Range hoods are a necessary and important piece of kitchen equipment. If you’re in the market for one, it is important to keep these four features in mind: size, installation, noise, lighting.

Read this range hood buying guide to learn more about these features and also, suggestions of the best range hood in the market as of now that you can buy.

When shopping for a range hood, it’s important to keep in mind the size of your kitchen, as well as the installation requirements. Some range hoods require ducting while others are recirculating models that do not require any installation. 

Keep in mind that range hood power increases with size, so if you have a large range hood in a small kitchen, you may not be satisfied. 

Checking the noise level is also very important because range hoods can range from fifty to more than a hundred decibels. The best range hoods are at least fifty percent quieter than that range. 

If your range hood looks like it could be the noisiest range hood on earth, it most likely is. Finally, range hoods come with a lighting package of anywhere from forty watts to about a hundred watts per bulb. 

Most range hoods have at least two bulbs and the wattage depends on how much light you want to shine in your kitchen when cooking at night or any other time of day.

Range hoods are also known as range protectors or range exhaust systems. They are designed to reduce the build-up of grease and smoke that can accumulate on your range stove. 

Range hoods do not just suck up the grease and smoke, but range hoods also remove airborne grease-laden particles from coming into contact with other cooking surfaces like ovens, broilers, grills, fryers, and other range stove sources.

Range hoods help keep food safe by limiting the amounts of cooked particles that can contaminate it during preparation for consumption. The range hood is designed to catch all the burnt particles before they enter the kitchen air stream to cool or settle on nearby cooking surfaces below. 

Range hoods also limit the range of airborne bacteria, and their range hoods filter out fine particles and gaseous emissions for health safety.

In addition to range hoods, range fans are commonly used as part of the range system too. Range hoods work 24/7 whether you are cooking or not while range fan typically includes a range hood as well as a range plenum. 

The range fan is often used to reduce the buildup of toxins that range hoods are meant to vent. The range plenum captures these gases and pollutants before they can spread out into your kitchen air stream, allowing them to be expelled through the range hood.

The range fans assist range hoods in trapping grease particles or fumes from cooking surfaces, and range fans circulate air more rapidly than range hoods. Range fans also help cool your range stove and oven, which range hoods cannot do.