Can a Range Hood or Microwave Fan Improve the Air Quality in Your Home?
Kitchen appliances with fans—such as a stovetop fan, range hood, or microwave fan—can certainly create some gusts, but do they have any effect on air quality?
Most kitchens are outfitted with a stovetop fan (or a range hood or microwave fan) to reduce smoke and improve air quality in the kitchen. With wildfire smoke and other air-quality issues, some homeowners have asked whether these fans improve the air quality in the rest of the home.
Do the fans really clean the air after cooking, or do they simply disperse the airborne particles further into the home? We asked HVAC experts to weigh in, and here’s what they had to say.
Related: The 10 Best Range Hoods of 2023
Effectiveness of Stovetop Fans in the Kitchen
Cooking produces smoke, grease, and odors and encourages high humidity that can lead to problems such as mold growth and water damage over time if not properly mitigated, says Myles Robinson, HVAC expert at Compare Boiler Quotes. Gas ranges, in particular, release a lot of extra gaseous material into the surrounding environment. Turning on a stovetop fan while cooking reduces the buildup of these cooking byproducts in the kitchen. The factor that determines how this is done is whether your stovetop fan is ducted or ductless.
Ducted vs. Ductless Fans
As the name implies, ductless fans do not connect to any additional ductwork in the home. They merely operate as fans, recirculating the air back into the kitchen. Conversely, ducted fans connect to the home’s HVAC system or a standalone duct designed to vent the air out of the house to be replaced with new, fresh air through the home’s registers. Range hoods can be either ducted or ductless, as can microwave fans. Determining the type of fan you have in your kitchen can give you an idea of whether the air is simply circulating or being vented externally.
The other thing that can affect how a stovetop fan deals with polluted air is the presence of filters. Most ductless fans that recirculate air back into your kitchen have a filter of some kind. The three most popular types of range hood filters are charcoal filters, stainless steel baffle filters, and aluminum mesh filters, each with its own unique strengths.
Regardless of the type of stovetop fan you have, experts agree that turning it on is an effective way to deal with the airborne particles, smoke, and fumes that result from cooking. “By turning on the stovetop fan, you prevent them from accumulating in your indoor environment,” Josh Mitchell, Air Conditioner Lab founder, says.
Effectiveness on General Low-Quality Air in the Home
Given the strengths and limitations of stovetop fans, is it beneficial to turn them on during periods of low-quality air outside the kitchen? Can they improve the air quality in your home? The experts agree that it depends.
Stovetop fans equipped with filters can be somewhat helpful in filtering the air, but they are not designed to improve air quality beyond filtering out cooking byproducts. Usually, these filters are designed to capture relatively large particulates, unlike true air purification filters such as HEPA filters that are designed to remove at least 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and any airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“If the fan vents outside, it can help in creating a slight negative pressure inside the home, which can facilitate the entry of fresh air from windows or other openings,” Mitchell says. However, if the outdoor air quality is a concern due to wildfire smoke or high pollen counts, you won’t be looking to bring air in from the outdoors, he says. In that case, Mitchell recommends investing in a high-quality air purifier with HEPA filters.
Your stovetop fan, range hood, or microwave fan also can’t serve as a set-it-and-forget-it fix for your air quality concerns: They require maintenance.
“The important thing to know about range hood filters is that they require regular cleaning or replacement to maintain efficiency,” Mitchell says.
So if you want your fan to have an effect on the air quality in your space, you’ll need to ensure it’s well-maintained.
Related: Selecting a Kitchen Ventilation System or Hood
The Bottom Line
Using your stovetop fan is a good idea whenever you are cooking in the kitchen, especially if you have a gas range. After all, that is what range hoods are designed for. The fans effectively vent away cooking byproducts, including large particles and pollutants.
However, if the air quality outside the kitchen concerns you, experts agree that it’s best to add an air purifier (or two) to the home instead of just relying on your range hood, stovetop fan, or microwave fan.
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