to being attractive, this range hood is also quite powerful for its size. It uses dishwasher-safe baffle filters to capture grease, and it offers four fan speeds, as well.

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