If you own an oven in your kitchen, you must be wondering if the ovens need some sort of venting.
I have recently bought an oven and am wondering the same thing.
Do Ovens Need to Be Vented?
All ovens whether gas, electric, or wall ovens need good ventilation.
Most oven manufacturers design an oven that already has a good in-built ventilation system. This allows smoke, air, steam, and other pollutants to escape from the oven.
Allow me to tell you all about vents, and venting range hoods, where it is needed, and where it is not required.
I will also tell you the benefits of having a good ventilation system in an oven.
What is Meant by an Oven Vent?
It is a pathway that helps the interior air of the oven escape.
When we bake inside the oven, air from the kitchen enters the oven through the oven door and circulates inside to cook food.
As the heat increases, the air rises and escapes through a path or duct called the vent. This process allows heated air to escape and fresh air to enter the oven.
This continuous circulation is important and that is why a good ventilation system is essential for an oven.
Most of the time, there is a hood over the stovetops and ovens. It has many names such as a kitchen range hood, an exhaust rangehood, etc.
These can be ducts or ductless. Inside the vent, you will find a mechanical fan that vents out the air, fumes, smoke, steam, and odors and helps to keep the kitchen air fresh and clean.
Also read: Why Does My Oven Smoke? 7 Possible Reasons!
Do All Ovens Need to be Vented?
Yes definitely! All ovens need to be vented properly.
Ovens mostly come in two fuel types: gas and electric.
Gas ovens are classic ovens usually found in large homes. Electric ovens are more common with the new generation. The kitchens are also smaller.
If we stick to textbook rules, all ovens should have a range hood.
Even though the gas ovens are more powerful and create more pollutants, even electric ovens would also need venting to keep the kitchen air clean.
It is recommended to have a range hood from 600 CFM to 1000 CFM for electric ovens. A gas oven needs to have a more powerful ducted rangehood.
A ducted vent will absorb the pollutants, reduce smoke and odors and improve the indoor air.
A ductless vent will do depending on the size of your oven. Whatever vent you use, having a vent for your oven is important.
When it comes to Wall ovens, the manufacturers install a vent system below the door. The top of the oven is sealed down and the vent beneath it takes care of the ventilation.
Over the last decade or more, the manufacturer has also equipped convection ovens with modern ventilation systems. They include a vent in the design itself.
Topping with a range hood is always beneficial to absorb the grease, smoke, and other vented particles and odors from the kitchen.
Now that you have understood that ovens need to be vented, Let us go into more details about why venting is needed.
Also read: Gas Oven vs Electric Oven for Baking – Which One is Better?
Why Do Ovens Need a Venting System?
Here are a few important things that vents accomplish :
- Safety: If there is no path for the heated air to escape from inside the oven, due to thermal expansion, the oven may overheat and malfunction. To prevent such accidents from happening, venting is important.
- Pollutants: Cooking with ovens create harmful 2.5PM particles inside the kitchen. These particles can irritate the nose, throat, and eyes and cause coughing or sneezing.
- Emission of harmful substances: This issue is common in gas ovens. They emit carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxide, etc. A range hood vent will take care of these harmful substances.
- Odors: Whenever food cooks, odors are bound to get released. Some odors can be irritating and pungent. The lingering food smells can also be taxing for the inhabitants. A good vent is quite helpful in removing food aromas and smells.
- Fumes and smoke: Many times, baking will release fumes and smoke especially if there are stuck leftover particles. The self-cleaning function of the oven also releases smoke. A good venting system will eliminate all fumes, smoke, and steam.
In short, all ovens need to be vented to reduce air pollution, harmful substances, bad odors, steam, and smoke.
Also read: Can Self-Cleaning Oven Kill You?
Do All Ovens Have a Vent System?
In the recent decade or two, most manufacturers have come up with advanced systems to vent ovens.
Almost all ovens have vents whether they are electric, gas, convection, or wall ovens.
The ovens that come along with a stovetop need a range hood (whether with duct or ductless) to help vent out the oven air.
As almost all ovens come with built-in venting, you do not need to vent them additionally. However, you may add a range hood or exhaust hood to maintain good air quality.
Watch the video below to get a good understanding of suitable range hoods for you.
Benefits of an Oven Rangehood or an Oven Ventilation System
Let us now have a look at some of the benefits of having an oven ventilation system:
- Good ventilation helps to reduce heat from the cooking and baking
- It ventilates the kitchen air helping you breathe fresh air
- An oven range hood helps to remove offensive and irritating food odors
- A ventilation system absorbs smoke and fumes
- It helps to remove harmful substances.
- The venting helps to keep the oven clean by absorbing excess moisture and steam. As a result, less cleaning is required later on.
- A range hood comes in a stylish design that will enhance the aesthetics of your kitchen.
- Extra lighting on the rangehood makes the stovetop more bright and helps to cook the food perfectly.
Do Oven Vents get Clogged?
Yes, oven vents can get clogged due to grease, dirt, or food particles.
Built-in vents can also clog up due to the same reasons.
The unexpected choking up of vents need to be cleared for the oven to work efficiently.
You also need to keep an eye on and check the vent hole frequently. Clean up the grease and dirt whenever you find it.
Tips to Maintain Oven Ventilation
Here are a few tips that will help you maintain a good ventilation system for an oven :
- Understand the venting system of your oven. Go through the manufacturing instructions completely before operating your oven
- If you have a range hood, understand the workings of the mechanical fans, replaceable parts, filters, etc
- Sometimes the vents can get blocked or clogged due to grease and dirt accumulation. Keep a check from time to time and clean up whenever it accumulates.
- The mechanical fans inside a rangehood may also go bad after a while. Although they are meant to last, everything has a lifetime. You may need to replace the fan if it goes slack.
- If your kitchen does not have a range hood and the apartment is not built to throw the air out, you can always use kitchen exhaust as an alternative for ventilation.
- Keep a HEPA filter air purifier in the kitchen. It will help to remove impurities, harmful chemicals, and foul smells.
- Depending on your kitchen space, and your oven, you can choose from a wide range of range hoods. Ducted range hoods come with a pipe or a duct that removes the air from the oven and kitchen outdoors. It has a high airflow rate and can freshen up your kitchen quickly.
- If your kitchen cannot have a duct connecting to the outside, you may choose a ductless range hood. This is preferred for people living in an apartment. It has an extractor that recirculates the air after filtering it, releasing fresher air. You need to clean the ductless filter from grease and dirt that will accumulate over time.
Do You Need a Rangehood for a Built-in Wall Oven?
Built-in wall ovens are designed to have a ventilation system inside them.
They are equipped with a tube under the control panel that helps to remove hot air and smoke from the oven.
To remove the exhaust air and improve the quality of kitchen air, you may use a kitchen exhaust.
Do Electric Ovens need a Range hood?
All-electric ovens are now manufactured with a ventilation system that allows the hot air to escape from the oven when it gets overheated.
The ventilation system helps to maintain the temperature inside the oven.
As the electric ovens are less powerful and produce less pollution compared to gas ovens, a ductless range hood that recirculates the air is sufficient for an electric oven.
If you are on a budget, you can use a kitchen exhaust as well for this purpose.
Do Gas Ovens Need a Range hood?
Gas ovens are quite powerful appliances and release carbon monoxide and other harmful pollutants.
It is very important to remove the gas oven pollutants from indoor air.
It is always better to use a range hood over a gas oven. A duct range hood will work better than a recirculating ductless rangehood.
The rangehood will also help keep the kitchen air clean and remove food odors.
Final Words
Summing up, all ovens need to be vented. Since 2007, almost all manufacturers have designed their electric ovens to have a venting system inside.
However, it is best to have some sort of venting system in the kitchen to remove the hot air, pollutants, smoke, grease, and odors from the kitchen air.
Wall ovens do not need a venting system. They come with a duct beneath the control panel. You could keep a ductless venting system over an electric oven or use an exhaust fan.
Since gas ovens are more powerful and release harmful pollutants into the air, I would advise a good rangehood to remove carbon monoxide and other harmful pollutants.
A range hood with a duct would be ideal as it has a high airflow rate and can freshen the indoor air efficiently.
Don’t forget to watch the video link before choosing a good range hood for your oven. All the best!
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