When you consider installing a venting range hood in your kitchen for the first time you have more to do than just finding the right range hood. You must also plan the placing of the duct. Sometimes the house’s kitchen is only separated from the garage with a wall. You might be wondering whether you can vent the hood into your garage as it would be easy to make a hole in the wall and install short ductwork into the garage. But now after talking to DIY friends and even an HVAC professional, you are starting to have doubts whether venting into your garage is such a good idea.
You must never vent your range hood into your garage. The excess grease and moisture you will be blowing into your garage will attach to everything there, including your car. The grease and moisture will also enhance the growth of mold in your garage. And some local authorities have made any penetrations from the home into the garage illegal for safety reasons.
In this article, we’ll look at how a venting range hood works and then discuss some of the most important reasons why you should never vent your range hood to your garage. We’ll also offer a few alternatives.
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Reasons why you shouldn’t vent your hood into your garage
The reasons why you shouldn’t vent your hood into your garage include the following:
The greasy and polluted kitchen air never leaves the home
When you vent your hood to your garage all you’ve done is move the greasy air, steam and odors to another part of your home. Normally, garages form part of the house’s structure and thus are part of your home.
The hood ensures that your kitchen stays clean, but now your garage will become dirty and covered with grease and moisture. The moisture and filth will also stick to your car and everything else in the garage.
Pests could be attracted to your garage
The food particles in the expelled kitchen air may attract insects and other pests, too. If your garage is infested with pests it can be a very costly process to get them out again.
It will be difficult to keep your garage clean and well-maintained
The longer your range hood is venting into the garage, the more difficult it becomes to keep the garage and everything in it clean. And if you don’t keep your garage well-maintained the fumes and moisture can get into other parts of your home where it can become a health risk over time, especially if you or a family member suffer from asthma or another lung disease.
It is unsafe and in some towns illegal
Although we mention this as the last reason, it is actually the main reason why you cannot vent your range hood into your garage. For basic safety reasons, you cannot have any penetrations from your living spaces in your home into your garage. It’s a safety measure because of the exhaust from cars and the vapors from stored gasoline that can make it into the home. This ruling is often part of local authorities’ building codes.
Even if you run the duct through the garage wall, turn it upwards and take it outside through the roof, or go through a side wall, you’ll have to cover the entire ductwork in the garage with drywall or another type of casing to meet fire codes.
A hint that can save you money
When you buy a house with a ducted range hood or when you have a vent installed by a company ensure that before you start using the hood you follow the ductwork from the hood up to the end of the ductworks.
If you find that the ductwork installed allows the range hood to vent into your garage, change it immediately – even before you start using the range hood.
Alternatives for venting into your garage
You might now wonder where else could you vent. There are two primary alternatives. The first is to expel the kitchen air through the roof itself, out into the open. This method is commonly used and an efficient way to go.
The second method is to go with the ductwork through the wall and out at the side of your house. It is actually an easier way than to go through the roof, but you can only follow this road if your cooktop and hood are located near an exterior wall that can be used for the ductwork to go through.
Conclusion
A vent hood is in most homes an essential appliance to keep your cooking environment in your kitchen comfortable and fresh. A vent hood effectively extracts the polluted air out of your kitchen, but if the ductwork carrying the air vents into your garage you haven’t solved your polluted air problem – you’ve only moved the problem to another place in your home. You are moving polluted air and moisture from your kitchen to your garage.
