Best Range Hoods of 2024
Smells and smoke are no match for these stellar models
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A range hood just might be the most important appliance that many homeowners never fully consider. A good vented range hood can improve air circulation in your kitchen—helping to eliminate odors and cut down on cleaning too, since grease droplets that would otherwise settle on cabinets and countertops are redirected.
But most importantly, range hoods help improve your kitchen’s air quality. Whether you’re cooking with an electric, induction, or gas stove, particulate matter and other air pollutants can form when food cooks. These are then released into the air and breathed into our lungs. Range hoods typically draw in the affected air through a filter, which captures these pollutants, and then (in the case of vented range hoods) expel the rest of the air outside, through an exhaust installed on the exterior wall of a house.
Does a Range Hood Need to Vent to the Outside to Be Effective?
Some range hoods, which are often called ductless, ventless, or recirculating hoods, don’t vent to the outside. Instead they draw air through a series of filters designed to capture droplets and particulate matter, before recirculating that air back into your kitchen. In our most recent tests, the lone recirculating hood (from a leading brand) we tried was the worst of the bunch—which makes sense, since it’s only capturing contaminants in filters, instead of completely expelling the dirty air outdoors. However, if you live in a home or apartment where you simply can’t vent to the outside, ductless range hoods can provide some benefit, particularly when it comes to cutting grease. Just remember to open windows, too, when you cook.
Under-Cabinet Range Hoods vs. Wall-Chimney Range Hoods
Vented range hoods come in two basic styles: under-cabinet and wall-chimney. In our tests, models of each type can perform extremely well, and the shape didn’t matter. Ducted, or vented, versions of these hoods work similarly, by using a backwards fan to suck air out of your kitchen, through a filter, and out through the side of your house. But there are key differences between under-cabinet and wall-chimney models.
As the name suggests, under-cabinet range hoods are installed under a wall-mounted cabinet, which conceals the ductwork that runs from the top of the hood and through an exterior wall. These hoods are rectangular, resembling the shape of a DVD player, and the vast majority are 30 inches wide, to match the width of most ranges.
Wall-chimney range hoods (also called wall-mount range hoods) include a chimney, usually made of stainless steel. The chimney is used to hide the ductwork in a kitchen without a cabinet over the stove. The hoods themselves vary considerably in design—most are metal but some use elements of glass or wood—though they’re typically all 30 inches wide, to match the width of most stoves. The chimney portion typically comprises multiple pieces of metal that run from the top of the hood up to your ceiling. Most people choose to run the chimney to the ceiling for aesthetics, even if the ductwork exhausts out at a lower point on the wall.
How CR Tests Range Hoods
Smoke is inherently hard to control, so our test engineers built a custom jig that uses a smoke machine to produce controlled quantities of smoke for our tests. The jig holds each range hood at the same height as we filled the area with smoke for 10 seconds. Then we turned on the hood and filmed the area as each hood worked to clear the air, allowing our expert engineers to watch and make visual assessments about which models did the best job.
We also measured the pressure exerted by the total airflow at the end of a standardized duct, to calculate which models move the largest volume of air within a controlled amount of time on each setting. “Models that move air faster will clear smoke faster,” says Bernie Deitrick, CR’s test engineer in charge of range hood testing. A model needs to clear the air both effectively and quickly to score well in our range-hood ratings for both "Smoke" and " Volume." (Those with strong marks for Smoke will work effectively, but won’t clear the air as fast as those that also earn high marks for Volume.) Finally, we used a noise meter to record sound just below the hood, at a height chosen to simulate where a user’s ears might be while cooking.
Best Range Hoods
The models below include a mix of under-cabinet and wall-chimney hoods. Each range hood was among the fastest at moving air and most effective at clearing smoke.
Best Under-Cabinet Range Hoods
Best Wall-Chimney Range Hoods
@consumerreports Smells and smoke are no match for the best range hoods of 2023. See the list through the link in our bio. #rangehood #kitchentok #hometok ♬ original sound - Consumer Reports