If your smoke alarm goes off every time you sear a steak, or last night's dinner still smells up the kitchen this morning, your range hood may be working harder than it can. Our range hood vent cleaning in Kansas City cuts through the grease on your home hood, filters, fan and duct so it can pull smoke, steam and odors out of the house again.
This page is about home kitchens. For restaurants and commercial cooking, see our commercial kitchen hood cleaning.
Why range hoods get greasy
Every time you cook, tiny droplets of grease rise with the steam. The filters catch a lot of it, but some always gets through. It coats the fan, the housing and the inside of the duct, and it collects dust along the way. Over time that sticky layer:
- Slows the fan and cuts airflow
- Drips back onto the cooktop or the hood's underside
- Holds on to cooking odors
- Adds fuel close to a heat source
Grease buildup in a residential hood is a real fire concern. Kitchen fires are one of the most common kinds of home fires, and a greasy hood and duct can let a stovetop flare-up spread.
Ducted vs. recirculating hoods
Not every range hood works the same way.
Ducted hoods
These vent to the outside through a duct that runs up through a cabinet, wall or ceiling. The duct and the outside cap need cleaning, and the backdraft damper needs to open and close freely. Grease inside the duct is the part most homeowners never see.
Recirculating hoods
These pull air through filters and blow it back into the kitchen. Many use charcoal filters to help with odor. There's no duct to clean, but the fan and housing still get greasy, and charcoal filters need replacing on the maker's schedule, since washing doesn't restore them.
Microwave hoods
Over-the-range microwaves can be set up either way. We check which one yours is before we start.
Signs your range hood needs cleaning
- Filters are dark, sticky or dripping
- The fan is loud but doesn't clear smoke
- Cooking odors linger for hours or days
- Grease drips from the hood onto the stove
- The outside vent cap is stained or stuck shut
- You can't remember the last deep cleaning
Our range hood cleaning process in Kansas City
- Inspect. We identify whether the hood is ducted or recirculating and check the filters, fan, damper and outside cap.
- Protect the kitchen. We cover the cooktop, counters and floor before any degreasing starts.
- Degrease the hood and fan. We clean the filters, fan blades or blower wheel, and the inside of the hood housing.
- Clean the duct and cap. On ducted hoods, we clean the accessible duct and the exterior termination and make sure the damper moves freely.
- Test. We reassemble everything and check that the hood is pulling air well.
Keeping it clean between visits
A little routine goes a long way:
- Soak and scrub metal mesh or baffle filters every month or two if you cook often
- Run the hood every time you cook, and for a few minutes after
- Use the back burners when you can; hoods capture them better
- Wipe the underside of the hood regularly before grease hardens
Kansas City loves its barbecue, and people who do a lot of high-heat searing or frying indoors will see buildup faster. A deeper professional cleaning once a year or so is a sensible plan for busy kitchens.
Common range hood problems we find
- Undersized or crushed ducts that choke airflow
- Hoods ducted into the attic or a cabinet instead of outside
- Stuck or missing backdraft dampers, letting cold air in during winter
- Nests or debris in the exterior cap; see vent bird nest removal
We'll tell you what we find and what we'd recommend. A damper that doesn't close is worth fixing in this climate: in January it lets cold air pour down the duct, and in July it lets humid air in.
Bundle your kitchen vent with other cleaning
Since we're already set up, many homeowners add their bathroom exhaust fans and dryer vent cleaning to the same visit. If cooking odors and dust seem to hang around the whole house, residential air duct cleaning may help too.
Get a free range hood cleaning quote
Tell us what kind of hood you have and how it vents, if you know. Call or request your free quote below and we'll get your kitchen clearing smoke again.
